Activity 6

Name: Community garden.

Level: Year level 4.
Learning area: Geography.
Context: Whole class, collaborative group and pair work.

Activity description
The community garden activity has been designed for students to gain an understanding of how
Indigenous people live for and protect the land. To begin the activity an Indigenous elder from the north
side of Brisbane will be invited into the classroom to share their stories and their knowledge of their
environment and connectedness to the land. This elder will bring in plants and seeds native to the local
area and provide information on how to care for these particular plants. In pairs students will create a Y
chart for the plants provided. Following the excursion the students will create their own community
garden by planting the native seeds that have been given by the Indigenous elder. The students will need
to select the best area to plant these seeds and will need to care for them over a period of six months.
Students will take pictures of the site and will record their information on the presentation tool StoryBird.
Their first entry will consist of a map and picture of each of their plants and a paragraph of information
they discovered throughout the incursion. Every week the teacher will provide the students with a short
time to take pictures, measure and record the growth and development of these plants. This activity will
allow students to gain an understanding of sustainability through the eyes of an Indigenous elder. The skills
that the students will gain from this learning opportunity they will remember for a lifetime.

Activity process and questions

1. To being this activity an Indigenous spokesperson from the Brisbane north area will be invited into
the school to discuss their connection to the environment.
2. This elder will bring with them a variety of native plants which they will show and discuss with the
students.
3. The Indigenous spokesperson will explain to the students their deep connection to the land and
how to care for native plants and trees.
4. During the incursion students will have the opportunity to ask the elder a variety of questions to
assist them with their learning.
5. When investigating the native plants the students will need to complete the Y chart.
6. The teacher will then pose a variety of questions to the students about what they learnt during the
incursion:
o What do the Indigenous people call the native silky oak tree?
o Can all of these seeds be planted together?
o How often should we water them?
o Can we plant these trees near buildings?
o How did these native trees help Indigenous people? What did they use them for?
o How do these trees help us or the environment today?
7. Following this the students will be responsible for creating a small community garden.
8. The students will need to plant and care for this garden as a group.
9. The students will then create a StoryBird for the garden that will show on a map the areas in
Australia to which these plants grow, their name and significance to Indigenous culture.
10. Over a period of six months the students will record and document the growth of these plants and
will also add this information to the story board.

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Student background knowledge

Students have an understanding of:
o How important the land and country is to Indigenous people (Year 3, ACHHK060).
o Indigenous peoples significance in the protection of Australian land.
o Representing data by using tables and graphs (Year 3 ACHGS021).
o Interpreting geographical data and draw conclusions (Year 3, ACHGS023).

Learning objectives
By the end if this activity students will have the ability to:
1. Design, plant and care for a native community garden.
2. Identify the names of each of the plants in the community garden.
3. Explain the importance of the different plants to Indigenous people of the area.
4. Illustrate how we can care for the land, native plants and wildlife.
5. Predict and record the growth of each tree and plant in the garden.

Learning intensions
In the activity today we will be learning:
1. The Indigenous tribe and language spoken in the school land.
2. What the school land means to the Indigenous people.
3. How Indigenous people care for the land.
4. The trees and shrubs that are native to this area.
5. How we can plant and care for these native plants.

Curriculum content descriptions

Geography:
Geographical knowledge and understanding:
o The types of natural vegetation and the significance of vegetation to the environment and to
people (ACHGK021).
Elaborations:
o Identifying the main types of natural vegetation, including forest, savannah, grassland, woodland
and desert, and explaining the relationship between climate and natural vegetation.
o Exploring how vegetation produces the oxygen all land animals (including people) breathe;
protects land from erosion by water or wind; retains rainfall; provides habitat for animals;
shelters crops and livestock; provides shade for people; cools urban places; produces medicines,
wood and fibre; and can make places appear more attractive.
Geographical knowledge and understanding:
o The custodial responsibility Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples have for Country/Place,
and how this influences their past and present views about the use of resources (ACHGK023).
Elaborations:
o Recognising that the distribution of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples before
colonisation was concentrated in the coastal and riverine areas of Australia.
o Investigating how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples ways of living were adapted to
the resources of their Country/Place, for example, the alpine country of the Ngarigo People; the
rainforests, beaches and dunes of the KuKu Yalanji People; the desert country of the Arrernte
People; the savannah country of the Jawoyn People; the riverine plains of the Wiradjuri People; and
the local Country/Place.
o Investigating how knowledge and practices shared among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Peoples are linked to sustainable use of resources and environments (rotational use and
harvesting of resources, mutton bird harvesting in Tasmania, and the collection of bush food from
semi-arid rangelands).
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Science:
Science inquiry skills: Processing and analysing data and information:
o Use a range of methods including tables and simple column graphs to represent data and to
identify patterns and trends (ACSIS068).
Elaborations:
o Identifying and discussing numerical and visual patterns in data collected from students'
investigations and from other sources.
o Using provided graphic organisers to sort and represent information.
o Discussing with teacher guidance which graphic organisers will be most useful in sorting or
organising data arising from investigations.

