Cool Burning: Indigenous Land Management Teaching Resources

Traditional Land Management Using Fire:

How First Nations Peoples Manage & Care for Country

This is a series of free lessons designed to educate students about the importance of Traditional Knowledge of Caring for Country. These Cool Burning resources are presented through the perspectives of Traditional Owners across Northern Australia. Each lesson contains rich video content of John Daly, an Indigenous ranger from Fish River (NT), telling his personal story.

These resources cover both the cross-curricula priorities of ‘Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures’ and ‘Sustainability’, while explicitly linking to specific learning areas of the Australian Curriculum.

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Cool Burning Seasons – Upper Primary

Students explore:

• • Prior knowledge of seasons in Australia
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander seasons
  • Seasons of the traditional custodians in their area

Cool Burning Flipped Classroom – Years 7 to 10

Students explore:

• New content about cool burning practices
• Other ways to manage Country

How Can We Help Biodiversity? – Upper Primary

Students explore:

• The meaning of biodiversity 
• Collaborative action to help local biodiversity
• Implementing social actions

Cool Burning Flipped Classroom – Years 7 to 10

Students explore:

• Action taken to conserve or improve biodiversity.
• How cool burning relates to biodiversity.
• Ways they can help improve biodiversity?

Teach Caring for Country Using Fire
– Primary

Course Length: 2 hours
Course Cost: $39.95

Explore Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures in Years 3-6 through the stories of traditional owners
and the fire-stick techniques they use to care for the land.

Course Brochure | Go to Course

Teach Indigenous Land Management Using Fire
– Secondary

Course Length: 2 hours
Course Cost: $39.95

Incorporate Aboriginal Histories and Cultures in Year 7-10 Geography by exploring how traditional owners are using fire
to manage the land.

Course Brochure | Go to Course

Student Resources

Cool Australia’s Digital Library
is full of images,
articles and activities to
help kids research.

Head to the library

Quick Fact Sheets

About Cool Burning

Using Fire to Manage Country

The Benefits of Cool Burning

Fire Factsheet

Our resident writer Krista Nisi, a long-standing member of the Cool family, has been heavily involved in the production of these resources since way back in 2013! 

Krista has selected some of her favourite Primary resources  to share with you. 

All Cool Burning lessons have been reviewed and updated in 2020, with relevant information and resources, ensuring quality Indigenous Education in your classroom

Cool Australia would like to thank and acknowledge the support of Bennelong Foundation in updating these lessons.
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The Fire Triangle Model

Cool Burning Seasons

Cool burning benefits communities

Upper Primary

While we don’t encourage kids to play with fire, having the chance to actually see fire is so important to our understanding of it. In this lesson, students learn what is required to keep a fire burning by participating in an experiment or demonstration around fire.

Upper Primary

In this new lesson, students explore how the local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in their area describe seasons, and how these seasons are related to the practice of cool burning. This is a great example of how paying attention to traditional knowledge can help us understand our natural environment on a deeper level.

Upper Primary

Because of the recent bushfires, we might initially be interested in cool burning practices for their potential to reduce the frequency and intensity of major bushfires, but it’s also interesting to realise that the benefits of cool burning practices go far beyond this point. In this lesson, students explore the ways cool burning practices are beneficial in the context of community, economy and the environment.

Krista, our resident writer, has selected some of the Secondary resources  to share with you. 

Krista Nisi, has been a long standing member of the Cool family and has been heavily involved in the production of these resources. 

All Cool Burning lessons have been reviewed and updated in 2020, with relevant information and resources, ensuring quality Indigenous Education in your classroom

Cool Australia would like to thank and acknowledge the support of Bennelong Foundation in updating these lessons.
.

Cool Burning Flipped Classroom

The Fire Triangle model

Climate Change and Cool Burning

Years 7 to 10

For many of us in Australia, the tropical savanna is a long way away. In this new lesson, students explore how cool burning practices can also be applied to other areas of Australia.

Year 8

While we don’t encourage kids to play with fire, having the chance to actually see fire is so important to our understanding of it. In this lesson students learn what is required to keep a fire burning by designing and conducting an experiment around fire.

Year 10

The relationship between bushfires and climate change is becoming clearer: the frequency and intensity of bushfires will increase with climate change, and these hot fires release high numbers of emissions that contribute to climate change. Understanding how we can use fire to manage this situation is very interesting.