School: Frankston High School.

Location: Frankston South.

- 97 Foot Street, Frankston, Victoria, 3199.
Local Resources: Some of the surrounding resources that could be utilised for Outdoor and
Environmental Studies include:
- Frankston Foreshore.
- Sweet Water Creek Nature Reserve.
- Point Leo, Gunnamatta, Sorrento etc.
- Langwarrin Flora and Fauna Reserve.
Key Knowledge:
- Contemporary societal relationships with outdoor environments reflected in different
forms of conservation, recreation, primary industries, and tourism practices.
- The factors influencing contemporary societal relationships with outdoor
environments, including:
o The effects of different technologies.
o Commercialisation of outdoor environments and outdoor experiences.
o Portrayals of outdoor environments and outdoor experiences in the media,
music, art, writing and advertising.
o Social responses to risk taking.
Key Skills:
- Plan for and reflect upon a range of practical sustainable outdoor experiences and
analyse relevant information collected during these experiences.
- Compare and contrast different contemporary societal relationships with outdoor
environments.
- Analyse and evaluate factors influencing contemporary societal relationships with
outdoor environments.
- Analyse contemporary social and political discourses about environmental issues.
VCAA (2011). Outdoor and Environmental Studies: Victorian Certificate of Education Study
Design. Retrieved Aug 27, 2015 from http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/.../outdoorenviro-sd2012.pdf
Unit Overview/Schedule:
Week:
One:

Two:

Class/Period
:
Friday P1,
P2, Double
(2x50 min
classes)
Monday P0,
Single (50
min class)

Key Knowledge:

Class Content/Activities:

Snorkelling fieldwork at Details

in
Flinders pier.
overview below.

fieldwork

Intro to dot points.

+ves & -ves of technology
Start on technology dot improvements.
point.
Kinds of technology, how its
changed over time.
Influences of technology on
relationships with OE.
Relate
to
students

Resources
Assessment:
& Materials:
Details
in
fieldwork
overview
below.
Nelson text
book
(pg.
187 192).
PowerPoint
presentation
.

experience of snorkelling.
Wednesday
Begin technology class Different technologies will
P5,
P6, assignment/project.
be taken into class (packs,
Double
boots, tents etc.)
(2x50
in
Students to complete a
classes)
research assignment on the
development of technology.

Friday P1,
P2, Double
(2x50 min
classes)
Three: Monday P0,
Single (50
min class)

Snorkelling fieldwork at
Rye pier.

Wednesday
P5,
P6,
Double
(2x50
in
classes)

(P5) - Begin portrayals

of outdoor enviro and
experience.
Musics portrayals of
outdoors
and
experiences.

Begin commercialisation
of outdoor enviros and
experiences dot point.

(P6) - Where the

portrayals are found
intro continued.

Friday P1,
P2, Double
(2x50 min
classes)

(P1) Continue with

portrayals
of
the
outdoors, writing/poems.
(P2) Focus on arts
portrayals of outdoor
environments.

Technology
examples.
Computers.
Assessment
info
and
guidelines.
Text book
(pg. 187
192)
Details
in
fieldwork Details
in
overview below.
fieldwork
overview
below.
Theory from text book (pg. Text book
193 197).
(pg. 193
Class
discussion/debate 197).
about for and against
arguments
on
commercialising
the
outdoors.
Theory from text book (pg. Text book
198 203). Focusing on (pg. 198
adversary,
gymnasium, 203).
resource,
museum
& Projector
cathedral definitions.
and laptop.
How outdoors can be
portrayed
in
music
(examples of songs/lyrics,
students to analyse using
perception, interaction &
impacts)
Begin with looking at Text book
outdoors in the media, how it (pg. 203
is portrayed (pg. 203 205). 205).
In groups analyse magazine
articles
and
images
(perception, interaction, aims
of media & impact).
Sample
poems,
answer Text book
question from textbook (pg. (pg. 205).
205, learning activity).
Andy
Goldsworthy Text book
documentary on YouTube (pg. 206).
(see appendix) & answer Laptop
&
questions provided (see projector,

See
appendix
for
assignment
guidelines.

Four:

Monday P0, Portrayals of OE in

Single (50 advertising.
min class)
Begin content, social
response to risk taking.

Wednesday
(P5 & 6) Continue
P5,
P6, with content on social
Double
response to risk taking.
(2x50
in
classes)

appendix).
Homework (make own piece
of naturalist artwork for
Monday),
Theory & examples from
textbook (pg. 206).
Look at student artwork.
PowerPoint
presentation
(content from text book pg.
206 211).
Discuss own experiences of
risk and relate to fieldwork
experiences.
Case study task (details in
appendix).

internet
connection.

