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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This teaching unit was produced for Hawkesbury City Council by Molino Stewart Pty Ltd. It was reviewed by Ms Anne Southwell, K-6 HSIE Consultant, Curriculum Directorate, NSW Department of Education and Training.

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HELPING THE HAWKESBURY TEACHING RESOURCES

Background The Helping the Hawkesbury project is being implemented by Hawkesbury City Council through funding from its Environmental Levy. The project is a series of activities aimed at working with communities in the Hawkesbury Local Government Area (LGA) to minimise impacts on water quality. The activities include:

• Presentations to community groups • Training for industry groups • Assistance to schools including with the development of School Environmental

Management Plans • Displays at community events • Promotional items such as posters and flyers • Media exposure

There are several behaviours that the Helping the Hawkesbury project focuses on including those listed in ‘The Helping the Hawkesbury in Ten Easy Ways’ sheet in this booklet.

Teaching Resources Students and the broader school community can carry out many of the recommended behaviours in the Helping the Hawkesbury project. Hawkesbury City Council has developed three teaching resources for students in Stages 1, 2 and 3 to promote the behaviours in local schools. Each teaching resource centres on a teaching unit that is based on outcomes and indicators in the NSW K-6 Human Society and its Environment (HSIE) syllabus. The teaching unit also addresses curriculum objectives in the NSW Environmental Education Policy for Schools. The unit is designed for teaching over ten weeks (one lesson per week). A series of fact sheets and work sheets are provided to support the teaching and learning activities in the unit. Links The NSW Department of Environment and Conservation (incorporating the EPA) has produced a Stormwater Teaching Guide that can be accessed at www.dec.nsw.gov.au/stormwater/hsieteachguide/index.htm. The Guide provides excellent activities that complement this local teaching resource. Further Assistance For more information and help related to water quality issues contact Hawkesbury City Council on (02) 45604538.

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STAGE 1 HSIE TEACHING UNIT

Outcomes This teaching unit helps students achieve the following outcomes in the K-6 HSIE Syllabus:

• ENS1.5 Compares and contrasts natural and built features in their local area and the way in which people interact with these features.

• ENS 1.6 Demonstrates an understanding of the relationship between environments and people.

Subject Matter The teaching unit will help students learn about the following subject matter outlined in the K-6 HSIE Syllabus:

• Everyday words for location, position and direction • Uses of places in their local area • Natural, built and heritage features in the immediate environment and in other

areas • Adaptations to environments to fulfil needs • Changes to the immediate environment as a result of meeting needs and wants • Personal and shared values and responsibilities towards features, sites, places and

environments • Care of resources, including waste disposal • Aboriginal relationship to the land and ways of caring for the land.

Literacy Links The teaching unit provides opportunities for students to explore narratives, information reports and recounts. Links with other Key Learning Areas The teaching unit directly links to the following outcomes in other KLAs.

• PD/H/PE – COS1.1, DMS2.1 • Science and Technology – ESS1.6 • Mathematics – NS1.1, DS1.1

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Resources The following resources are recommended and are noted where relevant in the teaching and learning activities in the unit. Lester & Clyde - James Reece The Lorax Dr Seuss Tourist brochures of Hawkesbury Valley (from local tourist information centres).

The official Tourism Hawkesbury website is www.hawkesburyweb.fcom.au. Tourism Hawkesbury also has a CD ROM of 20 photographs of the local area.

Web sites such as Hawkesbury City Council (www.hawkesbury.nsw.gov.au) - local information, Streamwatch (www.streamwatch.org.au) - schools water quality monitoring program, KESAB Patawalonga and Torrens Waterwatch (www.cwmb.sa.gov.au/kwc) - student activities, NSW EPA (www.dec.nsw.gov.au/stormwater/hsieteachguide/index.htm) - stormwater teaching guide.

Map of the Hawkesbury area (available from tourist information centres or Hawkesbury City Council)

Support Materials The following fact sheets and work sheets are referenced and provided in the teaching unit. • Helping the Hawkesbury in Ten Easy Ways Sheet (page 6) • Sample survey (page 11) • Helping the Hawkesbury pledge sheet (page 18)

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LESSON 1 Teaching and learning activities Students collect tourist brochures about the Hawkesbury local government area that show photographs of natural and built features. Tourist information offices are good locations for the brochures (you should contact the tourist information offices beforehand to ensure that they can cope with numerous requests for brochures). The teacher may also need to collect copies of the brochures to ensure that all students will have access to them in class. Another source of the information is tourist information web sites such as the Tourism Hawkesbury site at www.hawkesburyweb.com.au. Tourism Hawkesbury also has a CD ROM of 20 photographs of the local areas that could be used by students. In class, students cut out photographs from the brochures and other material. In small groups they categorise the photographs into ‘natural’ (e.g. river, mountains) and ‘built’ (e.g. church, shops, Aboriginal engraving) features. NOTE – students may need help to decide on whether some features such as a farm are ‘natural’ or ‘built’. Each group is then provided with a large sheet of cardboard or butcher’s paper. They write a heading ‘Features of the Hawkesbury Area’ and divide the sheet into two columns. They head one column with ’Natural’ and the other with ’Built’. They paste in categorised photographs in columns under the appropriate headings.

