Teaching Sequence

5 minutes	Tune In: Activating prior knowledge
10 minutes	Find Out: What other solutions are there?
40 minutes	Take Action: Design and construct your own nest protector
5 minutes	Reflection

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

Tune In: Activating prior knowledge

Step 1

The following 'Stand on the Line' activity can be used as a barometer to test students' prior knowledge of the topic of marine turtles and threats to marine turtles.

Read the following statements to students. Use the additional notes to engage students in further conversation around each point:

Marine turtles spend most of their time in the sea
Marine turtles are reptiles that live in the sea. There are seven species of marine turtle in the world’s oceans (six of these can be found in Australian waters). They have scaly skin and depend on external temperatures to regulate their body temperature, like other reptiles. They give birth by laying eggs (between 60 and 120 eggs, depending on age and species). Turtles need air to breath and so pop their heads out of the water regularly.
Humans have caused many of the threats to marine turtles
Threats include commercial fishing, marine debris, coastal development, water pollution, feral animals, boat strikes and climate change.
I know which of these threats cause the most problems for turtle eggs
Coastal development and lights easily disturb turtles that need to nest on or close to the same beach on which they originally hatched. Feral animals (like pigs) and native animals (like goannas) like to eat turtle eggs. Climate change may affect turtle nesting sites as it is predicted that storms will become more damaging and rising sea levels and floods will limit available nesting sites.
We can all do something to help protect marine turtles
We can all help keep our beaches and waterways free from litter, and take some rubbish away with us when leaving the beach. We can keep off dunes and other sites where turtles (and other animals) might be nesting. Those living close to nesting beaches can encourage people, shops, hotels and fishing boats to turn off any lights near nesting sites. We can keep pets on a lead when on the beach, and keep them away from nesting sites. We can keep waterways free from pollution by not letting things like chemicals go down the drain – these can end up in the sea and harm turtles and other marine organisms.

Find Out: What other solutions are there?

Preparation

Print out and cut up enough of the Turtle Nest Protector Image Sheets so that pairs can have two images each.

Step 1

Begin by watching the following video as a class. As students watch invite them to make notes of things that they think are interesting or important:

Cape York Sea Turtle at Mapoon (https://bit.ly/2qgzqEl)

Once complete, engage students in a class discussion around their thoughts. Consider the following points in your discussion:

What is this video about?
What did you find most interesting or surprising about this video?
In this video, how many different groups of people are involved in turtle conservation? What roles do they have?
Why do you think it is important that the Indigenous rangers are involved in turtle conservation? How might involvement of local Indigenous communities help strengthen turtle conservation efforts?
What are the nest protectors used for? Why are they needed?
What questions does this video leave you with?

Step 2

Explain to students that one of the most practical things we can do to help turtles is to protect their nests and nesting beaches. This means looking after our beaches - including nesting beaches - by keeping them free from waste and pollution, keeping away from nesting sites, and limiting development and lighting on the coast. We can also protect individual nests by creating nest protectors. Nest protectors are structures that cover the nest or draw attention to the nesting site so they can’t be damaged (by animals, people, vehicles, etc.) while also allowing hatchlings to get out when they are ready.

Explain to students that nest protectors can:

Protect nests and eggs
Provide education for others
Be monitored so that if there is flooding appropriate people can move the nest.

A nest protector doesn't necessarily need to be made out of materials specifically designed for protecting turtle nests: you could make a nest protector out of a planter box with trees in it to shade the nest; it could be made out of shade cloth to protect the nest from higher temperatures; plastic lattice could be used to stop dogs; or aluminium cages could be used to stop goannas and pigs. However, it is important that nest protectors are either pegged down or made from materials that won't be blown away or washed away to become marine debris. If parts of the nest protector are at risk of being blown away then these need to be constructed from a material that can break down in the ocean and won't become a danger to other species in the marine environment.

Display the images below to students and explain that these nest protectors are used in different parts of the world where there are different threats and different strategies for protecting nests.

Step 3

Break students into pairs and give each pair two images cut out from the Turtle Nest Protector Image Sheets. Invite students to access the Student Worksheet and analyse the images they have been given using the following questions (also available on the Student Worksheet):

What sorts of threats might these nest protectors be protecting against?
Would this design work for nests threatened by feral animals or goannas? Explain your answer.
Would this design work for nests threatened by people or vehicles? Explain your answer.
Would this design work for climate change by keeping the nest cool? Explain your answer.
Would this design work for preventing hatchlings being confused by artificial lights? Explain your answer.

