Duration
60 - 90 minutesStudents will locate Western Australia's aquatic bioregions, major centres of Western Australia and the location of key marine habitats on a map.
Preparation
This lesson assumes students already have some knowledge of the diversity of marine habitats in Western Australia, or you may choose to use it as a whole class discussion lesson about geographical locations in WA and the marine habitats found in those areas.
You may like to have copies of the Poster: Marine Habitats of Western Australia available for students to share in pairs or groups, or alternatively, have it available on your interactive whiteboard to generate discussion about marine habitats.
You may like to have the bioregion graphic (see Recommended Resources below) printed for students to share in pairs or groups, or alternatively, have it available on your interactive whiteboard to assist with your discussion about how the state is divided to assist with fisheries management.
Students will require access to atlases for the purposes of locating regional towns for their map.
Students will require a copy of Student Worksheet: Mapping Marine Western Australia and Student Resource Sheet: Marine Habitats of WA. It is recommended that you print the Student Worksheet at A3 size.
You may also find the Teacher Resource Sheet: Mapping Marine Western Australia – suggested answers useful.
Recommended resources
Department of Primary Industries and Region Development, Recreational Fishing http://www.fish.wa.gov.au/Fishing-and-Aquaculture/Recreational-Fishing/Recreational-Fishing-Rules/Pages/default.aspx [08 November 2018].
Western Australian curriculum
LEARNING AREA | STRAND | SUB-STRAND | CODES |
Humanities and Social Sciences | Knowledge and understanding | Geography | ACHASSK066 |
Humanities and Social Sciences | Humanities and Social Sciences skills | Questioning and researching |
Steps
- Provide students with a copy of the Fisheries bioregions map or display it on your interactive whiteboard from the recreational fishing page on the Fisheries website.
- Explain that Western Australia has a very long coastline with different types of fish and marine habitats. It is because of this, Fisheries has divided the state into four marine bioregions for management purposes. This can be explained in the context of a school, for example, it is easier to manage one class of students rather than all of the students at a school at once.
- Brainstorm with students all of the marine habitats they are aware of that are found in WA. Put the Poster: Marine Habitats of Western Australia up on your interactive whiteboard to promote further discussion about the habitats and where they are found.
- Provide each student with a copy of Student Worksheet: Mapping Marine Western Australia and Student Resource Sheet: Marine Habitats of WA. Students will also require an atlas.
- Students will label the fisheries bioregions and regional centres as outlined in the table on Student Worksheet: Mapping Marine Western Australia. If your town is not listed as a regional centre, ask students to mark it on the map also. They will then cut out each of the habitats from Student Resource Sheet: Marine Habitats of WA and glue them onto their map in the bioregion where they believe they are found.
- Engage students in a discussion about which habitats they placed in which regions and whether they knew any areas in particular that those habitats were found.