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What can we do to protect the sea from pollution? Marine Stormwater Pollution Middle Years Unit

NOTE: These teacher curriculum notes are accompanied with a second PDF file of activity sheets.

This unit of work is designed for middle year students. It has a student learning focus and anticipates that you the teacher will coordinate your students’ learning and there is little need for instruction.

The activities require students to use the accompanying web pages. These pages have been developed using the following criteria:

• Designed to engage students who are reluctant to read. Each page is kept to less than 200 words.• A core set of potentially new key words are introduced to students. There are not too many new technical words for your students to remember. • The pages have an appropriate literacy design with a suitably sized text, the illustrations support the text and there are no gimmicks.• The website is designed to be handled by school networks.• Your students are provided with recommended websites for those who are motivated to go deeper.

The topic will enable your students to learn at a deeper level. They will make many links in their understandings and insights. They will learn and discover links between the following:

• The impact of litter and other pollution on marine life.• How litter and other pollutants travel to the sea via the stormwater system.• Comparethetypesofmarinepollutionthatcomesfromshipsandfishingboatswith marine pollution that comes from the land.• Stormwater drains are for rain only, sewerage systems are for grey and black water. • Most of the marine pollution around Australia’s coasts can be easily avoided.• Most of us are contributing to stormwater pollution.• We can do things personally, at school, at home and in the community to reduce stormwater pollution.

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Contents1. Classroom preparation Page 3

2. Activities – Prior learning Page 4

3. Student goals and assessment Page 5

4. Tuning in Page 8

5. Finding out – web research Page 11

6. Finding out – gathering coastal data Page 13

7. Finding out – gathering and analysing school ground data Page 16

8. Drawingconclusions,findingsolutions Page18 9. Social action and communication Page 22

10. Reflection Page25

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1. Classroom preparationHow can your classroom be organised to provide a stimulating learning environment about marine pollution? Will you want to set up the class before your students start the unit? Some ideas could include:

• Ask your students to contribute ideas to the classroom setup.• Locate posters and place them on walls.• Make sure you have access to computers that are connected to the Internet.• Find out what resources are available in the library. Will you borrow some of these books?• Locate videos, DVDs and CD-ROMs.• As a prior learning activity, each student could contribute a piece of artwork of a marine animal to be made into a large collage or ceiling hanging. Half the collage could have half the animals and nothing else, while the second half would also contain hanging litter. • Load a marine screen saver onto computer screens.• Identify a location where students’ work will be displayed.

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2. Activities – Prior learningMaterials: Art and craft materials, colour pencils, A4 paper

Background: Prior learning activities enable students to value what they already know about a topic. It provides their teacher with some insight into what their students know and think.

Activities: Choose one or more of the following activities or provide an activity of your own. Ideas for prior learning:

1. Using art and craft materials, ask each student to make an animal that they think might be encountered in a marine environment. Their work could be suspended from the ceiling. 2. Askstudentstowritedownfivethingsthathappentotherainwhenitfallsaroundtheir homes.3. Ask students to describe (written, diagram or verbal) how rain falling around their homes gets to the sea.4. How can pollution affect the sea?

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3. Student goals and assessmentMaterials: Copy of “Student goal setting” activity sheet pages AS01 and AS02

Goals background: Goals assist students to be more involved in self-directed learning, to remain on track and meet their learning objectives.

Activity: Student goals can be developed using the following three areas:

1. Goals developed from the above authentic learning question “What can we do to protect the sea from pollution?” The goals can include:

•Understand how litter and other pollutants impact on the marine environment. •Identify the causes and consequences of marine pollution. •Explain how individuals including themselves and groups can reduce marine pollution. •Make personal commitments to modify behaviour to reduce stormwater pollution. •Communicate to others how they can reduce marine pollution.

2. Goals can relate to the Learning Outcomes or Standards you will be assessing during this unit of work.

3. Individualised student goals can also be developed. These personal goals are aimed at improvingindividual’slearningneeds.Forexampleeachstudentwillhavereflectedontheir last unit of work. They should be able to identify two aspects where their learning can or should be improved.

