Out and About in the Ocean Community
Year Levels: 1-6
Main idea
This unit is designed to increase student’s awareness of the features of the area in which marine animals, plants and other organisms live (the ocean and coastal zone). Through observation, visits to the ocean or nearby Marine Discovery Centres and listening to stories about the ocean, students are encouraged to broaden their focus beyond their immediate environment to value the features and services the ocean provides to communities. Students are also introduced to the concept of the ocean community as a way of understanding common needs and purposes and to see that we are all connected to the ocean. These concepts are brought together in the final activities where students create media texts, displays or models about the ocean and how they can make it a better place in which marine animals and plants live.
Key Understandings
• Nearly all communities have places of particular importance and value.
• Different areas are for different types of use.
• The ocean has a range of plants and animals within it.
• People explore and value the ocean in different ways.
• Everyone has a responsibility to conserve and protect the ocean.
Focus Questions
• What and where are the world’s oceans?
• What plants, animals and other organisms live in the ocean?
• How and why is the ocean important to different groups of people?
• How do people explore the ocean?
• Why and how do people care for the ocean?
Key Terms
Anchoring, animals, behaviour, birds, boating, care, colours, conserve, corals, diving, dugong, dolphin, environment, equipment, facilities, features, fields, fish, fishing, garden, grasses, human-made, leisure, litter, local, look after, maintenance, national park, native plants, nature, ocean, ranger, pollution, protect, sailing, sea, signs, snorkelling, tourist, trawlers, tracks, turtle-watching, visiting, water, whale-watching, work.
Learning Areas
• Society and Environment
• Science
• English
• Mathematics
• The Arts
• ICT
Core Learning Outcomes
The unit focuses on the following core learning outcomes from the Years 1-6 Science, SOSE, Arts and English Syllabuses.
Planning Considerations
Some tips to help the unit run smoothly:
- Read through the unit thoroughly and highlight activities you think are most relevant to your students
- Consider which of the key learning outcomes from your State Syllabus are most likely to “come out” of the unit
- Gather together key resources used in the unit, eg photographs, picture books, activity sheets etc. (see resources page)
- You may wish to write to parents informing them of the topic, sharing the understandings for the unit and inviting any assistance and resources
- Organise an excursion to a public aquarium or Marine Discovery Centre
- Organise a learning log for each student.
|
|
|
