442
S. Emery et al.
To establish these partnerships, the SRs organised a number of web-conferences
that brought facilitators and participating teachers together prior to the event. These
web-conferences provided opportunities for the teachers to ask questions of the SRs
and facilitating community members and industry professionals about how the day
would run and the activities/topics that would be covered to help them prepare their
students and to plan relevant pre-and-post event classroom-based learning activities.
5.3 Environmental Sustainability Learning in Action
The DMWB event began with an opening address from a Burnie City Council representative which underscored the importance of environmental sustainability initiatives in north-west Tasmania and acknowledged the Plairhekehillerplue People,
the traditional Aboriginal owners and custodians of the lands on which Burnie is
located and whom for generations have protected, nurtured and sustained its environment. Students then dispersed to participate in a wide variety of participatory
environmental sustainability activities through which different classes of students
rotated throughout the day. These activities included:
Beach clean-up: West Beach in Burnie is situated approximately 300 m from the
city’s central business district. It connects the city’s main retail and shopping facilities
with one of its most popular tourist attractions via a boardwalk built above the foreshore. West Beach is host to a penguin habitat and is a popular beach for swimming
and other recreational activities. Pollution, in the form of litter from neighbouring
food retailers, assorted plastics and abandoned fishing tackle, is a critical issue at this
beach. The beach clean-up activity involved students collectively and systematically
scanning a section of the beach, removing rubbish and marine debris, and cataloguing
the types of debris that were found and its origins. Through this activity, the students
were actively engaged in thinking about and evaluating their community’s impact
on the coastal environment while undertaking meaningful and achievable action to
address the problem. Having cleared a section of the beach of visible litter and debris,
students further engaged in discussions with the activity facilitator (a representative
from the Tasmanian Department of Education organised by the SRs) about appropriate waste management strategies, recycling, single-use plastics and the impact of
marine debris on marine and bird life.
Swap meet: A flea-market style ‘swap meet’ in which students swapped items
such as toys, books and clothing was also organised to enhance and extend students’
understanding of the ‘reduce-reuse-recycle’ message. In exchange for tokens (gumnuts, wooded fruits from the Australian Eucalyptus tree), students brought items from
home that they no longer played with or used to share with their peers. At lunchtime and between other activities, the SRs and other facilitators supported students
to visit the swap meet to exchange their tokens for the pre-owned items shared by
their peers. The swap meet was highly effective in enabling students to see the value
of pre-owned toys, books and clothing and in encouraging them to consider more
sustainable ways of managing their no-longer needed possessions. The impact of this
S. Emery et al.
To establish these partnerships, the SRs organised a number of web-conferences
that brought facilitators and participating teachers together prior to the event. These
web-conferences provided opportunities for the teachers to ask questions of the SRs
and facilitating community members and industry professionals about how the day
would run and the activities/topics that would be covered to help them prepare their
students and to plan relevant pre-and-post event classroom-based learning activities.
5.3 Environmental Sustainability Learning in Action
The DMWB event began with an opening address from a Burnie City Council representative which underscored the importance of environmental sustainability initiatives in north-west Tasmania and acknowledged the Plairhekehillerplue People,
the traditional Aboriginal owners and custodians of the lands on which Burnie is
located and whom for generations have protected, nurtured and sustained its environment. Students then dispersed to participate in a wide variety of participatory
environmental sustainability activities through which different classes of students
rotated throughout the day. These activities included:
Beach clean-up: West Beach in Burnie is situated approximately 300 m from the
city’s central business district. It connects the city’s main retail and shopping facilities
with one of its most popular tourist attractions via a boardwalk built above the foreshore. West Beach is host to a penguin habitat and is a popular beach for swimming
and other recreational activities. Pollution, in the form of litter from neighbouring
food retailers, assorted plastics and abandoned fishing tackle, is a critical issue at this
beach. The beach clean-up activity involved students collectively and systematically
scanning a section of the beach, removing rubbish and marine debris, and cataloguing
the types of debris that were found and its origins. Through this activity, the students
were actively engaged in thinking about and evaluating their community’s impact
on the coastal environment while undertaking meaningful and achievable action to
address the problem. Having cleared a section of the beach of visible litter and debris,
students further engaged in discussions with the activity facilitator (a representative
from the Tasmanian Department of Education organised by the SRs) about appropriate waste management strategies, recycling, single-use plastics and the impact of
marine debris on marine and bird life.
Swap meet: A flea-market style ‘swap meet’ in which students swapped items
such as toys, books and clothing was also organised to enhance and extend students’
understanding of the ‘reduce-reuse-recycle’ message. In exchange for tokens (gumnuts, wooded fruits from the Australian Eucalyptus tree), students brought items from
home that they no longer played with or used to share with their peers. At lunchtime and between other activities, the SRs and other facilitators supported students
to visit the swap meet to exchange their tokens for the pre-owned items shared by
their peers. The swap meet was highly effective in enabling students to see the value
of pre-owned toys, books and clothing and in encouraging them to consider more
sustainable ways of managing their no-longer needed possessions. The impact of this