Example
Dolphins in the Mandurah Estuary near Perth in Western Australia Activity 1a - Creating a Hook - Community involvement (if possible). For example: incursion, or Skyping a scientist about a problem, etc. - If not possible, find an engaging video or artefact about the issue to share. - Discuss 'stakeholders' of a problem, and what this means. Can the students name some of the stakeholders of their problem? Our Example: Skyping an associate professor at a local university and watching a video about a local dolphin entangled in fishing line in the estuary near them. |
Activity 1b - Creating a Hook
Another Activity Idea: See-Think-Wonder: Find an image, or freeze-frame a video, relevant to the problem. Individually, students are to record: What They See: This needs to be specifically what is there and nothing that they imagine. What is actually happening that they can see? What They Think: Students to actively consider what they can see in the image. If they can see an animal hurt from fishing line, what do they think about this? How do they feel? What They Wonder: This is a great opportunity to get individual brainstorms happening prior to the class creating one. The things that the students think can be turned into questions. If they see a dolphin's fin damaged by fishing line, and this makes them think that this is wrong, they may then wonder what can be done about the issue (but more specific than this). |
Activity 2 - Finding out
(Restating/rephrasing the problem) Brainstorm possible issues connected to something relating to the community. Our Example: Human impacts on dolphins in our local estuaries. The Mandurah estuary can be a dangerous place for dolphins due to potential stranding in shallow waters, heavy boat traffic, rubbish and discarded fishing line. The Mandurah dolphins that inhabit the Peel-Harvey Estuary and adjacent coastal waters are Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins. They are highly social creatures that can often be found traveling in groups of 5 – 15 dolphins or even higher. Activity 3 - Find out (Preliminary researching and gathering fact) Our Example: Activity with 8 empty boxes. Brainstorm a range of questions that the students believe are essential for solving the problem. Divide students into 8 research teams to find specific information about a different question each. Bigger ideas may overlap between groups. The students only fill their own team's box during the research phase. The students use their prior brainstorm to determine an area that they would specialise about within their team. Each team chooses a different part of the problem to research. Students then complete a ‘Jigsaw’ activity, where all teams present their learning about the concept their team researched. The other teams take notes in the remaining blank boxes. Our Example: Information about our local estuary dolphins and the issues they face. |
Activity 4b - What are we interested in?
Another Activity Idea: Circle of Viewpoints: To develop a better understanding of stakeholders, develop a Circle of Viewpoints with the students. Give each team a different stakeholder that they have identified. They are to try and write how they think their stakeholder would feel about the issue. Extension: Have students choose two stakeholders with opposing viewpoints. Compare and contrast their opinions and then justify the comparison with reasoning. |
Reflection Task
In their research teams, have the students answer the following questions on the app:
In their research teams, have the students answer the following questions on the app:
- What is the problem that you think you want to solve?
- Scan information, ask questions and consult with stakeholders. Does this information tell you there is a problem? Can you write and add a picture of what you know so far
- List 5 new facts that you have found out from your resources.
- How do we know these are facts and not an opinion?
- Is your problem actually a problem for those who are impacted? We call the people who are impacted ‘stakeholders’. Who do you think are the stakeholders in your problem and why do you think that?
- Define your problem in 1 sentence.