Outcomes and indicators ENS1.5 Compares and contrasts natural and built features in their local area and the ways in which people interact with these features

• examines the differences between natural and built features and places

• identifies and categorises natural and built features in their local area.

Objectives of the NSW Environmental Education Policy for Schools Students will develop knowledge and understandings about:

• the impact of people on environments (K2).

Resources required

• Tourist brochures including photographs of the local area

• Scissors • Paste • Cardboard or butcher’s paper • Marker pens

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LESSON 2 Teaching and learning activities Using their chart from Lesson 1, the groups name each of the local natural and built features using a geographical term (e.g. wetland, river, mountain, bridge, town). Groups may need assistance with this activity. Groups can then present their chart to the class and display it in an appropriate part of the classroom. Develop a class list of the natural and built features in the local area using geographical terms. Place a ‘W’ next to those features that are related to water e.g. the feature is made up of water, uses water. Using Internet and/or library research, students find, sketch and label other examples of these water-related geographical terms from elsewhere in Australia and overseas. Examples could include:

• Wetlands • Rivers • Forests • Canals • Parks • Farms • Historic Houses • Aboriginal sites

Students give a short verbal presentation to the class on their findings.


• uses a range of geographical terms to describe location and features

• associates geographical terms for places and features with visual images

Objectives of the NSW Environmental Education Policy for Schools Students will develop skills in:

• applying technical expertise within an environmental context (S1)

Resources required

• Charts showing natural and built features from Lesson 1

• Internet • Library references

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LESSON 3 Teaching and learning activities Using a map of the Hawkesbury area, students colour (in blue) the Hawkesbury River and main tributaries (if the map is not in colour). They name and locate some local natural and built features (refer to chart developed in Lesson 1) with a small drawing of each. They may need teacher assistance in. this activity. One way to assist is to enlarge the map to A3, locate features and use this as a reference for students. Examples of local features that could be included on the map are;

• Heritage features e.g. St Matthew’s Church (Windsor)

• Wetlands e.g. Longneck Lagoon (Cattai)

• Blue Mountains • Towns such as Richmond,

Kurrajong • Main roads

Students locate and draw where they live on the map. Using their map, in class discussion students identify the closest creek or river to where they live.


• uses geographical tools to locate and investigate places

• constructs pictorial maps and uses these maps to locate real features



Resources required

• Map of the Hawkesbury area from tourist information centre or Hawkesbury City Council

• Colour pencils

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LESSON 4 Teaching and learning activities Help students construct a simple survey that asks people about the values they place on local natural and built features. A sample survey is provided on page 11. The survey should particularly examine values that people place on water-related features in the Hawkesbury LGA. Students should form into small groups to conduct the survey. Students in the group can take survey form home and ask parents, carers, neighbours, friends etc. to fill it in. A sample of at least 10 people per group is recommended. A suggested time frame for completion of the survey is up to five days. Groups need to have completed surveys ready for Lesson 5.


• examines the values that people place on natural and built features and places

ENS1.6 Demonstrates an understanding of the relationship between environments and people

• identifies ways in which people depend on the environment



Resources required

• At least 10 copies of the survey (sample on Page 11) for each group

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SAMPLE SURVEY SHEET

1. How important are the following features in the local area to you? (Circle answer for each feature)

Historic homes

Not important Important Very important

Hawkesbury River


Aboriginal sites


Shopping centres


Wetlands (e.g. swamps)


Farms


Blue Mountains


2. Using the following list, number what is the highest value (number 1) to you to the least value (number 7).

a. Good roads b. Libraries c. Healthy Hawkesbury River d. Sports grounds e. Waste disposal (e.g. recycling) f. Stormwater system (e.g. drains) g. Parks

3. What is the most important value of the Hawkesbury River? (Tick one answer)

a. Swimming b. Water skiing c. Place for water plants and animals to live d. Water supply for farms e. Place of beauty f. Fishing spot g. Other (please write here)

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LESSON 5 Teaching and learning activities In their groups, students collate results of the survey. They may need to be shown how to compete this. A method of simple tallying (e.g. 1111) of responses for each question is recommended Students in groups count the tally results. They then write a short group report that summarises the results. An example of a sentence in the report could be ‘We found that nine out of ten people thought that the Hawkesbury River was very important to them’. Students should use school or class frameworks for writing reports. Groups present their report findings to the class. Help the class to identify the differences and similarities in the findings from each group. Are there any generalisations that can be made from the survey about the values that people place on natural and built features in the local area?


• examines the values that people place on natural and built features and places





Resources required

• Completed survey sheets

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LESSON 6 Teaching and learning activities Read examples of literature with environmental messages to students such as ‘Lester and Clyde’ or ‘The Lorax’. Using these stories as a stimulus, students write a short narrative about the Hawkesbury River. They should be encouraged to express their feelings towards the River in the narrative. Students could also illustrate their narrative with a drawing. Students should be encouraged to read their final narrative to the class. Discuss with the class why they have these feelings toward the river. Collate their feelings on the board using a list or mind map.


