Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10 minutes	Part A: Water in Australia
20 minutes	Part B: What is floodplain harvesting?
25 minutes	Part C: Communicating how to care for our environment
05 minutes	Reflection

Part A: Water in Australia

Step 1.

As a class, brainstorm a list of sources of water in Australia. The main ones are captured rainfall, bore water from underwater reservoirs, and rivers and lakes.

Australia does have some desalination plants for converting salt water from the ocean to freshwater, but we have not yet mass-adapted this approach to our water issues.

Step 2.

Create a separate list of uses of water in Australia.

We are less interested in using water for showering and washing the dishes in our homes, and more interested in things like farming (agriculture or watering crops, as well as drinking water for animals), and drinking water for human consumption.

You should also make students aware of the link between water and the natural environment. Even though a lot of Australia is desert, vegetation still needs water, and relies on rivers to supply some of that water.

Step 3.

Where do students think the majority of our water is spent?

Try to put a percentage on each of the following categories. For example:

30% goes to crops
30% goes to cattle and sheep
30% is drinking water in reservoirs for humans in cities
10% stays in nature and natural waterways

Part B: What is floodplain harvesting?

Step 1.

Watch:

The Vanishing Water of the Murray-Darling Basin (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKnkHkTo2A8)

Step 2.

Comprehension questions:

What is a ‘commodity’? One definition might be a useful and valuable thing that can be bought and sold
Why might almonds be having a significant impact on the Murray-darling water supplies? It takes six litres of water to grow just one almond. The Burnagool Almond farm can pump 330 litres of water per second from the Murray River and can run for up to 18 hours per day.
Why does the Australian government allow Burnagool to take so much water from the Murray for their farm? Australia’s water trading system allocates water to the highest economic return. Almonds make a lot of money, so they are allowed to use a lot of water.

Step 3.

Ensure students understand that by withholding water in the Murray-Darling upstream and using it to water agriculture, not enough water makes it downstream. This impacts the farmers downstream, as well as natural waterways including offshoot rivers, streams and lakes, which in turn harms these natural environments.

Agriculture is the largest consumer of the Earth’s available freshwater, accounting for 70 percent of withdrawals worldwide. Strategies for better water management in the agricultural sector focus on increased water efficiency and reduced consumption.

Part C: Communicating how to care for our environment

Step 1.

Independently, students will report on how human actions (or inaction) negatively impact the environment to directly cause or contribute to the increased severity of disasters.

Students could report via an oral presentation, or create a poster or other piece of media to communicate their findings to audiences.

Step 2.

Students must show a clear causative effect between an environmental management issue and its disastrous consequences for the environment and/or human lives and livelihoods.

For example:

How the mismanagement of natural water resources contributes to drought, which might result in bushfires or crops dying.
How the mismanagement of scrub clearing can result in bushfires of increased severity due to the increase in fuel loads.
How illegal logging is threatening Melbourne’s drinking water supply
How the use of pesticides and introduced species can interrupt the food chain and lead to famine.
How flood plain obstructing flows through the build-up of river debris, restriction of waterways, and increased urbanisation, resulting in an increase of run-off volume and rate, and subsequent increase in the risk of floods.

Step 3.

Students should also suggest solutions to, or better management practices of, these issues if they are available.

This could involve conservation efforts, genuine alternatives, or the introduction and enforcement of more regulations.

Reflection

Students could share, in two sentences, what they investigated and the link between humans and disasters.

Discuss: Are humans ‘good’ or ‘bad’ for the environment?

While students might like to immediately go to all the ways humans have damaged the environment, it’s important to end with hopeful examples of people and activities that people and organisations such as Minderoo have implemented to try and care for, protect, and repair the environment.

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?

Resilient Australia - How Do Humans Negatively Impact the Environment?

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