Enviroweek Project Action Planning - Green Thumb - Secondary

Activity Introduction

Quick summary: The Enviroweek Green Thumb Action encourages students to create and care for green spaces. Students will be inspired to increase schoolyard biodiversity, plant veggie gardens and care for existing green spaces. This resource is structured in three parts, comprising three individual activities.

Part 1 – Tune In: Students use aerial maps to explore green spaces in their school neighborhood. They consider the amount of natural habitat compared to urban landscapes in their locality.

Part 2 – Act: Students plan and develop their own Green Thumb Challenge by “greening up” an area of their school.

Part 3 – Share: Students share their experiences and inspire others to take action.

Enviroweek Logo

Following this lesson plan is an ideal way for your school to take part in Enviroweek. You’ll be joining thousands of amazing teachers in making a difference and creating positive environmental change.

Learning goals:

Building skills in using an aerial map to review and estimate the amount of green space in the local area.
Beginning to form opinions about land use.
Identifying why some areas are more likely than others to be dedicated to green space
Distinguishing between different kinds of green space.

Years level: Secondary (Years 7 – 10)

Topic: Enviroweek – Green Thumb

Duration of activity:

Tune in	Act	Share
60 mins	45 mins planning plus + Enviroweek	45 mins

Resources required: For the ‘Tuning in’ activity – Internet access to Google Maps or Flash Earth and a printer.

Homework and extension opportunities: Students may choose to look for “greening up” possibilities at home, A writing task designed to challenge students who require extension.

Safety: Students and teachers should take care to protect themselves in the school yard’s bushier areas as well as to look after plants and animals living there.

Keywords: biodiversity, green space, maps, ecosystems.

Australian Curriculum content descriptions:

Year 7 Science

Identify questions and problems that can be investigated scientifically and make predictions based on scientific knowledge (ACSIS124)

Year 7 English

Plan, rehearse and deliver presentations, selecting and sequencing appropriate content and multimodal elements to promote a point of view or enable a new way of seeing (ACELY1720)
Plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive texts, selecting aspects of subject matter and particular language, visual, and audio features to convey information and ideas(ACELY1725)

Year 8 Science

Identify questions and problems that can be investigated scientifically and make predictions based on scientific knowledge (ACSIS139)

Year 8 English

Plan, rehearse and deliver presentations, selecting and sequencing appropriate content, including multimodal elements, to reflect a diversity of viewpoints (ACELY1731)
Create imaginative, informative and persuasive texts that raise issues, report events and advance opinions, using deliberate language and textual choices, and including digital elements as appropriate (ACELY1736)

Year 9 Science:

Formulate questions or hypotheses that can be investigated scientifically (ACSIS164)

Year 9 English

Plan, rehearse and deliver presentations, selecting and sequencing appropriate content and multimodal elements for aesthetic and playful purposes (ACELY1741)
Create imaginative, informative and persuasive texts that present a point of view and advance or illustrate arguments, including texts that integrate visual, print and/or audio features (ACELY1746)

Year 10 Science:

Formulate questions or hypotheses that can be investigated scientifically (ACSIS198)

Year 10 English

Plan, rehearse and deliver presentations, selecting and sequencing appropriate content and multimodal elements to influence a course of action (ACELY1751)
Create sustained texts, including texts that combine specific digital or media content, for imaginative, informative, or persuasive purposes that reflect upon challenging and complex issues (ACELY1756)

Syllabus outcomes: SC4-4WS,SC5-4WS, EN4-4B, EN5-1A, EN5-2A.

General capabilities: Critical and creative thinking, Literacy.

Cross-curriculum priorities: Sustainability OI.2, OI.7.

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

Overarching learning goals: By using Google Maps your students will explore the green areas in their neighbourhood or area. Students will find an area which could be made “greener” or one where biodiversity work has been performed and needs maintenance and upkeep.

Teacher content information: For information about biodiversity - what it is, how it helps us and what we are doing to protect it, read this short article.

Connecting lessons: Year 9 and 10 Biodiversity PowerPoint, Biodiversity Revegetation Project, Wildlife Garden Website, AuSSI Biodiversity Audit - Secondary.

Lesson and student organisation

Part 1: Tune In – Seeking Green Space

Step 1: What is Green Space?

Help your students learn what the term 'green space' means by conducting a quick Think, Pair, Share (explained below).

Students will have ten seconds to silently think of their own definition of the term 'green space'. Afterwards, each student should pair up with another and discuss possibl

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Student Worksheet

Tune In – Seeking Green Space

Your job is to think about the most effective way to estimate and compare areas of 'green space' in your local area.

Part 1: What is Green Space?

Firstly, what is 'green space'? Lets do a Think, Pair, Share. You have ten seconds to silently think of your own definition of green space.

Your own definition:

After ten seconds pair up with another student and discuss both of your definitions and decide on the best answer. You will then share your answer with the class.

Your shared definition:

Part 2: Google Maps

Questions: Use Google Maps or Flash Earth to find an aerial map of your local area. Answer the following questions:

1. Define the school's neighbourhood. What are the geographical coordinates that define the area?

2. What is the main land use in the neighbourhood? What percentage or fraction of the whole suburb does it take up?

3. What percentage or fraction of land in your suburb is green space?

4. Is there a pattern to where

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Activity: Enviroweek Project Action Planning – Green Thumb – Secondary

Activity Introduction