Land Issues

1. Local Area Investigation

2. Local Land Use Issue

3. Drama or Role Play

4. Case Studies on the CD ROM: Making Connections and Land Issues Sections

5. Persuasive Language

6. Case Study: Looking After The Sea And The Coastlines

7. Making Comparisons

8. Worth Saving: World Heritage Listings in Australia

9. Rich Descriptions

10. Aboriginal Place Names

11. Signing Up

12. Threatened Species

13. Top Ten

4. Case Studies on the CD ROM: Making Connections and Land Issues Sections

Discuss and list activities and responsibilities of a park ranger. Listen to people experiences of visiting natural places and read additional excerpts from references which show anecdotes of people's experiences of visiting these conservation areas eg Australian Geographic, Habitat, Geo. Then ask the students to list the activities and responsibilities of people visiting the parks. Compare the two lists.

Use the journal and/or photos to create a stimulus for student creativity and exploration into their identity and relationship with the land. Students could bring a photograph or some representation/symbol of their special place to share with others. Students write a reflection/ poem/ song/ story or draw a picture that explains or examines their own feelings about visiting a special natural place. Why is it special? Why do they have feelings for this place? What do they 'feel' in this place? This activity could be supported with a discussion about their attitudes and values towards the environment. Discussions could be encourages using a variety of strategies such as the values continuum, role plays, debates, values dilemmas (for details how to facilitate these types of strategies see Lemin, M., Potts, H. & Welsford, P.(eds) 1994, Values Strategies for classroom teachers, ACER, Hawthorn.)

5. Persuasive Language

Introduce the sign found in many Australian National parks: Take Nothing But Photographs. Leave Nothing But Footprints. Jointly construct a persuasive text which puts forward a thesis about this statement and then considers the arguments for and against it. Try to get students to consider the different viewpoints involved ( Aboriginal people; people wanting to grow or sell plants or animals; people wanting to use motorbikes or four wheel drives; people who own pets.) Gather examples of the ways in which conservation messages are conveyed in our society by tee shirts, cards, posters, billboards, pamphlets, signs. Using the web material and other sources available to you, collect patterns of language used in the pamphlets, local council or government agency signs, newspaper articles that show how the authors are trying to persuade readers to a particular point of view.

6. Case Study: Looking After The Sea And The Coastlines

For many of us the sea holds great wonder in its beauty, its power and its vastness. Most of life on Earth is aquatic. The joy of seeing a seal, a whale, a dolphin, different seabirds, a large school of fish, or the seastars and crabs around the rockpools can continue throughout a person's life, regardless of their wealth and position.

Southern Humpback whales travel from Antarctica to spend the winter along Australia's eastern and western coastlines.
Many give birth in Harvey Bay in Queensland.
On the west coast, humpbacks travel as far north as Shark Bay and even Exmouth.
After their calves are born they return to the rich feeding grounds of Antarctica for the summer. Sperm, blue, beaked and minke whales can all be seen off the south west coast.
Southern Right Whales are regularly seen from Albany in Western Australia to Warrnambool in Victoria during the winter period.

Half of all the marine species that Australian seawaters contain are not found anywhere else in the world so we need to think of this as a precious resource that will continue to be enjoyed by Australians and overseas visitors. Some marine animals are now endangered and placed on the World Conservation Union's 'red list'. These include southern blue fin tuna and the dugong. The dugong totally depends on sea grass for its food and therefore the protection of its habitat is very important.

Facts and Figures ~ The Government has some initiatives to study and protect Australia's oceans:

The Ocean Rescue 2000
The Coastal Action ProgramThe Coasts and Clean Seas Initiative will focus on the key areas of pollution
The control of commercial and recreational fishing.

Marine Protected Areas

A Marine Protected Area is set aside to protect (through laws and rules) the plants, animals and features in a particular place. Over 300 Marine Protected Areas now exist in Australia, mostly in tropical Northern Australia; but in Southern Australia areas are now also protected, including Yallingup Reef, Western Australia, the Great Australian Bight Marine Park in South Australia, Governor Island Marine Nature Reserve, near Bicheno, Tasmania and Towra Point Aquatic Reserve and Botany Bay in South Sydney.

Facts and Figures ~

The Great Barrier Reef is Australia's largest marine park.
The second largest is the Great Australian Bight marine Park.

Facts and Figures ~

An Australian Bush Heritage Fund has been established so that Australian people can purchase properties to protect the land and the wildlife. Some of these properties are along the coastline such as the 120 hectares at Friendly Beach just north of Freycinet peninsula on Tasmania's west coast.

Australia's vast coastline and small population provides us with many advantages over smaller more crowded islands or countries. The amount of human traffic on our beaches, coastlines and islands is not great, apart from the areas close to the major population centres.

Unfortunately, the sea has become a dumping ground in some places and there are bad effects on its health and its life forms. Sewage, domestic and industrial waste have changed the sea and many of its creatures are harmed.

Facts and Figures ~ The conversion of coastal area

The conversion of coastal areas into housing, industry, tourist facilities has caused great pollution. About 80% of sea pollution comes from run off from sewage, industrial and chemical waste and agriculture.

(Source: Department of Land and Water Conservation, 1998)

1998 was the International Year of the Ocean. Australia's oceans and coastlines received attention because its coastline, reefs and marine ecosystems are amongst the most beautiful and unique in the world.

Students investigate a coastal/ marine issue that is "closest" to them. Inland schools could partner with a coastal school to share information and ask questions about the local environment. Students identify and explain the significance of the local coastal/marine environment and the local conservation issues. Students could present their information and findings on their school's website and email the relevant url to Lore of the Land website so that it could be hotlinked (from the LOTL website).