Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

5 minutes	Tune In: Think, Feel, Respond
30 minutes	Find Out: Environmental Issues
20 minutes	Take Action: Opposing Voice
5 minutes	Reflection

Tune In: Think, Feel, Respond

Step 1

Direct students to the Student Worksheet and invite them to read the following:

In the documentary, we see the then-current Prime Minister Scott Morrison talking about how kids shouldn’t be activists; that they should be at school getting an education.

You can use the following clip to remind them of what Prime Minister Scott Morrison said:

Wild Things - Scott Morrison (https://vimeo.com/531524967/696eabcd28)

Once complete, invite students to record their answers to the following questions (also available on the Student Worksheet)

How does this make you think?
What does this make you feel?
What would be your response?

Find Out: Environmental Issues

Step 1

Independently, students will identify an environmental cause that is important to them and work to research and understand the details of this issue. This could be a broad-scale issue, such as climate change, clearing of old-growth forests, fossil fuels, marine pollution or food waste. Alternatively, it could be an issue that is pertinent to your local area, for example, the removal of a locally important tree, pollution of a local watercourse, or a development on local parkland or on the foreshore of a local beach.

Where students don’t already have an environmental issue they are passionate about, you could work together to identify one. It may be that you choose one issue to focus on as a class, or you allow students to create groups around different issues and to work in those groups. If you would like to support students to identify an issue to work on as a class, you could focus on one of the issues presented in the Wild Things documentary (logging of old-growth forests, fossil fuels, or climate change), thinking about which of these issues students most connected with.

Step 2

Once students have decided on an issue or cause they would like to focus on, it’s time to start researching this cause to gain a better understanding of all the issues that are at play. Students can work independently, or if you have several students who are interested in the same cause, you could invite them to form groups and work together to conduct their research.

Students will need to answer the following questions (also available on the Student Worksheet):

What is this issue?
What are the environmental challenges relating to this issue?
In what ways is this issue relevant to your local area?
Is anything already being done about this issue? Are there any programs or organisations working on this issue? Can you find any information about protests that are happening/have happened in relation to this issue? If yes, explain.
Why are you personally passionate about this issue?

Research methods could include both primary and secondary research, such as local newspapers, internet articles, postings in environmental groups or interviews.

Step 3

Once students have completed their research, ask them to create a presentation of no more than three PowerPoint slides that share their research. Students should imagine that they are trying to get support for their cause, in order to build a movement around this issue: they want to get as many people interested in their cause as possible!

Allow time for each student to present their ideas to the class. Encourage students to ask questions about the presentations of other groups.

Take Action: Opposing Voices

Step 1

Watch the following clip with your students:

Wild Things - Lisa Searle - Forest Felled (https://vimeo.com/531526932/933cc5b497)

Invite students to reflect on the clip using the following questions to prompt their thinking:

What responses do you imagine the local community might have in response to the logging of the forest?
Would you stand with or against the protesters?

Step 2

Now share the following quotes from Wild Things (also available on the Student Worksheet):

"Under the Tasmanian Liberal government, this area is available for logging. Lawful doesn't always mean right. There's nothing right about destroying ancient rainforests. You know that you are the thing that stands between these forests being destroyed and them being protected." - Scott Jordan

“We grow up not wanting to break the law believing that it’s something to be feared and that’s part of what keeps our society going” - Andy Paine

Ask students to reflect on some of the environmental activism actions featured in Wild Things. Suggestions might include:

blocking access to workplaces
blocking the road to the forest by building a tripod structure
tree sits
standing in front of bulldozers
clogging up the river in rubber duckies
locking onto machinery so the machines are immobilised.

Invite students to work in pairs or small groups to discuss their answers to the following questions (also available on the Student Worksheet). Remind students to be respectful when discussing these issues and allow each student to speak their minds without interruption or judgement:

In what ways were the environmental activism actions undertaken in Wild Things lawful or unlawful?
In what ways were the environmental activism actions undertaken in Wild Things ‘right’?
How is environmental activism effective?
Describe in what ways the protesters in Wild Things were successful or unsuccessful in their actions.
Is it worth undertaking environmental activism, given the risks involved? Why do you think the activists in Wild Things were so passionate and so willing to undertake such actions?