General capabilities
Literacy:
o Students will use their literacy skills to explain the significance of each seed planted to Indigenous
people and process of care which they will follow during the next several months. This will be
displayed using the StoryBird website.
Numeracy:
o Students will also use their numeracy skills to measure and record the length of growth over a
period of six months. This growth chart will be recorded into their geography journals to add to the
final page of the story board.
Information and communication technology (ICT) capability:
o The StoryBird website has been used as a presentation tool to display their thinking processes and
record the data gained throughout the next six months. Students will take picture and annotate
them explaining the grown and development of each plant.
Personal and social capability:
o During this activity students will be working in pairs and also in small groups. Additionally these
students will need to interact appropriately with the Indigenous elder and pose questions to this
elder to enhance their learning.
Intercultural understanding:
o Intercultural understanding is promoted throughout this activity through the Indigenous elder visit.

Cross curriculum
Aboriginal and Torrs Strait Islander histories and cultures:
o This activity is an authentic leaning experience where students will receive first hand information
on the significance and close connection that Indigenous people have to their environment (OI.2,
OI.3). Students will consume this firsthand knowledge and will remember this experience for a
lifetime.
Sustainability:
o Throughout this activity the students will gain an understanding of the protection and sustainability
strategies which the Indigenous people used throughout Australia. They will use these strategies as
a guide to caring for their own community school garden.

ICT processes and skills

To complete the activity students will need to have:
o Basic operational skills.
o Efficient use of the internet.
o Navigation capability.
o Ability to take pictures and upload them onto a presentation website.
o Annotate information and add text to these pictures.

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Assessment for, as and of learning

Assessment for learning:
o The Y chart completed during the incursion with assist the teacher to gain an understanding of
what information the students have gained on these plants during the incursion. This will allow the
teacher to extend their knowledge in the areas where needed.
Assessment as learning:
o As a whole class students will develop a variety of questions to ask the Aboriginal elder while they
are at the school. The questions will allow students to take responsibility of their own learning
during the incursion.
Assessment of learning:
o The story board created by the students will provide the teacher with an indication of what
knowledge the students have gained throughout the entire learning process.

Risk assessment
o When developing the community garden the students will need to wear gloves and protective
o
o
o
o

footwear.
Students will be allocated a buddy in their group that they will need to watch over during the
activity.
The gardening tools must be used appropriately during this activity (no sharp tools will be used).
Continuous head counts will be taken by the teacher during the activity.
First aid kit will be on-hand if an injury does occur.

Materials and resources

Y chart:
The Y chart will be used during the incursion for students to complete when they are investigating the
native plants in the area.

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Gardening materials:
Gardening materials such as shovels, rakes and gloves will need to be sourced for this activity. In prior
lessons it may also be beneficial to make the traditional gardening tools used by Indigenous people.

Story bird:
Once the community garden has finished students will document, explain and record the growth of the
plants using the storybird website. Students can upload pictures and information to help them explain the
progress of the plants in the community garden.

Differentiation of learning
Collaborative learning:
o Throughout this activity students will need to work in collaborative groups to complete their
allocated section of the community garden (Loreman, Deppeler & Harvey, 2011). This will ensure
that students are supporting each other and their learning during the activity.
Discovery learning:
o This lesson fosters discovery learning through planting and caring for a native garden. Students will
be immersed in this authentic learning experience where they will discover their own ways and use
the ways of others to care for the environment (Foster, 1972).
Blooms taxonomy:
o During this activity students will create a variety of questions for the Indigenous elder guest and
the teacher will also pose questions for the students to answer on specific topics (Whitton, Barker,
Nosworthy, Sinclair, & Nanlohy, 2010). This strategy has been used for the teacher to extend
students thinking processes during the activity.
Constructivist learning:
o The authentic experience provided by this activity will ensure that students are exposed to handson learning opportunities and skills that they can relate to and use in the future (Woolfolk &
Margetts, 2010).
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Evaluation
o
o
o
o
o

Did students benefit from the information gained during the incursion?
Were the learners effectively engaged by this hands-on learning experience?
How could this activity be improved to suit all learning styles?
What could be improved to cater for students who are not grasping the concepts?
Were the learning opportunities significant to geography?

References
Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority. (n.d.). Australian Curriculum. Retrieved from
http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/
Cool Australia. (n.d.). Incursion information. Received from http://www.coolaustralia.org/takeaction/indigenous-connections/
Foster, J. (1972). Discovery learning in the primary school. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Global Education. (n.d.). Y chart. Retrived from
http://www.globaleducation.edu.au/verve/_resources/ychart.pdf
Loreman, T., Deppeler, J., & Harvey, D. (2011). Inclusive education: Supporting diversity in the classroom (2
ed.). Crows Nest: NSW: Allen & Unwin.
Story Bird (n.d.). Story bird. Retrieved from https://storybird.com/create/
Whitton, D., Barker, K., Nosworthy, M., Sinclair, C., & Nanlohy, P. (2010). Learning for teaching: Teaching
for learning (2nd ed.). Melbourne, VIC: Cengage Learning Australia Pty Limited.
Woolfolk, A., & Margetts, K. (2010). Educational psychology (2nd ed.). Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson
Australia.

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