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Assessment background: Education systems have greater expectations concerning assessment. Having assessment processes in place throughout a unit of work and involving students in their assessment will assist teachers meet these expectations:

• Assessment for learning will help teachers respond to students’ learning needs during the unit of work.• Assessment as learning occurs when students monitor their own progress and make learning choices.• Assessment of learning occurs when teachers use evidence of what students have achieved. Teachers are often obliged to measure this against Learning Outcomes or Standards.

Explain to students how they will be assessed. To assist you with assessing your students throughout the unit of work:

• A grid of suggested assessment tasks has been provided.• A rubric (that you may wish to modify) is available in the activity sheets.

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Theme Examples of assessment tasks

Activities – Prior learning • Participation and contribution to a class activity.• A well-considered input relating to their prior knowledge.

Student goals and assessment

• Able to record the required goals for the unit of work.• Shows an understanding of their personal learning needs by setting personal learning goals.

Finding out • Organising work in a team. Working cooperatively with others.• The team takes control of the research. • Sharing information.• Working independently.• Completing tasks on time.• Using different sources to obtain information and solve problems. • Using technology effectively to obtain information.• Providing evidence of how and where they foundinformation.• Extracting and making notes of the appropriate information to answer their questions.• Present ideas and information using a range of formats and media.• Appropriate use of media in preparing a report.• Presentation demonstrates that students answered their questions.

Drawing conclusions, finding solutions

• Organising work in a team. Working cooperatively with others.• Able to weigh up a number of options. • Use creative strategies to solve problems and prepared to take learning risks.• Shows an understanding of how people’s activities link to stormwater pollution.• Presentation of their solutions.

Communication project • The content of the communication product demonstrates their understanding of the unit of work.• Anappropriatemediumhasbeenchosenandjustifiedfora specificaudience.• The communication package is engaging to the chosen audience.• The medium has been used in an appropriate way.• The communication product demonstrates creativity.

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4. Tuning inActivity 1. What is water pollution? Class experiment, analysis and discussion.

Materials:Adozendisposablespecimenjarswithscrewtoplids,finetippermanentmarker,tweezers,waterand vegetable oil. Students may need some dishes. A strong pair of scissors. They will need materials (litter, leaves, food etc.) that commonly end up in our waterways. Copies of Activity sheet page AS03. Digital camera optional.

Students will test a number of materials (including liquid vegetable oil) in water and observe if the properties of the materials and water change. The vegetable oil will simulate engine oil as it is difficulttodisposeofengineoil.Asmallvolumeofvegetableoilmaybedisposedofinthenormalrubbish disposal, while all engine oils may only be disposed of through hazardous waste facilities.

Introduction to the activity:1. Studentswilldesignanexperimenttofindoutiflitterandgardenwastepolluteswater.They willalsoexperimenttofindouthowoilmayimpactontheenvironment.2. Show students what equipment they have at their disposal. 3. Using the school’s litter collection methods, students collect some items of litter and garden waste in the school ground. They could also take a sample of material from a gutter in the school car park.4. Students decide on ten materials they will test that represent the litter and garden waste in the school. Items should include food, plastic, paper, leaves, lawn clippings etc. The 11th jar will have water and oil.5. Students suggest how each material might respond to being left in water over time. Their ideas need to be recorded. 6. Each jar will contain water plus one of the materials. By volume there should be at least 10 times as much water as there is material. Each jar should be labeled.7. Take two small squares of woollen material or commercially acquired feathers. Dunk one in water and the other in vegetable oil. Leave them on separate saucers. 8. Health and safety – the caps on the jars should be screwed on. Children should not open and smell the contents. 9. Record changes over the week.

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Analyse the findings. The findings can be sorted into:• Materials that changed when in water• Materials that did not change when in water• Materials that cause the water to change i.e. the water appeared to be polluted • Materials that did not make any visible change to the water.

Discussion about student findings:• How was some of the water polluted?• Materials that did not change in the water, can they still be harmful? How long might they last in the water?• Was there any difference between the two pieces of wool or feathers? How might oil affect creatures living in water? What is it about the property of oil that makes it a major problem when it is spilt into the sea?

