(This project was delivered online with Creative Practitioner Jodie Davidson, delivering a 90 minute session via WebEx with the teacher and students each week for 16 weeks, along with project planning and reflecting with the teacher after the sessions.)
MAIN CURRICULUM FOCUS
HASS Geography
Researching - Locate and collect information and data from different sources, including observations.
Researching - Record, sort and represent data and the location of places and their characteristics in different formats, including simple graphs, tables and maps, using discipline-appropriate conventions.
Evaluating and reflecting - Draw simple conclusions based on analysis of information and data.
Evaluating and reflecting - Reflect on learning to propose actions in response to an issue or challenge and consider possible effects of proposed actions.
Communicating - Present ideas, findings and conclusions in texts and modes that incorporate digital and non-digital representations and discipline-specific terms.
CROSS-CURRICULAR LINKS
English
Language - Variation and Change - Understand that languages have different written and visual communication systems, different oral traditions and different ways of constructing meaning.
Literature and Context - Discuss texts in which characters, events and settings are portrayed in different ways, and speculate on the authors’ reasons. Responding to Literature - Draw connections between personal experiences and the worlds of texts, and share responses with others.
Design and Technologies / Years 3 and 4
Recognise the role of people in design and technologies occupations and explore factors, including sustainability that impact on the design of products, services and environments to meet community needs.
Exploring, playing with and testing materials for their appropriateness, for example materials for a new sun-shade product.
Investigating materials, components, tools and equipment, including by using digital technologies, to discover their characteristics and properties, how they can be used more sustainably and their impact in the future.
Investigate the suitability of materials, systems, components, tools and equipment for a range of purposes.
Conducting experiments and tests to understand the properties of materials, for example strength, durability, warmth, elasticity.
Term 4 - Science
ACHASSI053 Researching - Locate and collect information and data from different sources, including observations.
ACHASSI054 Researching - Record, sort and represent data and the location of places and their characteristics in different formats, including simple graphs, tables and maps, using discipline-appropriate conventions.
ACHASSI058 Evaluating and reflecting Draw simple conclusions based on analysis of information and data.
ACHASSI060 Evaluating and reflecting Reflect on learning to propose actions in response to an issue or challenge and consider possible effects of proposed actions.
ACHASSI061 Communicating Present ideas, findings and conclusions in texts and modes that incorporate digital and non-digital representations and discipline-specific terms.
Chemical Science
A change of state between solid and liquid can be caused by adding or removing heat
Nature and Development of Science
Science involves making predictions and describing patterns and relationships
Use and Influences of Science
Science knowledge helps people to understand the effect of their actions
CONTEXT
A mix of online and face-to-face learning presents additional challenges particularly when it comes to the location of activities. With this in mind, and a focus on Geography, General Capabilities and Cross Curriculum Priorities students were invited to reflect on the local Albany environment including its Indigenous and whaling history moving beyond the walls of the classroom.
A small number of students have language deficits so visual language was important along with various delivery and working methods and opportunities. Utilising the book Walk of the Whales by Nick Bland and Mamang by Kim Scott, Iris Woods and the Wirlomin Noongar Language and Stories Project, students familiarised themselves with their local area of the school and its proximity to the foreshore, adopting various Albany waterfronts for material collection and observation. They were asked to consider the following questions: What can nature teach us? What can we learn through observation, collection and being in nature? how can we act sustainably?
WHAT WE DID
This wasn’t just about Geography. It was about changing the approach to tasks, moving from individual work to more group work, allowing for the Creative Habits of Learning to develop. Warm-ups were centred on the random grouping of students, moving beyond consistently choosing the same gender to work with. It provided opportunities to collaborate, becoming more familiar with persistence and discipline in tackling challenges.
In most instances this was successful, particularly when working in larger groups however often, as soon as the group numbers decreased, students reverted to working with friends or on their own individual process.
Promoting the use of the outdoors to extend connection to place and utilising the area beyond the classroom provided additional opportunities to work with others. On wet days, it was the double classroom and when weather permitted, activities and warm-ups took place outside. Collecting sticks, leaves and seeds to identify their houses in proximity to the school encouraged imagination. Walking to the foreshore searching for landmarks, reinforced a sense of where in the world we are. Collecting items from the water’s edge, deciding what belonged and what didn’t, what could be taken away and what should be left, promoted discussion on sustainability.
