Blueback : Our relationship to the ocean - Year 5 HASS

Teacher Content Information

This is lesson 1 of 13 in the Blueback: Sustainability and the ocean unit. The following lesson is Blueback: What is ocean literacy?

Teachers should watch Blueback (2022) so they are familiar with the narrative, characters and content.

Access Blueback here (athome.roadshow.com.au/blueback) and on Clickview.

Teachers may like to bring their own photos of them enjoying the ocean to emphasise the efficacy of the Take Action activity.

Teachers should have some understanding of how to use digital programs like Miro or Canva - some basic tutorials are here -

Miro - youtube.com/watch?v=mNNPchRnDp8
Canva - canva.com/designschool/tutorials/getting-started/

Learning intentions

Students will:

reflect on their own relationship to the ocean
learn that we impact the ocean as much as it impacts us.

Success criteria

Students can:

explain their relationship to the ocean through literary or creative means
explain some ways in which humans impact the ocean and how it impacts us.

Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

15 minutes - Tune in: We all have a relationship to the ocean
15 minutes - Find out: We impact the ocean as it impacts us
25 minutes - Take action: Mapping our connections to the ocean

Tune in: We all have a relationship to the ocean

Step 1.

Watch clips from the film that show Abby at different ages connecting with the ocean (choose 3):

Blueback - Abby learns how to dive (vimeo.com/794745693)

Blueback - Meeting Blueback (vimeo.com/794747011)

Blueback - Protesting (vimeo.com/794747400)

Blueback - Abby working as a marine biologist (vimeo.com/794746221)

Blueback - Diving for abalone (https://vimeo.com/794746692)

Step 2:

Ask students to consider the various ways that Abby connects with the ocean. They can use the table below to organise their ideas.

Find out: We impact the ocean as much as it impacts us

Step 1:

Explain that everyone has a relationship to the ocean, whether we realise this or not. 80% of Australia’s population lives within 50km of the coast on this island nation. The ocean sustains us, as humans - even those of us who live inland depend on the ocean for every second breath we take!

To take this idea further, ask students:

How are most goods transported around the globe?
Where does your oxygen come from?
Who eats seafood?
Can you name some jobs that work on/in/around the ocean?
What are some ways that people use seaweed around the world?

Take action: Mapping your connection to the ocean

Step 1.

Using either butchers’ paper or a digital mind-mapping tool such as Miro or Canva ask students to express their personal connection to the ocean. They might like to use the table from the previous activity to organise their ideas. Encourage them to include images, drawings, personal photographs and notes in their work.

We’ve provided an example that was created in Miro.

A screenshot that combines text, photographs and shapes to show one's connection to the ocean.

Give students between 15-20 minutes to produce something they can share with the class.

Step 2.

Invite students to share their work with the class. This is a good opportunity to facilitate conversation between students about their shared experiences of the ocean.

Differentiated Learning

We trust that teachers are the best equipped to know how to cater to the diversity in their classes. At Cool Australia, we incorporate a variety of differentiation strategies into each lesson. Firstly, each lesson in this unit appeals to an array of different learning styles. Learning activities can be completed in a number of different ways, e.g. if a student feels more comfortable speaking rather than writing, there are opportunities to accommodate this. In lessons featuring group work or learning stations, we trust teachers to use their discretion in knowing how to best organise their students for positive working relationships and ability. Graphic organisers and scaffolds are often included so students can ‘visually think’ and keep a record of their work. While our lessons are designed to be 55 - 60 minutes in length, we trust teachers will manipulate lesson and segment times according to the needs of their students.

Blueback - Our Relationship With the Ocean

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Summary

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