Disposal:• Jars that contained food or oil need to have the lids screwed on and disposed of in the rubbish.• The jars that had garden waste can be poured onto a garden bed and the jars cleaned and reused.• The jars with items like plastic can have the litter removed and placed in a rubbish bin and the jars can be cleaned and reused.

Extension:Students could place small amounts of the following to see if there are changes in the water. A small amount would be about 1% compared to the volume of water. The jars would need to be placed by a window where they receive light. Changes may take a few weeks.

• Fertiliser• Liquid detergent • Shampoo • Insect spray

Activity 2. What is the difference between a stormwater drain and the sewerage system?Individual activity and class discussion

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Materials:Writing materials and copies of the activity sheet - Stormwater and sewerage page AS04.

The activity sheet is a diagram of a cutaway home showing the bathroom, kitchen and laundry. There are also downpipes on the home and a side entry pit along a gutter on a road. Below the ground, there is a sewerage pipe and stormwater drain pipe. Using a pencil, students can link all the pipes.

Discuss as a class which items in and on the house and the road link to the different underground pipes.Theywillfindoutiftheyarecorrectastheycompletetheirfindingoutactivities.Theywillalso realise why two systems are needed and the consequences if the wrong pipes are connected up.

Activity 3. Where should waste go?Use cartoon drawings to describe what should happen to different kinds of waste. It should include how it is stored and where it should end up after it is collected. Students should consider different kinds of waste and waste processing that they are familiar with. They can compare how waste can be best managed in the following places:

• at home• at school• in a car• on a beach• on a ship

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5. Finding out – web research5.1 Authentic learning question What can we do to protect the sea from pollution?

Class discussion Use a thinking tool that students are familiar with to examine the question. The tool should be able to relate ideas. Examples of tools include a mind map, tree chart, a word web or put each idea into a bubble and link it to other ideas.

As a class examine the authentic learning question:

What can we do to protect the sea from pollution?What do we think this question means? If the sea needs protection, does that mean the sea is under threat?What might some of the threats be?Is the question serious about us helping to protect the sea? Does that mean that we might be doing things that pollute the sea?

5.2 It’s only wordsSmall group activity and report back to the class

Using the students’ ideas in the previous activity ask small groups of students to see how the following list of words and ideas link with their understanding of pollution.

• Litter• Stormwater• Stormwater drains• Entanglement of wildlife in litter• Bacteria• Fertiliser and other garden and farming chemicals• Plastic bags• Ship’s bilge

Use the glossary to distinguish between the following words:

• Litter• Waste• Debris• Rubbish

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5.3 Research using the web – What’s the problem?Students should start their research with the AUSMEPA website www.ausmepa.org.au and locate thewebpagesonmarinestormwaterpollution.Studentswillfindmanyotherwebsitesofinterest.Asaclassaskthemwhattheymayneedtofindoutaboutthepollutionofthesea.Thesearesome of the questions that could be asked:

• What pollutes the sea?• How are marine animals and plants affected by pollution?• Do all forms of pollution act the same way?• Can students work out different categories of marine pollution?• How is the sea polluted? How are people responsible? • Where does most of the pollution come from? • How do we know when the sea is polluted?• Are some places more polluted than others? • Doesmostofthepollutioncomefromthelandorshipsandfishing/recreationalboats? Ifstudentsaredoingsearchesusingsearchenginestheywillfindthefollowingkeyphrases useful:• Marine debris• Stormwater pollution• Marine plastic litter.

Youmaywantstudentstorecordhowtheywentaboutfindingtheirinformationwhenusingasearch engine. This format could include:

1. Question they are answering.2. The search engine they have chosen (provide a reason for choosing it).3. The key words they have used for their search.4. The information they have found to answer the question. 5. How reliable they rate the source of information.

This documentation could be used as their report. You may like to provide students with a short period of time to give a report on what they found to be the most interesting, surprising or disturbing information.

