Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

15 minutes

Tune In: Rules, rule!

20 minutes

Find Out: Let’s get local

20 minutes

Take Action: Nature stories

5 minutes

Reflection

Learning intentions

Students will:

identify and assess their local environments for current rules and regulations that determine behaviour and change.

Success criteria

Students can:

provide examples of places in their local area
discuss different groups in the local community
identify rules and guidelines that help us take care of the environment.

Tune In: Rules, rule!

Step 1

Draw a table on the whiteboard as per the example below.

Sounds like	Feels like	Looks like

Step 2

Invite students to think about what a classroom would look like, sound like and feel like if there were no rules or teachers. Ask students to share their responses with the class as you write down their answers in the appropriate columns.

Suggested answers could be:

Sounds like	Feels like	Looks like
Talking Yelling Music	Unsafe Disruptive Chaos	Rubbish Items missing or broken Incomplete work

Step 3

Discuss with students that there are many reasons why we have rules in our classrooms, a teacher’s main priority is to help us learn, and this includes supporting everyone to follow the school rules to ensure everyone is learning in a safe and inclusive environment.

Invite your students to think about the rules that may exist in their homes such as chores, and how these rules ensure that they are practising to be responsible and respectful members of society.

Step 4

Explain to your students that there are many rules in our local community for us to follow too! Using a computer, model searching your local area using Google Maps.

Learning support: Some students may need assistance in understanding the basics of the map they are viewing. You may need to explain the bird's eye view, green areas, water areas and roads.

Step 5

Using Google Maps, find a community space in your local area. This could be parks and skateparks, nature reserves, shopping centres, roads or sporting complexes. Invite students to think about the rules and laws that exist in this community space and all community spaces.

Step 6

Using a whiteboard, create a dot-point list of who might be responsible for enforcing the rules in community spaces.

For example:

Roads: Local council, Victoria Police and VicRoads
Nature reserves or national parks: Traditional Owner groups, local community groups, local council and the

Conservation Regulator

Shopping centre: Centre owner or business, shop owners and staff members
Parks and skateparks: Local council
Schools: Principals, state government or independent bodies

Find Out: Let’s get local

Step 1

Explain to students that for our local environment, there are specific rules and regulations we need to follow to ensure that many people and animals can enjoy the space. In Victoria, the Conservation Regulator oversees some of these rules to make sure that people look after our local environment and behave in a way that protects our flora (plants) and fauna (animals).

Invite students to reflect on the rules that exist at school to take care of our environment such as no littering OR no single-use plastics.

Step 2

Select one of the natural places in your area and ask students

What is the benefit of this place?
Who looks after this place?
Who might live in this place?
What are the rules for using or visiting this place?
How do we make sure it is kept safe and clean for everyone?

You may like to search this area using Google Maps to provide students with a visual of your selected area.

Step 3

Present the visual explainer to your students that details how our natural places are protected by bodies such as the Conservation Regulator who operate to make sure that our local environment, community and wildlife in Victoria are protected.

Step 4

Ask students if they were aware that these rules existed. Encourage students to share one fact they’ve learned about protecting natural places with someone outside of school!

Take Action: Nature stories

Step 1

Allocate students into four groups and provide each group with the activity sheet. Read each scenario to each group of students and clarify any questions they may have. Explain to students that each group will have to think about the correct response to their situation.

Scenario 1	You are away camping with your family. They forgot to bring wood from home for the fire but they found several fallen trees. They want to cut this wood up for the fire. Who could be affected by this? Are they allowed to do this?
Scenario 2	Your older sibling heard that someone they know has cut down trees and flattened shrubs to create a new four-wheel driving off-road track in the bush near your house. They want to check it out. Who or what could be hurt by doing this?
Scenario 3	You are on a bush walk with your friend and they spot a wallaby nearby. They have some snacks in their backpack and would like to use the snacks to get the wallaby closer so they can pat it. How could this harm the animal?
Scenario 4	You are on a school camp in a state forest and you want to make a campfire because your mum packed you marshmallows, and you’d love to roast them with your friends. What could happen if you light a campfire and you leave it unattended or it gets out of control?

Step 2

Once students have discussed in their groups what they think the correct response to the situation might be, invite one group at a time to the front of the classroom to act out the situation and their response.

Reflection

Discuss with students that as Traditional Owners, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have cared for, and protected Country for over 65,000 years. For First Nations peoples, their ways of caring for Country were often shared through the telling of stories.

Select one of the First Nations Bedtime Stories by Common Ground from the list below, and invite students to sit somewhere comfortable in the classroom to watch and listen:

After reading, invite students to reflect on why it is important to work together to look after our places, our environment and our animals.

Looking After Places

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Summary

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