Once complete, students can team up with another pair to compare answers. You could then engage students in a class discussion around their thoughts.

Take Action: Design and construct your own nest protector

Step 1

Explain to students that they will now be using elements of design thinking to create their own turtle nest protector. Design thinking is a creative process used to get to the core of a problem and collaboratively create solutions. Each group will design and construct a nest protector and provide supporting information on how it works.

For this project, invite students to imagine they are working for WWF-Australia, aiming to conserve and protect marine turtles both now and in the future. As part of their work they have been given the following design challenge:

How might we design and construct nest protectors to ensure turtle eggs are protected from threats?

Discuss the design challenge then explain to students how “How might we…?” questions may help in the design and success of their projects.

If students are wondering what the purpose of a 'How might we...?' question is, explain that they are problems that have been rephrased as challenges, or tackle-able questions.
The 'How might we...?' phrasing is used because it suggests a solution is possible and that the challenge can be addressed in a number of ways.
When properly phrased, 'how might we...?' questions don't suggest one solution - rather they provide a great frame for innovative, out-of-the-box thinking!

Explain to students that they will be using the following phases to design their nest protector:

Ideate - Brainstorm
Synthesise - Select One Idea to Explore
Prototype - Design or construct the Nest Protector
Pitch and feedback - Explain the idea and receive feedback

Step 2

Before beginning the process, divide the class into small groups. Once groups have been established, each member should be assigned a specific role (such as Director, Advice Seeker, Researcher, Writer, Illustrator, and Pitching Team) but explain to students that all members will share leadership responsibilities. This means that each group member will need to ensure the project stays on track and should be able to explain how the results were achieved. Each group member should be aware of how each member of their group is performing.

Invite students to access the Group Roles factsheet (also available on the Student Worksheet under Resources). The teacher can assign these roles or students could nominate themselves for particular roles.

Remind students to support each other's ideas and that there is no judgement or wrong answers.

Step 3

Explain to students that the first phase of design thinking is ideation. This phase is all about developing a number of ideas that revolve around the design challenge:

The ideas should include some details such as:

How might the nest protector work?
What material should the nest protector be made of? Where will we get these materials from?
What threats does it protect against?
Will it last for a long time?

Step 4

Explain to students that in the ideation phase, they will work in their groups to brainstorm as many different and varied ideas as possible in a set period of time (e.g. five minutes) in response to the design challenge. Students should draw their ideas on paper, and annotate their ideas as they go, being inspired by what other people in their group are adding to the paper. The ideas can be as abstract and off-the-wall as students like, but they should also add some practical and realistic ideas too. The aim is to have as many ideas as possible, with a view to being able to choose one that can be developed, refined and put into action.

Give each group a piece of butcher's paper and each person a marker pen and advise students they have a set amount of time to think up ideas (e.g. five minutes). Tips for this process include:

Before starting the countdown, ask students to write the design challenge on the top of their piece of paper.
Students should stand around the tables rather than sit in their chairs, as this encourages more creative thinking. They should:
- Draw pictures of their ideas on the butcher's paper.
- Work fast: they only have a set amount of time!
Give time markers as they progress - "Three minutes left! Two minutes! One minute left!" You could project a countdown using this online stopwatch.

Step 5

Once groups have completed the brainstorm, ask each group to spend the rest of the brainstorming time viewing and discussing their list of ideas. Students should explain their specific ideas in a bit more detail.

Invite each student to nominate their favourite ideas by:

Drawing a star next to the idea they think is the most creative
Drawing a smiley face next to the idea that they like best

Step 6

Explain to students that each group needs to select one idea to bring to life. It is important that each group selects a nest protector that is feasible and realistic. One way to do this is by using the S.M.A.R.T. project criteria.

Ask each group to use the S.M.A.R.T. project criteria to select one nest protector that they will design. Explain to students that if any of the ideas don't stand up to the S.M.A.R.T. criteria they should be discarded. If they have more than one idea that stands up to the S.M.A.R.T. criteria then the group should decide fairly on which one to choose. If none of the ideas stands up to the S.M.A.R.T. criteria then groups will need to adjust or adapt existing ideas to meet the criteria.