To bring all the information together use a thinking tool such as a bubble map diagram on a large board. In the middle of the board, write down marine pollution. Write all the ideas of what pollutes the sea and then a second set of bubbles on how the pollution got into the sea.

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6. Finding out – gathering coastal data

Materials for completing a beach litter survey:Clipboards, pencils, record sheets, plastic rulers or spaghetti spoons (for sifting through sand, seaweed and litter), plus each group will need four metres of string tied at the ends and four stakes. A container that can be used to hold syringes (to be looked after by an adult). Copies of marine litter survey sheet page AS05.

Health and safety:• It is not realistic for schools in Australia to make this into a beach cleanup. If the students have an issue with leaving litter on the beach, ask for some parental assistance and get them to pick up the litter.• Students should not handle litter. They should use a ruler or spaghetti spoon to sift through seaweed, sand and litter.• Informstudentsiftheyfindasyringe,thattheirteachershouldbeinformed.Theywillsafely dispose of the syringe. • Ask all students to wear shoes and keep them on.

Background:10 years ago, litter surveys on some urban beaches could be amazing experiences with students finding200itemsinasinglesquaremetre.Thesebeachesarenowrakeddailyusinglargetractorstowing raking machinery. There are places that the tractors can’t go where students might obtain a high litter count.

Gathering litter data on a beach:• On a beach there will be several lines of debris running parallel to the edge of the water. These represent different high tide locations as well as the action of the lowest tide. • Studentsarelikelytofindthemostlitterinthethickestlayerofdebristhatrepresentsthe most common of the highest tides. As the tide goes out all the debris is left behind. Usually most of the debris is the remains of sea organisms, seaweed, sponges, sea jellies etc. There may also be many other items including litter, leaves and sticks that do not belong in the sea. • Students peg out their quadrat (a quadrat is a square area used for the purpose of survey work) over an area where there is a lot of debris i.e. along the high tide area. The size of the quatrat is one square metre. Using the four metres of string and the four stakes the students peg out a quadrat.• Inside the quadrat, students use a ruler or spaghetti spoon to pick their way through the material and count each item of litter and record it against a category.

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Preparation • Check the beach students might be visiting for its suitability. Some beaches are raked and cleaned of everything.• A very high tide may present problems for students doing a count and remaining dry so low tide may be better. • Students will need to design a data record sheet. A sample record sheet can be found in the student activity sheets. If students want to compare results, they will all need to work using the same record sheet. Students can make their analysis easier by developing the datasheet on a spreadsheet. • Providestudentswithcleanpilesofpotentiallittermaterialstheywillfindonabeach.Get them to identify what kind of material each is made from.• Ask students to make a quadrat. A quadrat is a metre square frame. They are used as a standardised approach for measuring things that occur in an area of ground. They can make a simple quadrat by getting a length of string just over 4 metres long and tying the ends so they have a 4 metre circle. By pegging it out using four pegs, they will create a metre square. • Also record other features on the beach including:

• Weather conditions on the day • The position of the tide • How strong the waves are • If students can observe stormwater drains nearby • If there is a creek or river nearby • Whether there is evidence of tractors raking the beach • If visitors to the beach are dropping litter (how could students deduce if some litter was left behind by beach goers?).

• Go over any safety issue that has already been mentioned in this section. • Inform students that you will be collecting their data sheets for safe keeping before they leave the beach. The name of their group should be on it.

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Analysis of data Gather all the groups’ data together on a single data sheet. Students could make a bar graph of the results. From their data, does it provide indications about:

1. what the most common forms of litter are?2. litterthatdefinitelywascarriedthroughstormwaterdrains?3. any way of indicating how bad the stormwater problem is?4. what kind of litter was not washed up on the beach?5. which litter will hang around for many years and other litter which will rot?6. does this method measure the amount of dog doo in the water?7. does this method measure other forms of pollution like fertiliser, weed killer, oil etc?8. is it possible to identify where the pollution originated from? Was it all carried in by stormwater,wassomedroppedonthebeachbyvisitorsandfishersontheland?Isthere evidencethatrecreationalorfishingboatscausedsomeofthepollution?Doesanyofthe pollution indicate it came from ships?

