Year 8 - Waste not want not

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Above: Shopping, illustration by Jan Gillbank

This is a thematic inquiry-based unit in which students will explore how the concept of waste has been used as a setting in stories or as a social and political topic of blogs and articles, thematic documentaries and works of art. Not to mention waste being a very significant issue in the 21st century. Students will apply a range of critical reading and viewing strategies in response to a number of suggested related texts, including the novel Trash ..., the short documentary film Waste Not, the ABC series War on Waste, the feature documentary Waste Land, the photographic expose Running the Numbers and a series of suggested articles, blogs, media clips and websites related to this inquiry topic and a sustainability theme. There are of course many resources out there! Students will participate in individual and collaborative learning experiences, including critical reading activities and review writing experiences. The unit will culminate in students writing a feature article about a chosen topic and they will create a community action or exhibit aiming to help others to be try a more sustainable practice.


Lesson Sequence

Australian Curriculum: English Year 8

Sequence 1: How do we quantify and conceptualise waste?

Sequence 2: How do we bring this global issue closer to home?

Sequence 3: How have ‘waste lands’ been used as a setting in fiction?

Sequence 4: What are the realities of living with waste?

Sequence 5: What does sustainable living really mean?

Sequence 6: How can we draw people’s attention towards more sustainable practices?

Sequence 7: How have people made their lifestyles more sustainable?

Sequence 8: How has e-waste become the waste of the 21st century?

Sequence 9: How do I find the right angle to a story?

Sequence 10: How do I write an effective feature article?

Sequence 11: How do I add credibility when writing informative texts?

Sequence 12: How are our lifestyles shaping and changing the planet?


Duration and pathways: Using this unit in the classroom

This unit is designed to be used flexibly in a number of possible ways. Students will inquire into an important sustainability theme as they address the essential question presented. This will also include further questions that arise from issues around the prevalence of waste and how our lifestyles are shaping and changing the planet. The unit can be conceptualised as a larger inquiry-based unit with 12 connected sequences of learning, ranging from tuning-in activities to students taking action with their learned skills, knowledge and understandings. Or the teacher could opt to run with some or all of the activities presented, or indeed modify activities, content and modes of presentation to suit the contexts of your school and the nature of the unit of work.

The unit could be broken into parts based on a question that guides a particular learning sequence; for example, a specific focus on an individual making a difference or an issue in focus. This unit would complement the study of a novel, or text in focus, or a paired text study; for example, using Andy Mulligan’s novel Trash with the documentary film Waste Land. A closer focus could be made on review writing using the first four sequences of learning in particular. The latter sequences in this unit could be isolated if a key focus were to be placed on the teaching of non-fiction writing processes, or feature article writing in more depth.

The unit could complement the study of broader issues of sustainability, moving beyond a focus on rubbish or waste, to climate change, population studies, food production and consumption, or even to an exploration of space junk! Students can also be encouraged to undertake further research into any one of these ideas. There are many ways that this unit could also be integrated with other learning areas as part of a cross curricular inquiry, such as teaming with science, geography or visual arts study. The unit could also lead into a project-based approach to learning, culminating in a class- or school-based sustainability project, a project aiming to draw attention to re-using and re-purposing personal rubbish, or waste.

Unit writer:

Erika Boas teaches English and Humanities at Ogilvie High School in Tasmania where she is also the Assistant Principal in charge of the Middle Years. She is passionate about using inquiry-based pedagogies to foster deep learning.

Rich assessment tasks:

The two key summative assessment tasks for this unit involve student participation in a critical reading assignment (Assessment task 1) and the creation of a written feature article (Assessment task 2).

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