Text book
(pg. 206
211).
Laptop
&
projector.

Laptop,
projector, &
case studies.
Text book
(pg. 206
211).

See
appendix
for
assignment
guidelines.

Fieldwork Experience:
Snorkeling experience at Flinders pier and Rye pier.
Location:
- Flinders Pier: (24 The Esplanade, Flinders VIC 3929).
- Rye Pier: (2389 Point Nepean Rd, Rye VIC 3941).
Activity: Snorkeling.
Duration: Each fieldwork experience will utilise three periods of school time (using double
period of Outdoor Education and Environmental studies) and half of recess (10 minutes),
with a total duration (including travel)of approximately three hours. Time in the water will
depend on conditions and student ability, but is estimated around 40 45 minutes.
Equipment:
- 25 seater bus.
- Wetsuit.
- Snorkel, mask and fins.
- Towel and warm clothes.
- First aid kit.
- School phone.
- Student medical profiles.
Learning Activities:
- Safety Brief: Before the students and teachers get into the water, a safety briefing will
occur. This will cover signals for in and out of the water, hypothermia drills, rules and
regulations, marine animal safety and general guidelines for snorkeling.
- Marine Biology talk: A short sharp talk about the potential marine species students
may see, how they survive and live, conservation efforts and general information.
- Snorkeling: As sated previously, 40 45 minutes of snorkeling in groups (following
the leader).
3

Students will be required to keep a log of the activities and things they have seen in order for
them to relate the experience to theory done in class.

Critical Summary:
(Martin, et al., 2006, p.172) describes experiential education, particularly in the outdoor
fields, as a philosophy and methodology in which educators purposefully engage the learners
in direct experience and focused reflection in order to increase knowledge, develop skills, and
clarify values. The term direct experience can mean one of many things, in the field of
outdoor recreation, direct experience refers to a direct firsthand involvement where
students are active in the learning process (Worboys, 2013). The fieldwork experience that
the students will undertake in this unit of work is designed to directly link into the content
they are covering from the study design. As much as the experience is about teaching the
students skills and safety in the water, it enables them to have a firsthand experience they can
reflect upon and relate back to the theory from the study design and textbook.
Linking to the direct experience and having a firsthand involvement in something
such as snorkelling, is the experiential educative style of teaching. Scholar John Dewey
contended that experience is learning and that experience comes through an interaction, this
is Deweys Principle of Interactions (Carver & Enfield, 2006). Dewey believed in a
process of inquiry or problem solving, believing that students should still learn the
traditional content or skills, however he wished it to be taught through subject matter which
introduced questions, problems, mystery and were contentious in one way or another, as well
as being an authentic problem (relatable to real life/environment). (Rud, 2006) states how
experiences can be used to learn and transform a persons way of thinking, ensuring that
someone will gain all they can from that experience as opposed to getting the core knowledge
only. From the above evidence, the educative process of taking students on various
snorkelling trips to link the theory into practice, will increase their capacity to understand and
gather meaning from said theory and expectantly improve their knowledge.
Linking to the AusVELS curriculum, they state at a level ten standard (understandably
this is below VCE, but still relevant), Students [are able to] examine the concept of
adventure in outdoor activities as well as perceived and actual risk (VCAA, 2015). These
concepts are still relevant for VCE students and the tasks, fieldwork and theory are all
underpinned by these exact guidelines. (Leopold, 1989) speaks of the different relationships
within the place or environment and how they greatly influence how you perceive an external
environment. As this unit and outcome of work is all about the perceptions and societal
4

relationships people have with outdoor environments, giving students the theory and practical
experience in varying ways, allows them to, in theory, understand and learn the content
described in the Outdoor and Environmental Studies curriculum/study design.
(Gardner, 1983) as cited in (Cooper, 1994) recognises that people (students) will have
different interests, abilities and will learn better in different methods. This unit of work and
the classes created was designed to offer a range of different learning styles, allowing for
flexibility in the teaching styles and approach to teaching the content. With classroom
activities ranging from discussion, writing, note taking, videos, reading, researching and
artwork, pedagogically there is a wide assortment of educative experiences for students to
undertake in learning the content needed.

