Time: Approximately 2 hours

Knowledge and Understanding 

Students will develop an understanding of: 

• The four Earth systems (atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere and biosphere) and how they interact to support life. 

• The concept of Earth as an interconnected system where changes in one sphere affect others. 

• Climate and weather factors that influence local environments. 

• The importance of biodiversity, vegetation, soil, water and temperature regulation in creating sustainable environments. 

• Investigating environmental conditions, including observation, data collection and evidence-based reasoning. 

• Sustainability principles and identifying environmental problems. 

Process and Production Skills

Task Outline:

Identify and Defining 

Students: 

• Review observations, photographs and environmental data collected during the launch activity (school climate walk). 

• Identify patterns and environmental challenges within the school environment. 

• Discuss how different areas of the school are affected by heat, water, vegetation and biodiversity. 

• Identify and define a climate-related issue that will become the focus of their design project. 

Research and Planning

Students: 

• Explore National Geographic Education - Desert Created by Water to investigate how Earth's systems interact to shape environments. Students complete a graphic organiser identifying atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere and biosphere and explain how changes in one system affect the others. They then reflect on how these interactions compare to those observed in their own school environment. 

• Investigate Australian Environmental Education - What is the Biosphere? to develop an understanding of the biosphere and its relationship with the other Earth systems. Students create a concept map illustrating the connections between the four Earth systems and annotate it using examples from the school climate walk. 

• Analyse the environmental data collected during the launch activity, including: surface temperature, sunlight and shade observations, vegetation observations, biodiversity observations, soil condition observations, photographs. 

• Work collaboratively to compare evidence from the learning resources with the data collected from their school environment, identifying similarities, differences and emerging environmental patterns. 

• Complete a Claim, Evidence, Reasoning (CER) reflection, using information from the resources and their investigation to answer the question: "What is the most significant climate-related issue affecting our school, and what evidence supports our conclusion?"

• Organise their findings using tables, concept maps or annotated diagrams. 

• Students form groups of 4. Then develop inquiry questions that will guide the design of a sustainable solution in Activity 2. 

Prompts include: 

• What evidence tells us this is an area has an environmental problem? 

• Which Earth systems are interacting here? 

• What happens if one system changes? 

• Why might this issue become worse in the future?