Lesson plan- Session 1 :

Learning outcomes:
By the end of this lesson Students will have a deeper understanding of climate change, which will be
further comprehended in the two sessions following.
Students will be taught new key terms that will assist in developing their
scientific language.
As a class, they will be able to list old and new information learned about
climate change.
Students will complete a handout on key terms to ensure their personal
understanding.
The students will get the chance to share back to the class the new
information they learnt.
Rationale:
The teaching approach bioethics works with our lesson plan, as children are able to
construct their own opinions as well as hear others in the class. Bioethics is a
teaching approach that involves rich engagement to a complex problem or
question that might have been posed, this is why we are planning for class
discussion and involvement rather than individual focused learning. Lundmark
(2002) believes that children want to learn about the issues, but often are not
given the tools to investigate. However, when you supply a child with the decision
making tools they need, they will get involved. We are hoping that by probing the
students and including class discussion, they will get involved and take home the
new information learned. When teachers are prepared to effectively use ethics to
teach in the science classroom, students get interested, and the learning becomes
meaningful.
It is vital for teachers to consider the cultural and political contexts of the
communities in which they work (Gervasoni, et al., 2012. p194) The students in
this area have a very diverse multicultural background, so we can assume many of
them will have English as an additional language/dialect (EAL/D). Because of this,
we have planned to use many visual cues as well as introducing and explaining
new key terms. Each area of the Australian curriculum has language structures and

How does this lesson plan connects and is consistent with

the unit of work?
This lesson is the first of the three, and aims to be an introduction to
the unit of work. Our groups aims for the unit of work, as stated in
our class presentation are to teach scale and measurement through
biodiversity by examining mutability of environments and impacts
on the future. The unit will teach concepts of time and spatial scale,
relative sizes, and rates of change. This will be achieved through
comparing environments over time and then applying findings to
possible futures using formal and informal measurement. This
lesson introduces the key terms and sets up the knowledge needed
to successfully teach the lessons following.
How does the sequence of activities in this lesson plan
reflect a learning process rather than a series of tasks?
The lesson plan objectives are to introduce the unit, build a
relationship with our group of pre service teachers and introduce
key terms. It is process of learning as the learning activities are
structured for students to build on knowledge, as well as address
prior knowledge. The session starts with a story to introduce the
concept, and then allows time for a group discussion and a whole
class chart of prior knowledge to form, which for us a chance to
gauge where their familiarity with the concept it. This also gives
students a chance to reflect and consider the themes of the science
sessions. We then show the class a video, and discuss new key
terms that we feel they need to be familiar with in order to progress
with the sessions following. Throughout the session, students will
get the opportunity to provide old and new information learned
about how our environment is being affected. The students will then
have time for an activity, which will apply their new key terms learnt
to a worksheet. This could not be achieved if we do not first
introduce the key terms in a meaningful context. The learning
activities are ordered in a way that allows for students to be building
on their knowledge and by the end of the session, be prepared and
tuned in for the lessons to follow. The learning process is to

introduce, build upon and then recap their learning.

vocabulary particular to its learning domain, and these are best taught in the
context in which they are used. By giving the students a meaningful context, they
are more likely to learn the new vocabulary.
While the lesson is predominantly a whole class task, the students will get the
opportunity to do an activity sheet, which reinforces their new key terms. While this
is an individual task, they will be strongly supported by the pre service teachers in
our group. This will also ensure that the students will begin to build a relationship
with the pre service teachers, which will mean the students will feel more
confortable in a non judgemental environment and this is crucial in building
anticipation for the next two sessions.
The time spent as a whole class discussion allows for a successful relationship to
be established between educators and children, giving educators a chance to share
an experience or gain insight into how a child is feeling. Children deserve to be
acknowledged and should be encouraged to express their opinions and feelings
openly and freely, with both their teacher and their peers. Thomas (2001) outlines
the importance of children "to be heard... how this can enhance their welfare and
how giving children a say, can produce better decisions" (p. 105).

