Week 4 Blog Post: Citizenship Learning Through Geography

Hello again parents and welcome to my next blog post that will discuss the component of Geography and how it can connect with Citizenship learning opportunities. Maude (2010) states that teaching Geography in school allows students to gain knowledge about the world, improves their personal development and their geographical understanding to examine vital questions that are essential for becoming informed citizens. Geography influences students to learn about their local area, how to contribute to the improvement of society and the environment and how to gain empathy for others to participate as a community. 

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/01/world/australia/fires.html 

An activity has been created for our Year 5 class that is going to explore bushfires in Australia, the impact they have on the environment and people within the community. Panić et al. (2012) state that awareness for disasters need to be increased and is essential for education as it can save lives and reduce damage. This topic is very relevant for students given the recent fires that affected Australia just last summer. This lesson will start off with a short video clip found on YouTube that is shown below.

Students will be asked a sequence of questions, including: “what were the weather conditions during these fires? How did this effect the strength of the fires?” “How were these bushfires different to others from the past?” Class discussion will be formed by these questions and students will write key points down in their books. Students will also be tasked to come up with their own questions about this disaster, which they will have a chance to research later. This gives students freedom to explore their own interests in the subject and promotes more independent learning. Meyer, et al. (2008) state that independent learning can increase academic performance, motivation and confidence and can improve students’ engagement for lifetime learning.  

Students will be asked to research this disaster using the internet and will write a report that describes the extend of the damage these fires caused and how it affected the communities. Students will need to provide relevant information including: how much land was burnt, how many homes, human and animal lives were lost, and how communities were impacted, along with answering any questions they had earlier. The report will conclude with helpful information to inform others on what a threat bushfires are and ways in which we can help prevent it.


The content descriptors this activity links to is shown below. 

This activity allows students to learn graphical concepts including; the significance the environment has on human life, investigating geographical phenomena and how it has changed over time, and the importance of place and what it means for people. Students develop empathy towards how devastation can affect people’s homes, families and communities. Franzese (2017) states that teaching students empathy gives them both cognitive and emotional abilities and deepens their understanding of a subject matter. Students can also gain satisfaction with the knowledge that they are helping the community by informing them of the dangers and strategies that can be used to minimise the destruction.

Refrences

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA] (2020b). The

Australian: Foundation to year 10 curriculum: Humanities and Social Sciences:

Year 4. Retrieved from: https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/humanities-and-social-sciences/hass/

BBC News. (2019, November, 12th). Australia bushfires: 'It's like fireballs exploding in 
            the air' [Video]. YouTube. URL: 
            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iaxc2RuRnCQ   
Franzese, A. P. (2017). The power of empathy in the classroom. Seton Hall Law Review,

47(693), 693-716. 

Maude, A. (2010). What does geography contribute to the education of young 
             Australians? Geographical Education, 23, 14-23.

Meyer, B., Haywood, N., Sachdev, D., & Faraday, S. (2008). Independent learning:

Literature review. Learning and Skills Network. 1-68.  

Panić, M., Kovačević-Majkić, J., Miljanović, D., & Miletić R. (2012). Importance of 
            natural disaster education- Case study of the earthquake near the city Kraljevo. 
            Geographical Institute, 63(1), 75-88.