Check Out What’s New at Cool Australia!
We totally get it! It can be tricky to come up with new and engaging lesson ideas when time is in short supply.
So, we’ve set up this handy page, filled to the brim with ideas that are quick and easy to incorporate in your planning and are choc-full of action-based learning. You might even like to save this page to your bookmarks; we’ll be updating it every month!
Upcoming Events
We have aligned resources to upcoming events and awareness days. Take a look below!
Bluey Resources
– Early Learning, [email protected], Primary
Bluey uses her imagination to turn everyday moments into fun adventures, full of play, learning and social interaction! The same philosophy is demonstrated in each resource, encouraging kids to role-play whilst developing their mental and emotional resilience. The resources use a values framework to develop kids’ social and emotional learning. Find out More.
Regenerating Australia
– Years 5-10
Regenerating Australia is a 17-minute short film based on a four-month interview process with a diverse group of Australians who shared their hopes and dreams for the country’s future.
The lessons have been designed to empower and inspire students – inviting them to ignite their imagination and dream up a positive and regenerative future for Australia. These education resources are further complemented by the 2040 package of lessons.
Social Enterprise
– Years 5 & 6, Year 9
The full Social Enterprise Schools program is a practical, student-led experience that develops citizenship and enterprise capabilities. It brings students, teachers, local entrepreneurs and the community together to develop skills, build confidence and make a positive social impact. Through the process of setting up their own social enterprise, students develop the skills, mindsets and behaviours they will need as they move beyond the school gates.
Toyota Dream Car Contest
– Years 7 & 8
In this unit, students design a dream car and create an artwork to represent their ideas that will be submitted to the Toyota Dream Car Art Contest. This contest encourages and inspires creative expression and imagination in students – some amazing ideas are born from dreams! Find out more.
Cisco Global Problem Solvers
– Primary
Cool Australia’s Global Problem Solver resources focus on Season 1 and Season 2 of the Cisco Global Problem Solvers series and engage students with the story of a diverse teen super-team from across the globe to take action against serious challenges. The lessons guide students through the process of finding and understanding a problem, designing a solution, working through the opportunities and challenges associated with their solution, conceiving technological options that could be used to support their solution, and the steps to bring the solution to life in a way that supports local communities.
The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas
– Years 5 to 10
Students evaluate the social, moral and ethical positions represented in the text The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas by Ursula Le Guin, which asks whether you would be comfortable living in a utopia if all the world’s burdens were placed on a single child, and reflect on its impact on their personal understanding of the world.
Stop the Coward’s Punch Campaign
– Years 7 to 10
The STOP the Coward Punch Campaign is on a mission to eliminate the coward punch from society and save lives by educating people – including young people – about the risks and ramifications of the coward punch.
Covering multiple curriculum areas, this package highlights the impacts of unnecessary and cowardly acts of violence and helps bring about a positive mindset and behaviour change by supporting young people with strategies and age-appropriate information in engaging and creative ways.
Professional Development
Teaching Consent to Children
This course will help you explore developments in social views on consent, and understand how consent education is changing and moving into the earlier years of schooling.
Available now for free!
For more information, check out the course today..
Staff Picks!
We’ve selected some projects below that our Education Specialists have loved, and we hope you do too!
MangroveWatch
MangroveWatch is a citizen science program hosted by Earthwatch Australia and James Cook University. The MangroveWatch citizen science program provides tools, methods and training to assist students and the wider community help scientists gather data on the extent and health of Australia’s mangroves and salt marshes, known collectively as tidal wetlands.
SugarByHalf Resources
These great lessons let you integrate health across the curriculum with a focus on the impact of sugar. Developed in partnership with SugarByHalf, this set of lessons aims to empower students to make informed food choices.
Download these free resources here.
National Recycling Week
– Foundation to Secondary
National Recycling Week is held in the second week of November each year but you can recycle all year-round with these lessons which were designed to be used at any time. Click here to find out more about National Recycling Week and the Schools Recycle Right Challenge.
We have lessons for all year levels that can be used to support learning. Check them out today.