How are the activities appropriate for the age group and
diversity of learners?
Before creating our lesson plan, we first looked to The Australian
Curriculum, which states that in Grade 1, students should use a
range of methods to sort information, including drawings and
provided tables through discussion, also to participate in guided
investigations to explore and answer questions (Australian
Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, 2012). We felt this
was a good place to start, and designed a lesson that incorporates
those inquiry skills. We planned for a diverse group of students in
which some may be ESL/D through the incorporation of visual aides
as well as considering their writing skills when providing an
individual activity, which we constructed as picture based.

Lesson plan- Session 1

Specific and detailed activities
This session aims to teach students about the effects of change on an environment. The session is designed to gauge students prior
knowledge and familiarise them with key terms and ideas. The goal is to have children understand environmental impacts.
Whole class read to: The session will begin with a book to tune in the students. We will read The waterhole by Graeme Base, which introduces the
ideas we will be focusing on in our unit of work. The children will be seated on the floor. This book brings together animals from across the world, sharing
their common need for water, and their dependence upon the environment around them. In the story, the animals of Africa, India, South America, the
Himalayas, North America, China, Europe, Galapagos Islands and Australia come together, which is a good way to include a diverse range of cultural
backgrounds.
Discussion of Prior Knowledge: The students will now be given the chance to share their prior knowledge about the environment and impacts on the
future, which will be recorded in a table on the board in the categories humans, animals and the environment. This table will be revisited throughout the
lesson and new information can be recorded. The table can then be displayed again for the session following, as a memory aide. Pre service teachers can
add the discussion and prompt thinking. This is a time for us to gauge where their prior learning is, and build meaningful connections.
Behind the News Video: Climate Change: Students will be shown a short video in relation to Climate Change, this video discusses that some people
are predicting that in the next hundred years temperature will rise by 4 degrees. This may not sound like much but according to a new report the
consequences could be really serious.
After watching the video we will have a group discussion with the students relating to what the video was about. Key ideas will be added to the board and
we will reflect on new information together as a class.
Visual Props: For this activity there will be visual representations of selected animals and environments, which will be placed on the board. We will
explain the impacts of the selected images and prompt students thinking as to what they think they can do to make a difference. For Example frogs in
Australia are sensitive to climate change as their breeding cycle is linked to temperature and rainfall variations.
Key Terms Activity: Students will be given a hand out in regards to the key terms about Climate Change.
On this hand out there will be a list of words and pictures that relate to Climate change, provided with the definitions. Students will match the images to
the key terms provided on the work sheet.
This activity will provide students with some of the vital words that Climate Change involves; it will also give them a deeper understanding by being able
to read the definitions and selecting what image goes alongside it. They must working individually at their tables, with the pre service teachers walking
around the classroom and providing help when needed. This is also a good opportunity for relationships to form.
Sharing with the class: Students will come back to the floor and in table groups, will share their worksheet and check that the answers link up to the
correct key term. Students can nominate a speaker for each table group, and collaborate their findings. Any new terminology or ideas can also be entered
into the table at this point. We will then give them a sneak preview of our lesson for next week in order to promote enthusiasm.

Lesson plan- Session: Two

Objective:
Students will play a board game in 3 groups of 5 students each
The focus of the board game is to expose children to the concept of biodiversity in the Australian Bush
The lesson aims to teach children that there are many different factors that can influence and affect an ecosystem, some of which they can observe in day to day life
and some of which they can play a part in intervening with.
Materials:
Board game
Instruction cards
Dice
counters
whiteboard markers
rulers
measured templates for marking
Tiddalick the Frog by Robert Roennfeldt
Paper
Pencils
The lesson will begin with a read aloud of Tiddalick the Frog by Robert Roennfeldt. Students will be asked to think about the ecosystem.
Focus questions:
Where do you think this happened? Why?
What animals lived there
what would they eat/drink
what animals would (or would not) live together?
Children will then think of the effects not having a water source would have on the ecosystem and will be asked if they know of anywhere that has little water, or less water
than it needed.
In the next phase of the lesson which will participate in a biodiversity board game (drafts of which have been attached as an appendix). The game begins with students
placing the different native flora and fauna at random on the game board. From there, they will each select a (MEASUREMENT) square and mark this on the game board
using a whiteboard marker. This will represent their own unique area of biodiversity. Before the game begins, on a sheet of paper, they will each record their species diversity
and species richness. Students will then take turn rolling a die and moving around the board using their chosen game piece. If they land on the marked square they must pick
up the corresponding card. The cards will be divided into two categories; human intervention and impact, and environmental impacts. Both categories can have positive OR
negative influences on the ecosystem. The cards will influence the diversity or richness of the board by introducing environmental or human initiated pressures. The objective
is to end the game with the most biologically diverse (or abundant) section.

