Blue: Ocean Guardians Creating Change - Social Action - Year 7 & 8

Activity Introduction

Quick summary: In this Social Action lesson, students will watch a clip from Blue The Film to gain insights into the threats to ocean health. They will be inspired by a second clip from Blue The Film, then look into a set of pledges suggested on the Take Action section of the film’s website. Students will choose a pledge, then work in project groups to brainstorm an idea to create change. They will plan and implement a project, then reflect on the process and the impact of the project.

Blue is a feature documentary film charting the drastic decline in the health of our oceans. With more than half of all marine life lost and the expansion of the industrialization of the seas, the film sets out the challenges we are facing and the opportunities for positive change. Blue changes the way we think about our liquid world and inspires the audience to action. Find out how to screen or download the film here. Along with the film is an ambitious global campaign to create advocacy and behaviour change through the #oceanguardian movement. To become an ocean guardian, see the website.

Learning intention:

Students will develop skills and confidence to create and deliver a social action project.

21st century skills:

34socialaction21stc

Australian Curriculum Mapping

Content descriptions:

Year 7 & 8 Civics and Citizenship skills:

Identify, gather and sort information and ideas from a range of sources (ACHCS055) (ACHCS069)
Critically analyse information and ideas from a range of sources in relation to civics and citizenship topics and issues (ACHCS056) (ACHCS070)
Use democratic processes to reach consensus on a course of action relating to a civics or citizenship issue and plan for that action (ACHCS058) (ACHCS072)

General capabilities: Literacy, Personal and Social Capability, Ethical Understanding, Critical and creative thinking.

Cross-curriculum priority: Sustainability OI.4, OI.5, OI.7, OI.9.

Relevant parts of Year 7 & 8 Civics and Citizenship achievement standards: When planning for action, students take into account multiple perspectives to develop solutions to an issue. Students identify ways they can be active and informed citizens.

Topic: Blue The Film, Ocean Conservation.

Unit of work: Blue The Film: English – Years 7 & 8, Blue The Film: Geography – Year 7, Blue The Film: Science – Years 7 & 8, Blue The Film: Secondary Mathematics – Years 7 to 10

Time required: 3.5+ hours.

Level of teacher scaffolding: Medium – lead students in discussion and class activities, oversee group work.

Resources required: Student Worksheet – one copy per student. Device capable of presenting a website and video to the class. Student computers. A3 paper and textas. Sticky-notes (different colours). Blu-tack. Lesson presentation. Ocean guardian pledge poster. Project checklist. Project planning tool.

Keywords: Blue The Film, ocean conservation, pledge, project, social change, Ocean Guardian.

Cool Australia and Northern Pictures would like to acknowledge the generous contributions of GoodPitch² Australia, Shark Island Institute, Documentary Australia Foundation, The Caledonia Foundation and Screen Australia in the development of these teaching resources.

Cool Australia’s curriculum team continually reviews and refines our resources to be in line with changes to the Australian Curriculum.

Worksheets

Teacher Worksheet

Teacher preparation

Learning intention: Students will develop skills and confidence to create and deliver a social action project.

Success criteria: Students will...

Use their skills and interests to deliver a social action project
Contribute to their group's success.
See themselves as having the ability to create change.

blue_learning-intentions-tip

Teacher content information: From space, our planet appears as a tiny blue dot in the vastness of the universe. No matter where you live on our blue planet – you’re connected to the sea.

But the seas are under threat. The industrialisation that has occurred in the oceans over the last century mirrors the events that triggered mass extinctions on land. Industrial scale fishing, habitat destruction, species loss and pollution have placed the ocean in peril. The very nature of the sea is being irretrievably altered.

By international standards, Australia is a marine conservation leader. It has the world’s largest coral reef, the best managed fisheries and

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Student Worksheet

Thought starter: 'We’re in this together, ... it’s all one big connected ocean, and it is everybody’s' - Lucas Handley

Identifying the Issue

1. After viewing the pledges on the Blue The Film website, complete the following questions:

Which pledge are you passionate about?

Which pledge do you most associate with?

Which pledge addresses the thing you are most concerned about in relation to ocean health?

2. Complete the following statement:

'We pledge to ________________ (action) so that ________________ (change that will occur).'

For example:

'We pledge to demand that shops reduce plastic packaging so that there is less plastic in the ocean for animals to eat.'

3. Select the incomplete ‘How Might We…?’ question from the list below that relates to the pledge you have chosen, and complete it with the change that you wrote down above.

How might we stop eating unsustainable fish so that…..?

How might we refuse plastic shopping bags so that….

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Activity: Blue: Ocean Guardians Creating Change – Social Action – Year 7 & 8