Duration
2-3 x 30-45 minute lessonsStudents will investigate some human impacts on the marine environment and develop informative posters for their school community.
Preparation
This lesson is part of a unit of work on the text Blueback. It assumes some previous study of the text has already been completed. View the full Unit here.
Students may require access to the internet and/or library to research some potential sources of human impacts on the marine environment.
Western Australian curriculum
LEARNING AREA | STRAND | SUB-STRAND | CODES |
English | Literature | Responding to literature | ACELT1620 |
English | Literature | Examining literature | ACELT1617 |
English | Literacy | Interacting with others | ACELY1699, ACELY1710, ACELY1719 |
Science | Science as a human endeavour | Use and influence of science | ACSHE100 |
HASS | Knowledge and understanding | Geography | ACHASSK112 |
HASS | Inquiry and skills | Analysing | ACHASSI099 |
HASS | Inquiry and skills | Communicating and reflecting | ACHASSI105 |
Steps
- Engage students in a shared reading of Chapter 12.
- Discuss the human impacts on the marine environment as raised in the text – e.g. dynamite fishing, pollution, oil spills, spearfishing, tourism.
- Discuss other potential human impacts that students are aware of, on the marine environment in Western Australia – e.g. ecotourism, overfishing, damage to corals from snorkellers and scuba divers, removal of seagrass from ill-placed anchors, trampling of sand dunes.
- Brainstorm as a class, ways that people can lessen their ecological footprint when using the marine environment.
- Ask students to work in pairs (small groups) to develop a poster to educate others in the school community on how to minimise their impact on the marine environment.
- Display posters around the school and/or present at a school assembly.