Extension or alternative – Where does marine pollution come from?This activity can be an extension to the survey in which students use their experience to design a more sophisticated survey to examine and analyse marine pollution. Alternatively, if students can’t visit the beach, they can design a survey that they believe would provide information about marine pollution.Ingroups,studentsdesignasurveythatcanhelptofindoutwheremarinepollutioncomes from. They will try and distinguish in their survey design the origin of the pollution. The surveydesigncouldbesomethingtheycouldcarryoutormightrequireasophisticatedscientificlaboratory. The sources of pollution should include:

• stormwater• visitorsandfishersonbeachesandwharfs• recreationalandfishingboats• ships.

Howcouldsomeonefindoutifanoilspillcamefromastormwaterdrainorfromaship?

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7. Finding out – gathering and analysing school ground dataSmall group activity

Materials:Writing materials, clipboard and some students may wish to record some data using a digital camera.

Safety:Students must remain on the ground and should not do any climbing, if they pick up litter, they should follow the school’s safety policy and practices on picking up litter; it is advisable that students should not go through the contents of rubbish bins. If students need to leave the school ground they will probably require an authorised adult to be with them.

Stormwater pollution comes from streets, homes and even school grounds. Students in this researchactivitywillfindouthowdifferentaspectsoftheirschoolmaybecontributingtostormwater pollution.

To do their research, students will:

1. Choose a theme to investigate.2. Identify what can be measured and what data can be collected.3. Design a data sheet to record their observations.4. Identify any OH&S issues, and describe how they will go about avoiding and preventing any risks.5. Get their teacher to sign off on their data sheets and avoidance of placing themselves at risk.6. Collect data.7. Analyse data.8. Make tentative recommendations.

Examples of school stormwater issues that can be researched:

• What kind of litter is in the school ground? Where is most of the litter found? What activities is the litter associated with?• Do the bins contribute to the litter problem? Do they have lids? Can birds get into them? Can they fall over? Do they need repairing? Are they in the best locations? What are some alternative bin systems?• How much of the school litter comes from the canteen? Does the canteen do anything to reduce litter? What could they do to help reduce litter?

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• Are the gutters on the ground full of leaves, sticks, litter etc? Is there a large collection of litter where the water enters the drains e.g. a side entry pit. How often are they cleaned out? Is there evidence that dirt, leaves etc. are swept or hosed into the gutter? Are the gutters used to get rid of any other waste?• Are cars leaking oil in the school car park? How fresh, common and large are the oil stains? Will the oil get washed into gutters by the rain? • What do students think about why people litter? How can you develop a survey? What questions will you ask? How will you compile your information? Is it easier to use tick boxes to questions or to record people’s answers? How will you take into account the confidentialinformationyouwillbegathering?(Makesureyouunderstandhowto treatinformationconfidentially.)

• Are ovals, lawns and garden beds over-watered, resulting in some of the water pouring down drains? How can you measure how much water an oval, lawn or garden bed needs?• Is soil erosion occurring in the school ground? Do garden beds have enough mulch to prevent loss of soil? What are garden beds covered in? What might be the best kind of mulch? What changes could the school make?• How are outdoor paths and hard surfaces cleaned? Who cleans them? How much time do they have to clean them? Are they hosed down? How will water enter the stormwater system? Identify different ways of cleaning outdoor surfaces like paths and court yards. Give for and against for each method taking into account the needs of the environment and the time a person is given for getting the job done.

• Where does the stormwater from your school go? How is the health of the creek, river, wetland, lake or sea where the stormwater empties out? Is the school stormwater treated in any way before it is released into the environment? • In what condition is the school spouting? Use a mirror on a pole to see if the spouting is clean. (Students must not climb or use ladders) • Is dog doo an issue in and around your school? When might dogs go through the school? What do students think about stepping in dog doo, dog owners who leave their dog’s doo in public, and picking up dog doo?

• If building or renovations are occurring, are there any problems with rubbish? What kind of rubbish is being accumulated? Is the rubbish being stored in skips, or left lying around?

