Lesson Plan - Level 10 Generalist

Summary of Lesson
Lesson Title

Excursion to CERES Community Environment Park.

Time Allocation

50 minute lesson / Half Day Excursion

Instructional Model(s)

GANAG / e5

Aim / Lesson Goal

1. To understand how carbon dioxide concentrations vary in the atmosphere and

to describe strategies that can be used to mitigate, stabilise and reduce
atmospheric carbon dioxide levels.
2. To understand the concept of an ecological footprint.
3. To compare the ecological footprints of Australia and various Asian nations.

AusVELS Outcomes

Level 10 Science - ACSSU189;

Level 10 Mathematics - ACMSP278;
Level 10 English - ACELA1567

Prior Knowledge and

Lesson Prerequisites

An understanding of the Earths dynamic systems; particularly the atmosphere.

An understanding of greenhouse gases and greenhouse gas emissions.
An understanding of the very basic social, cultural, political and environmental
differences between Australia and Asia.
An understanding of how to calculate the average of a data set.

Materials Required

- Students will need to take a pen / pencil and something to write on whilst at
CERES. They will also need their Inquiry Journal.

Key Vocabulary

Carbon Dioxide; Climate Change; Greenhouse Gas Emissions; Atmosphere;

Parts Per Million (ppm); Histogram; Line Graph

Lesson Overview & Connection to AusVELS

This lesson, which begins in the classroom and finishes in an alternative setting (an
excursion to CERES), will provide students with an overview of the carbon dioxide cycle in the
atmosphere; and how a countrys ecological footprint can impact greenhouse gas emissions, and
thus contribute to the carbon dioxide cycle and climate change.
This lesson will focus on the Cross Curriculum Priority of Asia and Australias Engagement with
Asia; students will consider the different social, cultural, political and environmental situations in
Australia and a few Asian nations in order to describe why their needs and demands may be
disparate. This high basis of intercultural understanding is key as the students will go on an
excursion and explore how scientists can measure CO2 levels in different countries, why these CO2
levels may be different and ways in which these CO2 levels can be mitigated, stabilised or reduced
specific to the country in question.

Content of Lesson (Completed at school and CERES)

Information & Learning Activities

Section of Lesson
GANAG:
Lesson Goal

- Students will copy down the lesson goals from

-

e5: Engage

above.
Students will be talked through the rules for the
excursion for the day.

- Students will be divided into four groups: one

GANAG: Accessing
Prior Knowledge

e5: Explore

group is Australia, one group is China, one

group is Japan and one group is India.
Each group must research and write down some
of the basic social, cultural, political and
environmental elements of their groups country.
The classroom will come together to share ideas.

Time Allocation & Materials

Completed at school
10 minutes.

Completed at school.
20 minutes.
This information is
important for students to
learn before going on the
excursion.

- Students will travel to CERES Community

GANAG: Learn New
Information
e5: Explain

Completed at CERES.
Environment Park. Students will undertake two
Half Day Excursion.
CERES education programs: CO2 monitoring and
Mitigation; and Ecological Footprints (see
Appendix).
Students will be required to fill out their Inquiry
Journals throughout the day with important
information they have learnt about these two key
areas.

- The teacher will provide students with a

worksheet to complete that contains the following
tasks: (i) suggest and justify two ideas that
Australia and China could implement to reduce
their ecological footprints; (ii) define the term
ppm and explain how carbon dioxide
concentrations vary in Earths atmosphere.

GANAG: Apply New

Information
e5: Elaborate

GANAG: Review
Goal.
e5: Evaluate

- Students will write a self evaluation in their book

of what they have learnt and post-rate their

classroom behaviour, effort and attention as
below expected / expected / above expected.
The teacher will distribute additional homework.

Completed at CERES.
20 minutes. It is
recommended that the
students spend 10 minutes
on each Worksheet task.
See appendix for additional
questions if necessary.
Completed at CERES.
5 minutes.
See the Assessment
section for a description of
the homework task.

Formative and Summative Assessment

The students have an upcoming summative assessment task which requires them to complete a
Research Assessment on climate change. The teacher should prompt the students to finish and
complete their Inquiry Journals to enhance their understanding for the assessment task.
As a form of formative assessment, students will complete a worksheet on the CERES excursion and
will also be required to take detailed notes in their Inquiry Journal throughout the excursion.
As a form of formative assessment, for homework students will be provided with the carbon dioxide
emissions of the capital cities of China and Australia and asked to work out an average country wide
CO2 emissions measurement. They will then have to write a 100 word summary about why these
ecological footprints are vastly different and suggest one way specific to each country that could
assist in reducing the ecological footprints.

Appendix / Resources
The following are excerpts from the CERES climate change education flyer, which details specifically
what activities the students will be engaging in on the excursion:

The following questions can be posed to the students if they finish the questions from the Elaborate
section of the lesson plan early:
1. Using your knowledge of the differences between Australia and Asia, explain ways in which
Australia might influence the ecological footprint of an Asian nation.
2. Using the intercultural understanding you have developed in this lesson, explain why the Kyoto
Protocol, an international pledge to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, may not be successful thus
far. Can you suggest another way that countries could work towards decreasing their ecological
footprints?
3. List five different changes you can make to your daily routine to reduce your individual ecological
footprint.