1.2 Sustainability

Sustainability, how can i help? 

Our focus and reasoning

Recently, children have been learning about sustainability and its impact on the world. Mainly focused on our work in Humanities, more specifically geography, this cross curriculum priority addressed in the Australian Curriculum has also been integrated into other curriculum learning areas. The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) describe sustainability as the ongoing capacity to maintain Earth and all life it holds and that the Earths current needs of sustainability are addressed without impacting the next generation’s needs. Sustainability can be on a global or community scale in the form of individual or collaborative efforts. Our key focus will be on identifying renewable and non-renewable resources in our community, and looking at it in a much larger light on a global scale. 

How Students will learn about Sustainability

The Australian Research Institute for Environment and Sustainability (ARIES) advises that educating students on sustainability develops their knowledge, skills, values and world views to help them contribute to a more sustainable future. To do this, students are taught in 5 components of Sustainability, which will be the teaching focus point on our unit on identifying renewable and non-renewable resources. These being:

• Envisioning (Future thinking, how renewable resources will be used in the future?)

• Systems thinking (Help us with the big issues we are dealing with and help create a solution)

• Critical thinking (challenges us to examine and question the underlying assumptions that affect the way we interpret the world.)

• Participation (being directly involved in the decision making process) 

• Partnerships (Creating partnerships for change strengthens ownership of a problem)

Activities within this unit

With the above teacher focus, students will be engaged in the following activities to best address the cross curriculum priority of Sustainability. These are:

• Learning what makes a renewable and non-renewable resource. E.g. Oil, coal, solar, wind. 

• Investigating renewable and non-renewable resources in the school, community and on a global scale. 

• Positives of renewable resources, and how it is sustainable. E.g. how it will continue to be sustainable for future generations. 

• Future predictions on maintaining life on Earth. 

• How in our school can we be sustainable? Thinking more than just renewable energy. E.g. Recycling, gardening, walking to school. 

As sustainability is a cross curriculum priority, the activities above in the geography unit will see some elements of literacy and science, and if need be, be extended further into these other curriculum areas.

How can you support?

Though learning resources may be limited, demonstrating to your child that items around the house and garden are forms of renewable resources E.g. recycling, water saving devices and plant life, lets the child understand that its more than just a solar panel or wind turbine that help sustain the Earth. Children thinking about the future and recognising the changes they can make to preserve the Earth will instil the next generation with the knowledge to sustain the resource we need to live.