Embedded Files
As Australians and global citizens, we all have a part to play in our planet’s future. Choosing more sustainable options when it comes to buying everyday products, such as the clothes we wear, packaging materials, to the energy sources we use every day, can all play a part. Choosing renewable resources such as solar, wind, or wood and wood fibre from trees offers one solution to reach our sustainability targets. In choosing renewable resources over non-renewable resources such as coal, crude oil and gas, we also gain a benefit of using less of these non-renewable resources that work to increase global carbon emissions.
This resource integrates the Level 5 and 6 curriculums, focusing on HASS (Geography) and Design and Technologies, to teach students about the origin and sustainability of materials used in products. Through a series of nine 60-minute lessons, students will explore sustainable design by creating a reusable cutlery pouch, comparing renewable materials like rayon with non-renewable ones.
They will engage in the design thinking process to investigate single-use plastics in their school and generate ideas for promoting sustainability within the community. Developed by ForestLearning in collaboration with DATTA Vic and GTAV, the resource supports sustainable school initiatives and utilizes ForestLearning’s ForestVR virtual reality tool. The lessons emphasize the importance of sustainable forests, which provide essential resources, protect the environment, and offer a renewable alternative to materials like polyester and plastics. By understanding the role of forests and participating in hands-on projects, students will learn to advocate for eco-friendly practices and reduce landfill waste.
What’s in the resource
What’s in the resource
Student Workbook:
Teacher Workbook – complete with lesson outcomes and Australian Curriculum links, answers to all questions found within the Student Workbook, curriculum overview and mapping, Forest Glossary, lesson timings, suggested groupings for activites, extension activities, teacher tips, assessment options, references and all links.
Embeds Ed Tech including ForestVR video experiences. All Ed Tech is available to view on any device or technology a school / student already owns including laptop, smart board, ipad or VR Headset.
Lesson Sequence:
LESSONS 1-2 HASS (Geography) – Sustainable Forests Creating a Sustainable Future
LESSONS 1-2 HASS (Geography) – Sustainable Forests Creating a Sustainable Future
AIM: For students to better understand forests and their distribution within Australia and understand the value of managing forests as a sustainable and renewable resource.
OUTCOMES: Students will:
Explore their current understanding of forest characteristics and distributions at various scales.
Use maps and other geographical sources to interpret data and describe patterns.
Understand how we use and manage forest resources in Australia.
Use videos and flow diagrams to illustrate interconnections and processes.
LESSONS 3-8 Design and Technologies – Sustainable Materials
LESSONS 3-8 Design and Technologies – Sustainable Materials
AIM: For students to investigate single-use products and their use in society and at school and assess attitudes and needs in the school tuckshop for single-use products such as disposable cutlery. Using this information, students will then generate a design, safely produce and evaluate a reusable cutlery pouch made from the sustainable wood-fibre fabric, rayon.
OUTCOMES: Students will:
Investigate materials, their sustainability features, and suitability to be used to produce a reusable cutlery pouch.
Develop a design brief and generate a graphical representation of a reusable cutlery pouch to meet sustainability criteria and researched needs.
Produce a reusable cutlery pouch using different tools, techniques and safety procedures.
Evaluate and communicate through a class showcase their end products.
LESSON 9 HASS (Geography) & Design and Technologies – Looking Back, Looking Forwards
AIM: For students to critically reflect upon their learning throughout the unit and summarise their understanding of the use and management of productive forests and wood fibre materials.
OUTCOMES Students will:
Use critical reflection skills to consider and justify opinions.
Express ideas to the class and think creatively as a group.
Resources:
Teacher resource
This interactive teacher PDF teacher workbook has answers and notes to guide you through running activities and lessons for your students.
Student resource
This workbook offers a structire for your year 5-6 students to work through lessons 1-9 of this cross-curricular project.
Lesson 5 slides on technical drawing
This PowerPoint presentation is for use as part of Lesson 5 - Activity 1: Material Properties, or by itself as a classroom discussion tool.
Looking for more timber-related resources?
Forest Learning have a fantastic range of resources on their website designed to support the teaching of Design & Technologies for both primary and secondary students. They are all benchmarked to the Australian curriculum, and cover topics as diverse as virtual reality, careers in forestry and materials technology. They are all free - teachers just have to register on the site to download them. Click on the Forest Learning logo and get exploring!
Please download these resources onto your device as occasionally our links will change.
DISCLAIMER
The approaches outlined in this resource are those of the author and contributors and do not necessarily reflect the views of DATTA Vic. While all attempts have been made to align the advice and suggestions with VCAA expectations, the support material has not been verified by VCAA. Authors have acted with all available information from VCAA at the time of publication.
Responsibility for any loss resulting from action or refraining from action in response to the material must be accepted by users. Teachers must refer to the mandatory documents in relation to the study from VCAA, available online and updated every year.
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