Groups of students will be given time to collect their data. They will analyse their data and present theirfindingstotheclassusingthemostappropriatevisualinterpretationoftheirfindingse.g.graphs, digital photos.

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8. Drawing conclusions, finding solutions

Activity 1. ThinkingWhole class discussion

As a class, use these different ways of thinking to explore and expand what students have learnt. What students know – What do you know about stormwater pollution? What marine animals and plants are affected by this pollution? What kinds of things pollute the marine environment? How do these substances get into the stormwater drains?

How students feel – How do you feel about the conservation of marine life? What do you like about the beach and sea? How do you feel not knowing how polluted the water is at your beach?

Students are critical thinkers–Howdifficultisittopreventstormwaterpollution?Whyaren’tpeople preventing this pollution? What are some risks to our marine environment? What are some health risks to people visiting their beach?

Students find the benefits – How is the sea important to people? How will preventing stormwater pollution help the freshwater and marine environment as well as people?

Students are creative, find solutions and make recommendations – What can schools do to reduce stormwater pollution? What can individuals do to prevent stormwater pollution? What can governments do? What should we do to get people to reduce their polluting activities? What should happen to people who continue to pollute the environment?

Where do students go from here? – How has your way of thinking about the pollution of the sea changed? How can we get people to change their behaviour? What can you recommend to reduce stormwater pollution?

Activity 2.1. Managing waste on a shipIn a group, put yourselves in the place of an inspector who examines how ships manage their waste so they do not pollute the sea. When on board the ship describe who the inspector will speak to and what they will look at. Where will they go on the ship? What will they look for in the galley? What will they need to know about the waste in the ship’s bilge? What will the inspectors lookfortofindouthowthethecrewhandlesrecyclingoftheirrubbish?Whatwilltheinspectorsneed to know about how waste oil is disposed of on board a ship?

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Activity 2.2 Waste communication projectHow should owners of recreational boats dispose of their garbage and waste oil products? Choose an appropriate medium to explain to this audience the importance of disposing of their waste appropriately to prevent marine pollution.

Activity 3. Finding solutions - Part OneWhole class discussion

Using a familiar thinking tool to brainstorm, ask students what they, as individuals, can do to reduce stormwater pollution. Once students have exhausted their ideas you could do the following:

1. Ask students to choose some of their ideas to test for a week. They can record which solutions they will test. They will need to provide feedback after a week.2. After a week, students share their experiences about reducing their impact on stormwater.3. Students may now be ready to make a personal pledge. They can choose those actions they intend to do to make sure they reduce stormwater pollution. They should record their pledge and keep it in a safe place.

Activity 4. Finding solutions - Part TwoSmall group activity

Materials:Copies of Stormwater solution tool page AS06.

Students will get back into the groups that were formed to obtain school ground data. The group willbrainstormsolutionsfortheissuetheyinvestigated.Thegroupwillusethesolutiontool(findin the activity sheets) or their own version of the tool to describe how they might solve some of the school’s stormwater issues.

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Using the solution tool they will describe only those questions that relate to their solution. Students wouldfillinaseparatesheetforeachsolution.Thequestionsare:

• What is the stormwater problem?• What might be one solution?• Do people need to change their behaviour?• Why would they change their behaviour?• What can be done to help them change their behaviour?• Does the way something is being done in the school need to be changed?• Who can change it?• What will they need to do?• Does something physical need changing or something new need to be purchased? • Howwillitbenefit?• How much might it cost?• Who would do it?

Activity 5. SortingWhole class activity

Discuss and choose criteria to help students sort their solutions. Criteria can include:

• Solutions that are similar can be easily grouped together.• Those solutions that are cheap to implement compared to those that will need a budget. • Solutions that can be done by:

• Students with a little adult help • Students and adults • Only by adults in the school • By adults with specialist trades or professions.

• Solutions that will require detailed planning to be submitted to school decision makers.• Solutions that although challenging for students, will be able to be done by them.• Solutions that will have a large impact on the reduction of the school’s stormwater pollution.• Solutions that are likely to have a large impact on people’s behaviour that leads to stormwater pollution.