The lesson will conclude with the students discussing what they enjoyed about the lesson. They will be directed to consider what impacts on the board they had seen before
or knew about already
Focus Questions:
What human influences on the environment have you seen (or heard about) before?
What environmental influences have you seen (or heard of) before?
What factors could you influence or have a role in contributing to?
What could you do to minimize the impacts of environmental or human influences that may negatively affect the ecosystem?
After this the class will come back together to discuss their findings as a whole group and the aforementioned focus questions will be revisited. If students have difficulty
responding to these verbally then we will ask students to participate by raising their hand when given a prompt (for example; raise your hand if youve seen rain, keep it raise if
youve seen really heavy rain). Students will be ask to think if anything they experienced in the lesson was similar to the experiences of the animals in Tiddalick the Frog.

Attachments:
Possible card concepts
Human driven

An oil truck has crashed by the river further upstream.

Animals that drink the water may become very sick.
What animals would drink from the river?
Remove one of each.

A volunteer group have set up animal proof fences

around some of the area. Smaller animals that live
on the ground are now safer to have more babies.
Place two of each small ground animals on the board.

A group of four citizens have come into the

area to cut down some trees for some firewood.
That means that some animals have lost a home
and a source of food. Remove two of each.
An environmentalist group has installed several
nesting boxes for the possums in the area.
The possums can now nest in these boxes without
looking further. Add two small animals to your ecosystem.

Environmentally drive

It hasnt rained in the area for a month.

Both plants and animals need water to survive.
Remove three of each.

The shrubs in the area are growing well with good soil
and enough water. More animals have come into the area
with the growing food source. Add two of each.

Heavy rain has flooded the river and washed away

the surrounding shrubs and flowers. Remove two
of each along the river bank.

A flock of birds have dropped seeds in the area.

It is just the right conditions for them to grow.
Place four more shrubs to the board.

Lesson plan- Session: Three

Specific and detailed activities
Objectives:
- Students will engage in discuss surrounding environments and environmental impacts
- Students will work collaboratively with peers to create an ideal future
- Students will accurately apply their understanding of temperature and drawing to scale when creating their ideal future
- Students will engage in a whole class discussion about what they can do to positively impact their environment and help create a healthy and enjoyable future
environment
Materials:
- Whiteboard & markers
- A3 and A4 paper
- Colour pencils and textas
- Board game from previous lesson (to demonstrate creating to scale)
Questioning:
- What are the things that can change an environment?
- How does temperature affect an environment?
- Is water an important feature for an environment to live?
- What does our environment look like now? How has it changed from the past?
- What might it look like in the future?
We will create a mind map as whole class of changes that occur to environment over time as a result of human impact and natural causes as discovered in previous lessons.
Which will lead to a discussion surrounding what our future environment might look like if we continue as we are. The teacher will then model drawing to scale by depicting
this predicted future on the whiteboard.
Then the class will discuss ideas of what an ideal future may look like. Students will then be broken up into groups of 3 or 4. Once in groups, students will be asked to
discuss the key environmental features and characteristics of their own ideal futures for 10minutes. They can record these ideas in any way they prefer, whether that be
writing or quick simple drawings, on A4 paper. Attention will then be brought back to the whiteboard where the teacher will write a list that surmises the information from the
mind map at the start of the lesson as a form of a check list. To make sure students answer/cover all relevant aspects by checking off each key consideration (temperature,
flora & faun, sustenance, housing, animals (biodiversity) etc.).
The teacher will then explain drawing to scale with the use of the board game they played previously and drawing on the whiteboard as an example. A scale (of 1cm10m)
will be created using a ruler, which all students will need to follow when doing their drawings. The A3 paper will then be handed out and the students will work together in their
groups to draw what their ideal future may look like. Towards the end of the lesson students will then share their work by presenting their drawings to the class and answering
questions. At the end of the lessons, as a whole class, we will discuss what the students, their families and the teachers can do to make our future environment a good one.