Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10 minutes

Tune In: Threatened flora and fauna

15 minutes

Find Out: Nature’s guardians

30 minutes

Take Action: Poster of protection

5 minutes

Reflection

Learning intentions

Students will:

explore laws that protect threatened flora and fauna.

Success criteria

Students can:

create an informative poster on a law of their choice used to educate others
identify how to protect threatened flora and fauna by following the law.

Tune In: Threatened flora and fauna

Step 1

Ask students to raise their hands if they think the human population is getting bigger OR place their hands on their heads if they believe the human population is getting smaller.

Next, ask students to raise their hands if they think our plants (flora) and animals (fauna) are increasing in Australia OR place their hands on their heads if they believe it is decreasing.

Step 2

Discuss student responses with the class, and begin a conversation about how human actions are causing the decline of many flora and fauna species across the planet. Explain to students that organisations who work to protect the environment are concerned about these species, and they have developed lists of ‘threatened species’ to create rules that help ensure they don’t become extinct (disappear forever).

Step 3

Watch the video below with your students. The video further explains threatened species in Australia.

Threatened Species Day - Behind the News - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKKOwnpqbNc

Find Out: Nature’s guardians

Step 1

Lead a class discussion about some rules students have at school and home that keep them safe. Students may respond with answers such as:

Fire and lockdown drills
Zero tolerance for bullying and violence
Supervision during class and playtime
Respectful communication
Technology use

You might like to lead students to reflect on who enforces the rules at school and at home. Explain to students that just like the rules that exist at school and home, there are rules and laws in place to keep us and our environment safe.

Step 2

Present the visual explainer to students to take a closer look at the priorities the Conservation Regulator has in place to protect flora and fauna in Victoria.

Step 3

Provide students with a printed or digital copy of the Meet a Forest and Wildlife Officer factsheet. Lead students through reading, if there are any terms students are unfamiliar with, direct students to the glossary in the Student Worksheet.

Step 4

Invite students to reflect on why it is important to have Forest and Wildlife Officers, you may like to prompt students using the following questions:

How do Forest and Wildlife Officers protect our environment?
What can we do to support Forest and Wildlife Officers when we play, stay or view our environment?

Take Action: Poster of protection

Step 1

Ask your students if they know the names of any threatened flora or fauna in their area. Encourage students to think about signs they’ve seen at any national parks or nature reserves.

Step 2

Explain to students that Forest and Wildlife Officers work to protect this flora and fauna under the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act relating to threatened species in Victoria.

Visit the webpage with your students to show them the extensive list of threatened flora and fauna in Victoria, refer to page 4 onwards.

Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 Threatened List (environment.vic.gov.au)

Step 3

Allocate students into five groups and explain to students that each group will focus on a different focus species:

Red-tailed black cockatoo
Southern right whale
Brush-tailed phascogale
Central bearded dragon
Carpet python
Hooded plover

Your students’ task is to assume the role of a Forest and Wildlife Officer and create a poster to educate people on how to protect this species.

Step 4

Provide each group with one of the Focus Species Factsheets. Each factsheet includes information about each species that students can include in their poster.

The poster should also include:

The species common name and scientific name
A picture of the species
Their category of threat
One or more of the laws from the slide deck that would help protect their species
An interesting fact about the species

Literacy extension: Provide students with a device connected to the internet to research extra information they could include on their poster.

Step 5

Invite each group to share their poster with the class. You might like to ask students:

What did you find interesting about this species?
What is one or more laws that help protect this species?
Why are these laws important to follow?

Step 6 (Optional)

The time frame for the completion of this poster could be extended into subsequent lessons depending on the depth and detail desired. You might like to use the poster as an assessment task for your students. Use the Assessment Rubric below to assess your students’ posters for three key criteria:

Identification and description
Explanation of law and its importance
Visual presentation and creativity

Reflection

Lead a class discussion with your students, and invite students to share ways they can share this new information with their friends and family.

Laws for Wildlife

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Summary

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