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Activity 6. Deciding Whole class activity

Discuss which of the above criteria are the most important to students? How many solutions do students think they can manage? Which solutions stand out as the best for students to implement?

The teacher may wish to or need to impose some criteria (i.e. it may be necessary to veto some solutions). If you do, provide students with clear reasons. Examples of reasons might be:

• It will be too much work for the teacher and too little work for students.• OH&S concerns of the school may mean the project cannot be approved.

As a class decide on a number of solutions. It may be six to ten with an expectation that a couple may not get off the ground.

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9. Social action and communicationActivity 1. PlanningSmall group activity

Small groups are given one or two solutions to plan. They will need help to be sure all aspects of their planning are covered. Because some of their solutions could be unique, it is not possible to list every contingency in the list below, so it is important that their teacher carefully goes through eachplanmakingnecessarymodifications,beforestudentsimplementtheirplans.

Before students start their plan they should answer the following about their solution:

• What will be achieved by this solution?• Whatarethebenefitsthatwillresultfromthesolution?• Why is this solution important to the health of the environment?• Howmightthesolutionbenefitpeople?

Criteria students may need to consider when making their plan:

• Start by organising all the steps needed to implement the plan.• Identify who will need to approve and comment on the plan.• What tasks are going to be done to put the plan into operation?• What resources will be needed to do the tasks?• Who will do the tasks?• How will students remain safe?• How much time will be needed to complete the solution?• How will the group measure how successful their solution was?

Produceafirstdraftoftheplanandsubmititforcomment.Whenthecommentshavebeenreceived, make the necessary changes. To make sure students are clear about the comments, it may be helpful to also provide verbal feedback.

Activity 2. Implementing the planTeachers will want to review with students relevant aspects of the school’s code of behaviour and OH&S procedures that will protect students. As most students will be working with a large degree of independence, they will need to report back to their teacher on their progress.

Once students are ready, they should implement their solutions.

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Activity 3. Communication

Materials: Access to a wide variety of media, “PMI assessment” activity sheet page AS07.

Background: Communication projects enable students to apply their knowledge and the personal values they have developed. With this activity, a lot of additional learning occurs in groups. Alternatively, many of your students may wish to focus on their own project.

Choosing an audienceStudents will be developing a communication product for an audience. The communication product explains to an audience something they can do to reduce their impact on stormwater that causes pollution of the marine environment. Students will need to:

1. Choose an audience e.g. a. Other students b. School administration c. Families d. Council workers e. Car drivers f. Shoppers etc g. People in authority h. etc.2. Identify the main interests of their audience.3. Identify the kinds of media their audience encounters each day.

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Analysing their audienceAsk students to analyse their audience by:1. Linking the interest of their audience to the message they wish to communicate.2. Identifying appropriate media that link the message and the interest of their audience (the media are often restricted by the budget available). Communication products can include: a. Posters b. Billboards c. Radio commercials d. TV commercials e. Newspaper advertisements f. Press releases g. Musical jingles h. PowerPoint presentations i. Web page j. Newsletter k. Email letter l. Competition

Develop the communication productAllow groups or individuals to design and develop their communication product. Students should write attached notes explaining how their product should work.

Activity 4. PMI student assessment Use the “PMI” Activity sheet. PMI stands for plus – minus – interesting. In this activity students look at another student’s work and write down what they think the pluses and minuses are and describe what they found interesting. Ask students to complete a PMI so that each piece of work has at least two or more assessments. The PMI assessment should not be written on the other students’ work.

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10. ReflectionMaterials: ReflectionactivitysheetpageAS08.

Background:Reflectiontimeprovidesstudentswithanopportunitytovaluewhattheyhavelearntandthelearning processes they have been involved in.

Activity 1. Reflection activity sheetYourstudentsmayhavepreferredreflectionstrategies,sotheyshouldusethese.Thereflectionactivitysheetinthisunitofworkcanbeusedtoprovidesomestructurewhilereflecting.