Burning Issues overarching questions
- How do we live with fire so that it brings positive benefits to
the landscape and the community?
- How can we help the community understand the issues associated
with burning and land management?
Burning
Issues focuses on the need for well-informed decisions about
planning and fire management to ensure lives are protected and
healthy ecosystems and biodiversity are conserved. It highlights
the need for a collaborative approach involving traditional
indigenous landowners, volunteers, council members, regional bush
fires committees and researchers to help protect life, property and
the environment in northern Australia from the effects of wildfire
and ensure a sustainable future for all.
Students will be able to explore
some of the key issues of burning for land management in northern
Australia in order to develop an effective public awareness
campaign for a target audience, that includes some scientific
evidence to support their key messages.
The Burning Issues learning environment is designed so that
learners can:
- Review information so as to demonstrate and
connect with their prior knowledge using the myth busting maps and
questions
- Review a recent community survey graphed
results to assist in identifying misunderstandings in the community
and a possible target audience for their campaign
- Explore fire survival strategies of key
plant species and the impact of burning on various
fauna
- Explore different perspectives in order to
interpret their needs and concerns
- Interpret impact of traditional indigenous
fire practices – ecological, social/cultural and
economic
- Interpret the impact of burning/not burning
over periods of time
- Interpret the impact of hot intense
burns
- Construct an outline of the awareness
campaign, demonstrating their understandings
The Burning Issues
learning environment is flexible enough to meet a diversity of
learner needs depending on the learning focus taken and the offline
teaching and learning. Some students will thrive in such an
environment and others will need more support than is provided
within the online environment.
Teachers, in the role of
facilitators of learning or co-learners, guide their learners with
the process of making meaning. By targeting specific assessment
for, and as, learning opportunities within the module and/or
offline to gain and give feedback, teachers can be informed as to
what focused teaching or support different learners require. Each
section suggests some of these possibilities.
It is recommended that:
- teachers make themselves very
familiar with the learning environment and the ‘Guide’
accessible through the PDA.
- students have the opportunity to explore the module in a
playful way but with purpose set by the teacher that enables the
articulation of their existing knowledge.
