Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

Optional Preparation – Ground Rules For Classroom Discussion
15 minutes – Part A: Comparing Homeless Experiences
30 minutes – Part B: Where Are The Homeless?
30 minutes – Part C: Adding New Data
15 minutes – Reflection

Part A: Comparing Homelessness Experiences

Preparation:

Consider using the Homelessness Australia factsheets below to familiarise yourself with factors that contribute to people becoming homeless to help guide the viewing and discussion of themes highlighted in Life After The Oasis clips.

Step 1.

Introduce the lesson by informing students that they will be investigating statistics and probability through the topic of homelessness. Assure the class that if they’re not familiar with the topic outside of what they may have seen on the media, that’s OK, as they’ll have the opportunity to learn more about the topic throughout the lesson.

Step 2.

Invite students to form a pair, with one student to watch ‘Darren’s story' and the other to watch ‘Haley’s story’ from the Life After The Oasis documentary. Before you begin watching, remind students that the clip they are about to see features real people courageously sharing their stories.

Darren's Story (https://vimeo.com/346336219/2ace7f2662)

Haley's Story (https://vimeo.com/347230350/89c438565d)

Allow time for each student to watch their video clip and make note of what they found interesting on the Student Worksheet.

Step 3.

Once both students have completed their viewing, invite them to explain to their partner what their story was about and any themes or aspects of their story they found interesting. For example, family violence, drug taking, mental health, depression, etc.

Step 4.

Encourage students to explore the similarities and differences in the two stories and list them in the space provided on the Student Worksheet.

Step 5.

Explain to students that they will now share with the class what they discussed in their pairs, including the similarities and differences in the two stories. Facilitate the discussion to ensure students understand that there is no one reason why people become homeless and experiences of being homeless have many variables.

Use the following prompt questions to guide the discussion:

What are the similarities in their stories?
What are the differences in their stories?
What surprised you about what you saw in the stories?
Which factors do you think contributed to each character's experiences/reasons for homelessness? E.g. family experiences, trauma, addiction, support services, etc.

If devices to view the clips are limited, you may choose to watch the clips as a class, small groups or pairs.

Part B: Where Are People Experiencing Homeless?

Step 1.

Refresh students understanding of key terms when investigating statistics and presenting data. Terms could include, probability, variable, trends, bivariate data, census, relative frequencies and scatter plots.

The Australian Curriculum: Maths has a fantastic glossary that could be used to ensure students understand key terms.

Step 2.

Explain to students that they will now be using statistics to determine the relative frequency of homelessness in each state of Australia using the 2001, 2006, 2011 and 2016 census data.

To calculate the relative frequency of homelessness in each state, two sets of population data is required: the homeless population and the total population. This data can be found in the Scatterplot Worksheet.

Provide each student with a copy of the Scatterplot Worksheet and draw their attention to the four tables on the second page – Number of Homeless in Australia by State.

Step 3.

Invite students to calculate the rate of Homeless per Ten Thousand of the Population for each state using the relevant data in Table 1 (2001), Table 2 (2006), Table 3 (2011) and Table 4 (2016).

You may choose to do the worked example below with the class OR with students who are unsure of the calculation process.

Project Table 1 in the Scatterplot Worksheet for the class to see.
Invite students to identify what the data is about (e.g. number of people experiencing homelessness in Australia by state, 2001.)
Explain that we want to work out the frequency (rate) of homelessness per 10,000 of the population for each state for the year 2001.
To do this we first need to divide the total population number by 10,000 so that the calculations are per 10,000 (e.g. NSW: 6,311,168 / 1000 = 631.11).
Then we divide the number of people experiencing homelessness by the total population per 10,000 (e.g. NSW: 23,041 / 631.11 = 36.5).
The result will then reflect the rate of homelessness in each state for every 10,000 people (e.g. NSW: 36.5 people per 10,000).

Note: The solution tables for all four years have been included in the Scatterplot Overview And Solutions Factsheet.

Step 4.

Once the homelessness data has been calculated for all four years, explain to students that they will need to produce a scatterplot for all states on the same graph. Each state will need to be represented using a different colour.

Step 5.

When all four years' data has been added to the scatterplot, ask students to plot an approximate line of best fit.

Note: An explanation of how to create a scatterplot and line of best fit are included in the Scatterplot Overview And Solutions Factsheet.

Step 6.

Using your scatterplot and line of best fit, invite students to describe their results in words to show their understanding of homelessness in Australia.

Part C: Adding New Data

Step 1.

Explain to students that the homelessness data for the Northern Territory was intentionally removed from the original data set. Provide students with the new rows of data for Northern Territory 2006 and Northern Territory 2016 (also available on the Student Worksheet).

Step 2.

Invite students to calculate the Homelessness per Ten Thousand of the Population for the Northern Territory using the same calculation process as the other states.

Step 3.

Once they have done their calculations for the four years, ask them to participate in a Think-Pair-Share visible thinking routine below to explore the new data and how they feel about what it says about homelessness in the Northern Territory. Ask students to access the Student Worksheet and encourage them to:

THINK: Spend a minute writing down what they noticed about the data in comparison to other states and what it could suggest about experiences of homelessness in the Northern Territory and Australia. Encourage all students to write down something in the space provided on the Student Worksheet. These ideas can be listed words, dot points or more detailed sentences.

If students are unsure what to write, prompt them to look at their scatterplots for the other states and write down what they notice or see.

PAIR: Once everyone has had a chance to record some ideas individually, invite students to share what they have written down with a partner or in a small group.
SHARE: Invite students to contribute to a class discussion with all ideas being written on the whiteboard. This is a great opportunity to facilitate a discussion about the role of statistics when exploring complex issues such as homelessness. For example, what are the benefits, what questions does it raise, how can statistics confirm stereotypes, etc.

Step 4.

Using the ideas from the class discussion and Australian Bureau of Statistics data cubes, encourage students to think of variables that could be used to explain homelessness data. For example, use age as one variable and gender identity, education or country of birth as the second.

Reflection

Step 1.

Invite students to reflect on their learnings from the lesson by completing the following prompt questions on the Student Worksheet.

Look back at your data tables and scatter plots. What would you suggest the overall trend in homelessness is? What does this trend suggest about homelessness in Australia?
How can statistics help us understand homelessness? What information do they provide that informs our view of homelessness?
Think back to the two stories from Life After The Oasis documentary. What do statistics not tell us about homelessness?

Differentiated Learning

Extension - This lesson could be extended by encouraging students to access other ABS data cubes about homelessness and finding other variables to present in a scatterplot. Examples could include gender identity, age, education or country of birth.

Provisions for Learning Support - Depending on the support requirements of individual students in your class, it may be beneficial for students to be provided with a glossary of key statistical terms used throughout the lesson. The Australian Curriculum: Maths provides an extensive glossary of mathematical terms that could be used as a starting point. Key terms could include probability, variable, trends, bivariate data, census, relative frequencies and scatter plots.

Teacher Reflection

Take this opportunity to reflect on your own teaching:

What did you learn about your teaching today?
What worked well?
What didn't work so well?
What would you share?
Where to next?
How are you going to get there?

Life After The Oasis - Relative Frequencies of Homelessness

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