Step 7

Now students have developed a realistic idea, it’s time to start planning the details and constructing their nest protectors. Explain to students that the outcome will be a constructed nest protector and a detailed poster or sign that provides supporting information about how it works and why it is needed. In order to reach this outcome, students will need to collaboratively plan the details of the structure, the materials it is made from and how it should be constructed and installed.

Learning support: Consider bringing in a range of materials for students to construct their nest protectors, such as shade cloth, wood planks, rope, hot glue gun, rulers, plastic lattice, scrap metal (non-ferrous) and hammers and nails.

Step 8

Invite students to use the guiding questions below to help structure their research (also available on the Student Worksheets). They should answer all the questions as a group:

What threats does your nest protector address? How does it protect against this threat/s?
Why did you choose this design? Why do you think it will work better than any other design?
What materials will the nest protector be made from? Where will you get these materials from? Have you avoided using ferrous metals (metals containing iron)?
Are these materials sustainable? Will these cause further pollution if the nest protector falls apart?
How easy would it be to assemble your nest protector? Could a kid your age assemble it?
How could you monitor the success of your nest protector? How will you know if it works?

Step 9

After students have completed the planning process, they will now need to construct their design! Allow enough time for the construction process and the collection of materials. This may need to be extended across a number of lessons.

Students will also need to create a poster or sign that provides supporting information on how the nest protector works.

The poster or sign needs to include:

The answers to the guiding questions (above)
Additional supporting images, facts, statistics and information to support the nest protector design

Step 10

Once students have finished designing and constructing their prototype they are going to pitch their ideas to the rest of the class or a panel of experts.Your experts could include teachers or parents from your school community with an interest in design, science or sustainability.

Each pitch needs to:

Describe the problem
Describe the group's solution and explain why it is great
List what resources the solution requires
Describe the process of construction and installation
Last for about 6 minutes

Share the Plan the Perfect Pitch Factsheet (also available on the Student Worksheet under Resources) with those students responsible for developing and delivering the pitch. You could also give students a copy of the Pitch Assessment Rubric so they know what is required of them.

Invite other teachers, school leadership or people who are experts in the field to watch students present their prototypes. If you have organised a panel, ask each expert to review each pitch and prototype, and give students explicit feedback: What works with this idea, and what can be improved?

You can use the Pitch Assessment Rubric to assess each pitch and provide feedback.

Step 11

After hearing the feedback, students may require some extra time to update their prototype.

You could consider testing some or all of the nest protectors designed and constructed by students around the school.
These could be tested in the schoolyard or sandpit or as homework!

Learning extension: An important part of real-world learning is the opportunity for students to present their learning in a public arena. Use the finished nest protectors as a basis for celebrating World Turtle Day on 23rd May and for including your school or community in your celebrations. It is a great opportunity to showcase students' work and celebrate students' passion for marine turtles and as a way of protecting the marine environment. Invite parents, guardians, colleagues and other students into the classroom. This will allow students to have a voice and ensure they have a far reaching impact.

WWF-Australia also invites students to share their turtle nest protection ideas. These will be hosted on the WWF-Australia website for all to see and hopefully inspire others to help protect turtles for generations to come. Find out more here: www.wwf.org.au/coolaustralia

You could use the reflective pieces or poems created in Threats to Marine Turtles - Year 4, 5 & 6 - Lesson 1 as part of your celebrations and school/community engagement.

Reflection

Step 1

Invite students to complete the project reflection and personal reflection (available on the Student Worksheet). Each student should complete both sets of reflection questions independently.

Project reflection

How does our project contribute to protecting turtles?
What impact did our project have?
Was our project a success? Why or why not?
What did I learn during the implementation of our project?
What parts of the project were the most successful and why?
What parts of the project were the least successful and why? How would we improve these parts?
How would we improve the project overall?
What challenges did we face and how did we overcome them?
How could we extend our project?

Personal reflection

What did I learn about marine turtles and protecting turtles?
How did I work in the group?
What would I do differently next time?
What was the best part of working on this project and why?
What was the worst part and why?
What impact did I have?
What am I most proud of?

Step 2.

Finally, congratulate your students on their efforts and remind them to be proud of what they achieved, even if they didn't achieve all they hoped to. Making change is hard and efforts to make change should be acknowledged and celebrated.

Design a Turtle Nest Protector

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Summary

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Lesson guides and printables

Lesson Details

Skills

Curriculum Mapping

Resources Required

UN Sustainable Development Goals

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