• expresses feelings for particular environments and why they have these feelings



• demonstrates an aesthetic appreciation of the environment

Objectives of the NSW Environmental Education Policy for Schools Students will develop knowledge and understanding about:

• the impact of people on environments (K2)

Students will develop values and attitudes relating to:

• a respect for life on earth (V1) Resources required

• Appropriate environmental texts such as ‘Lester and Clyde’ and ‘The Lorax’

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LESSON 7 Teaching and learning activities Students collect oral histories about changes to environments in the local area. They do this by asking older residents (e.g. relatives, friends) about changes they have noticed to the environment in the local area. Responses could be recorded using a tape recorder. Alternatively, older residents (e.g. from a retirement village) could be invited to speak to the class about changes they have noticed to the environment in the local area. With both approaches, older residents should be specifically asked if water in the local creek and/or the Hawkesbury River has changed (i.e. improved, stayed the same, worsened). The older residents should be encouraged to tell anecdotes about this. The older residents (or the local museum, historical society) may also be able to provide photographs to illustrate these changes. In class, students retell anecdotes and explain the views of the older residents. They also discuss whether they have noticed changes themselves.

Outcomes and indicators ENS1.6 Demonstrates an understanding of the relationship between environments and people

• identifies ways that places in the immediate environment have changed and are continuing to change



Students will develop skills in:

• identifying and assessing environmental problems

Resources required

• Tape recorder (optional) • Historic photographs of local

environments (optional)

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LESSON 8 Teaching and learning activities Organise and conduct an excursion with Hawkesbury City Council that focuses on ‘how can people change water quality in local creeks and the Hawkesbury River?’ Contact Council on (02) 45604538 to organise the excursion. Places that could be visited on the excursion include:

• Gross Pollutant Traps (observe contents)

• Drains (note any visual pollution) • Hawkesbury River and/or local

creek (note any litter, observe water quality e.g. muddiness. Students could also dip net for water bugs, conduct water testing using the Streamwatch White Kit and activities in ‘Streams Alive’*)

• Local streets (survey litter, note soil stockpiles)

* For more details about Streamwatch activities contact the Streamwatch Coordinator on (02) 99520358 or go to www.streamwatch.org.au. Ensure that the student safety at sites is checked prior to the excursion and that safe and healthy procedures are used on the excursion e.g. sun protection, plastic gloves used for water quality testing. The excursion could be recorded using a video camera and/or a digital camera.


• describes and categorises places in their local area


• identifies ways in which people’s interactions with the environment can change that environment

• identifies wise and unwise use of resources




• identifying and assessing environmental problems (S2)

• resolving environmental problems (S4)

Resources required

• Contact Council for assistance with equipment

• Video camera or digital camera (optional)

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LESSON 9 Teaching and learning activities Show the video or photographs from the excursion to the class. Discuss with the class some of the experiences on the excursion. Students write a recount of the excursion describing:

• The places they visited • The activities at each place • What they learnt from the

activities Divide the board in half. Head one side with ‘Harm’ and the other side with ‘Help’. From the excursion the class identifies ways in which people can ‘Harm the Hawkesbury’ and ways in which people can ‘Help the Hawkesbury’ (for some ways use the sheet on ‘Helping the Hawkesbury in Ten Easy Ways’ in this booklet). Record the answers on the board under the appropriate headings. Students write all the ways to ‘Help the Hawkesbury’ from the board. From this list they tick the actions that they could carry out.

Outcomes and indicators



• suggests ways of caring for sites, features, places and environments to which they can contribute




• adopting behaviours and practices that protect the environment (S5)

Resources required

• Photographs or video from the excursion (optional)

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LESSON 10 Teaching and learning activities Using their list of actions from Lesson 9, students pledge to work with Scrappy** to help the Hawkesbury. They write down ways they are going to do this using the pledge sheet on Page 18. In their pledge, the students also write down ways they will encourage others to help. FOLLOW UP Ask students to regularly report (in class or at assemblies) on how well they are carrying out the actions in their pledge. You may contact Council to develop a reward system for achievement. Scrappy may even visit the school! **Scrappy is a character used by Hawkesbury City Council in its environmental education activities including recycling and litter prevention.

Outcomes and indicators ENS1.6 Demonstrates an understanding of the relationship between environments and people

• participates in activities to clean up environments

• participates in activities that demonstrate personal and shared responsibilities about the care of environments


• adopting behaviours and practices that protect the environment (S5)

• evaluating the success of their actions (S6)

Students will develop values and attitudes relating to:

• a commitment to act for the environment by supporting long-term solutions to environmental problems (V3)

Resources required

• Pledge sheet on Page 18

0121 stage 1 teaching unit vers2 - grafton€¦ · 4 stage 1 hsie teaching unit outcomes this...

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