References:
Carver, R. L., Enfield, R.P. (2006). John Deweys Philosophy of Education is Alive and Well.
Education and Culture, 22(1), 55 67. Doi: DOI: 10.1353/eac.2006.0003.
Cooper, G. (1994). The role of Outdoor Education for the 21st Century. The Journal of
Adventure Education and Outdoor Leadership, 1, 9-12.
Leopold, A. (1989). A Sand Country Almanac, and Sketches Here and There
(Commemorative
Edition). New York: Oxford University Press.
Mannion, A., Cross, M., Hughes, P., Park, L., Gough, A., Pleasants, K., & Black, J (Eds).
(2014). Nelson Outdoor and Environmental Studies (3rd Ed.). Melbourne: Cengage
Learning Australia.
Martin, B., Cashel, C., Wagstaff, M., & Breunig, M. (2006). Outdoor Leadership: Theory and
Practice. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
Rud, A. G. (2006). The Head, Heart and Hands. Education and Culture, 22(1), 5 6. Doi:
10.1353/eac.2006.0008.
VCAA (2011). Outdoor and Environmental Studies: Victorian Certificate of Education Study
Design. Retrieved Aug 27, 2015 from http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/.../outdoorenvirosd-2012.pdf
VCAA.
(2015).
Health
and
Physical
Education.
Retrieved
from
http://ausvels.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Health-and-Physical-Education/Curriculum#level=8

Worboys, A. (2013). EDF2612 Experiential Education in Sport and Outdoor Recreation.

Unpublished manuscript, EDF2612, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria,
Australia.

Appendix:
ANDY GOLDSWORTHY: RIVERS AND TIDES.
Seeing art such as Andy Goldsworthys increases peoples appreciation for what the
environment can offer, people are likely to perceive it as a temple, something beautiful and
worth protecting. Conservational interactions such as protection of indigenous rock art sites
or even the construction of their own environmental art are likely to increase. Impacts on the
environment are therefor likely to become positive, with more people interested in conserving
the natural beauty this world has to offer.
Watch both videos and answer the following questions:
Describe two pieces of artwork, in detail, that Andy has created in the videos (one from each
video). Include how it was made, the materials, where it was situated, the time of day it was
filmed, was it moving or static etc.

Choose one of the above examples and identify/explain how the environment is portrayed?
(Peaceful, flowing, unique etc.)

What do you perceive the message Andy is trying to portray in his artwork?

How can this artwork and the way people perceive its message influence people and their
perceptions on an environment?

How can it affect those who witness the artwork?

Is Andys artwork detrimental to the environment in any way? Explain your answer.

Complete the table below:

Portrayal
Perception

Interaction

Impact

Over the weekend your task will be to find 2 pieces of Australian artwork, it can be any form
of artwork, and bring a picture of it into class. You will need to be able to justify why it has
an influence on the environment. Perhaps you can create your own piece of artwork!

The Effects of Different Technologies:

In groups of 4 5 you will be given a piece of technology from a specific outdoor activity.
Your task will be to research how the different technologies have evolved and changed over
time to what they are today. The piece of technology you research does not have to be the one
you are given, but it must be associated with that outdoor activity.
Your report/PowerPoint presentation should include:
- An example of the chosen technology (new and old).
- How has it changed over time?
o The materials used?
o The size or shape?
o The design?
o Give reasons why the technology changed?
The second part of this task will be to briefly write about the influence on contemporary
relationships with Outdoor Environments in society.
- This means looking at the following influences:
o Alienation.
o Participation.
o Safety.
o Performance.
o Access.
- For each influence above write about how your selected piece of technology does or
doesnt influence them (remember; Perception, Interaction and Impact).
This task is to be started in class and finished off over the weekend. It will be due in on
Monday Period zero (20/4/15). Each person must hand in their own work, however you can
collaborate with others in your group to find your information.
Good Luck!!
SOCIETYS RESPONSE TO RISK TAKING.
By Regina Gleeson.
Read through the article and answer the following questions:
1. List and describe three examples from the article, of how society has responded to
misadventure and risk.
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2. Using one example from question 1, evaluate how it has influenced peoples
relationships with the OE.
3. In a short paragraph, explain what you think the author is trying to say about risk.
What is their stand on the issue?
4. The author raises questions about discrimination and exclusion. Does reducing risk
through different strategies increase or decrease exclusion? Why or why not?
5. Is risk always a bad thing in an Outdoor Environment or during an activity? Why or
why not?
6. Find your own media response to a misadventure or risk taking activity and evaluate
how it influenced your own perception and societys relationships with outdoor
environments.

10