“We thought anything living should stay; but the children were not especially confident in deciding living from non-living (or dead!) Is more work needed in science in classifying living versus non-living?” (Teacher)
“Getting outside and exploring our environment was exhilarating. We don’t use the resource of our neighbourhood nearly as well as we could/should!”… (Teacher)
We created individual hand-made concertina journals, to explore creative reuse and dye using biodegradable materials. Black ‘squid ink’ was the beginning of a separate, less recognised expedition; one for staff and students, to answer questions with a question. Is this right? Is this too much? What will happen? Students wanted to know the answers before exploring and investigating themselves. It was vital for them to tolerate uncertainty, hypothesise and discover that it was okay to be different.
Collecting materials and collaging to visually document or ‘map’ locations and their Creative Schools journey proved to have engaging, collaborative and disciplined outcomes. Some students even created their own journals at home. They demonstrated imaginative ideas on how to cut up and share maps and were challenged searching for places of interest. Engagement resulted in group conversations about family, the Bibbulmun Track and local landmarks.
We moved away from teacher lead activities; students were continually presented with open-ended challenges. Discussing what could be done with some of the items collected from the foreshore lead to suggestions of ‘making green dye from it’ (Year 2 student) and ‘use it for eating’ (Year 3 student). Plans, ingredients, and processes were included on mind maps and videos watched before tackling different group experiments in the science room.
“There was great excitement and gusto; the cooking groups were throwing sesame seeds in a pot and cooking with no regard for the recipe! At no stage did they ask for it; they just did some of the things they remembered from the video. After school we all tasted the sesame/seaweed mix and most of the kids loved it!” (Teacher)
“The making of the food was really good but our planning was not as well done.” (Student)
“The ink was dull brown; we would like to make the colour more interesting maybe by using different seaweed. Some seaweed was better for dye and some was better for food.” (Student)
The importance of sometimes following instructions became a challenge in the form of a Geography Rally incorporating locations around Albany. Again, there were students who felt that they already knew what they needed to know and those that dominated the groups indicating that collaboration needed more focus. This was tackled by groups being given a list of instructions that if read, resulted in only undertaking the first two. Apart from two groups, the entire class progressed through the entire list.
“We actually did it wrong. We were supposed to do only step one and two.” (Student)
In term 4 students explored how the Creative Habits could be extended from one day into every day by reflecting back on the Term 3 activity of sharing advice and relating each piece of advice to the Creative Habit colours. Students experimented with natural dyes, formulas (recipes) and mathematic fractions to sustainably produce each of the Creative Habit colours. Turmeric, cabbage, seaweed, vinegar, lemon and bicarb soda along with local leaves were used to extract and modify colours to dye fabric extending the use of the kitchen garden from only that of edible food to introduce the workings of a cyclic economy through the use of food scraps.
WHAT WAS THE IMPACT?
Taking a step back and allowing opportunities to fail and reflect, provides space for greater change. The process of discovery, consideration of the environment, sustainability and problem solving through posing questions and answers driven by the students to provided opportunities to utilise oneself as a learning resource. Students are much quicker to ask for answers rather than risk getting it wrong and often adults are more inclined to provide the answers rather than time.
In groups children habitually worked individually, without any direct collaboration yet they demonstrated creativity, imagination and persistence. Outdoor, physical warm-ups, repetition and a focus on reflection and positive feedback showed some of the stronger personalities beginning to settle, and allowed others to provide input. Challenges incorporating how to share responsibilities and respond to feedback resulted in positive and encouraging discussions with groups working better and asking what jobs they could each have. This made a difference in task engagement.
“This week we did better because we had a better map and this time we had three brains instead of two.” (Student)
Following instructions is a challenge. However, is it processing the instructions or following that is challenging? Although students didn’t refer back to their ideas and mind maps in their science experiment, they demonstrated the use of Creative Habits of Learning. This became particularly evident during term 4 when they were given very limited instruction on how to conduct their experiments. Inquisitive use of exploring and investigating, collaborating by cooperating in their groups and giving feedback and sharing the results lead to successful outcome.
Tolerating uncertainty by tackling the experiment head on and using their imagination by playing with the possibilities of adding unknown quantities of materials and reflecting upon whether to add more indicates that maybe it is not necessarily an adult understanding of the Creative Habits but it could certainly be those of a 7 and 8 year old.
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