Step 3

Explain that even though the students presenting this issue made a compelling argument for the environmental issue they researched, these issues are generally complex. In Wild Things, even though the conviction of the Adani protesters that the mine would contribute to environmental problems on a global scale was strong, not everyone felt the same way. There are many people who fear that NOT having the Adani coal mine will cost jobs, livelihoods and futures. A similar story can be found in Tasmania where the protesters try to keep a low profile in public because they are aware of resistance in the community based primarily on the fear that stopping the logging will stop the jobs for locals.

Watch the following clip:

Wild Things - Community resistance (https://vimeo.com/531521415/4a70cd6d51)

Optional: You could explain to students in an effort to address the often conflicting views about how our resources should be used, people working in these spaces try to apply a sustainability framework: this means thinking about how a project meets the needs of people, the environment and the economy all at the same time. Finding a solution that fairly manages all the stakeholders can be challenging but will help to ensure the solution is well received with a greater chance of success. Find out more in the sustainability factsheet.

Step 4

Students will now participate in a role-play activity to explore some of the complexities around an environmental issue nominated by the class. The environmental issue could be one presented by students earlier in this lesson that resonated or was interesting to your students, or one that you are focusing on in other aspects of student learning. Having a basic understanding of this environmental issue will help with the role-play.

The role-play activity is designed to help students think critically and creatively about the issues associated with the environmental issue they are exploring and to build empathy for the stakeholders involved in these issues. Students will explore issues and potential solutions from a range of different perspectives using de Bono’s Thinking Hats.

Students are asked to imagine they are characters in a community meeting about the issues they are exploring. The community meeting should be based on the position of the protesters wanting to take action for the issue being explored.

Students will work in groups to play the following roles.

Protester/activist
Local tourism operator
Local government representative
Young professionals living locally
Kid from a local school
Local business owner

Note: Depending on the issue you are exploring, you may need to adjust some of these roles - if students are focusing on an issue relating to logging or mining, you could replace 'local business owner' with 'forestry worker' or 'mine worker'.

Each profile requires students to think using one of Edward de Bono’s Thinking Hats. The table below shows each profile and the Thinking Hat to be used by students as they adopt that profile and think about how they would respond to the topic of the meeting.

Distribute the Thinking Hats Factsheet to students and take a few moments to discuss this table with the class.

Thinking Hats	Profile	Focus/Way of Thinking
Red	Protester/activist	Intuition or emotion
Green	Kid from local school	Creativity and alternatives
Yellow	Local tourism operator	Positives and benefits
Blue	Local government	Process and control
White	Young professionals living locally	Facts and figures
Black	Local business owner	Negatives and caution

Step 5

Break the class into six groups and assign each group with one of the profiles above. Invite students to access the Thinking Hats Factsheet. Using the questions provided, allow 10 minutes of research, reading, discussion and note-making time in groups. Each student should note their group's answers and ideas on their own worksheet.

Step 6

Reconvene the class and have each group share their answers and ideas through role-play. Each group member may speak, or the group might nominate a single spokesperson. Facilitate a discussion based on the ideas and viewpoints presented. Encourage debate and rebuttal between groups, but emphasise the importance of finding solutions and compromises. As a class, think about specific scenarios that will keep the discussion flowing. Optional: Where students are familiar with the concept of sustainability, you could ask them to test their ideas using a sustainability framework.

For example: By banning plastic bags we will ensure fewer bags end up in the ocean.
Possible discussion points for this scenario: This might mean that customers who forget their own shopping bags don’t buy so much and businesses struggle to make money. Empty shops don’t make for happy communities!

Step 7

Having covered the issues for and against these environmental concerns, ask students to consider how they could move people from one side to the other. What kind of tactics could be used? Protesting is one effective form of action. Non-violent protest has also been successful in many instances in the past. Writing letters to government agencies or officials and using facts and scientific research, is also convincing. You could also explore these tips on persuasive writing.

Independently, students write down convincing arguments and actions they could take to shift differing views on an important environmental matter.

Reflection

Invite students to think back to the environmental issue they identified as being important to them earlier in this lesson. Students should answer the following questions (also available on the Student Worksheet):

What type of activism do you think is most suited to this issue and why?
Do you think your activism would encounter any opposition from the community? Please explain.
How might you address community concern about your activism? What information would you provide your community about why you are standing up for this issue?

Learning Extension: Some of the following organisations are a great starting point for students to learn more, and can inspire them to conduct research to find local organisations in your area:

Wild Things - Opposing Voices

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