VCAL: introduction to the youth eco-challenge by Environment Victoria

Teacher Introduction

Introduction to the Youth Eco‐Challenge

Developed by

This project was funded by the Department of Sustainability and Environment.

This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Australia licence. A copy of this licence is available at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by‐nc/2.5/au/ or by writing to info@creativecommons.org.au. However logos are protected by copyright

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Teacher Introduction

Introduction to the Youth Eco‐Challenge About this resource....................................................................................................2 Overview of the Youth Eco‐Challenge .......................................................................2 Learning Outcomes ................................................................................................3 Overview of the content ............................................................................................3 Background ............................................................................................................3 Core Themes ..........................................................................................................4 The Personal Challenge..........................................................................................4 Group Project.........................................................................................................5 Time Frame ................................................................................................................6 One semester program ..........................................................................................6 Full year program...................................................................................................7 Personal Development and VCAL Level .....................................................................9 Assessment methods .................................................................................................9 Key Messages behind the Youth Eco‐challenge ........................................................9 Support and Feedback .............................................................................................10 Acknowledgements..................................................................................................11

About this resource This resource is designed to support teachers to provide VCAL students with an overview of the sustainability issues in their local environment. It will support teachers helping students to better understand natural systems and the land management issues that surround them. It will also increase their understanding of the engineered services that provide energy, water and that manage waste and pollution in our communities. However, the most important objective is to provide them with the tools needed to make changes in their own lives that will help create a more sustainable future. In this regard, the objective of every unit of work is to empower students to make changes in the way they consume materials, use services and dispose of waste.

Overview of the Youth Eco‐Challenge The Youth Eco‐Challenge classes have been divided into three parts: 1. Core themes provides a structured introduction to three key themes in sustainability: energy, water and waste management. 2. A personal youth eco‐challenge where students challenge themselves to reduce their consumption of water and energy and production of waste over a four to six week period. This involves students measuring their own consumption and making personal changes in their lives. 3. A group project decided and led by the students where they develop the communication and project management skills to share what they have

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learnt with others in the community and to encourage other to make similar changes. The first part of the study involves core units where students learn about the environment. When students experience learning outside the classroom through excursions and field trips, they are learning in the environment. These are important aspects of sustainability education. However, the most powerful kind of sustainability education is where students learn for the environment. Therefore the personal eco‐challenge in the second part of the unit is potentially the most powerful and engaging part of the course as it requires the students to use their knowledge as a means to make improvements in their lifestyles. This is the most important objective of the program and the most essential aspect for all sustainability education programs. The final part is facilitating students in developing their own environmental project. Some VCAL groups will be motivated to extend their study into more diverse environmental projects that cater to their individual or group interests. During this stage of the program, students plan and manage their own sustainability project and share what they have learnt with others in the wider community. Examples may involve designing and building a community food garden or organising a recycled clothing fashion show. Many project ideas are included in this resource. The group project component also includes structured activities that enable students to develop awareness and skills in leadership, project management and organising events. The students will be required to use their initiative to plan activities, solve problems, collaborate with others, and ultimately develop their capacity as communicators and leaders in the field of sustainability. Learning Outcomes Learning outcomes achieved through this program are primarily in the personal development strand. There are a number of opportunities to also achieve numeracy and literacy outcomes through the activities provided. A guide to the learning outcomes is supplied in the learning outcomes matrix. This is provided both as a PDF for printing, and as an Excel sheet so that it can be edited if you choose to add or remove activities.

Overview of the content Background Many of our natural systems on Earth are being pushed to the extreme through mismanagement and over‐use. The large scale degradation of soil, air and water through pollution and land clearing are threatening us with a severe reduction in biodiversity and the large scale extinction of many species on the planet. An understanding of environmental systems is becoming increasingly important for future generations. Page 3 of 11

The causes of these problems are well known. The exponential growth of the human population, our dependence on fossil fuels, the excessive water consumption by people in the first world for our personal, agricultural and industrial processes, are leading to ecosystem collapse. These, together with excessive waste production and insufficient recycling mechanisms, are pressing us to make urgent changes in the way we live. Fortunately, many solutions to the current environmental problems already exist. Helping young people to understand the issues, make smarter use of available resources through personal behaviour change, make better consumer choices and adopt greener technological solutions will provide a way to a more sustainable future. The education of our young people is vital if we are to mobilise the political and economic resources needed to create a more sustainable future for the earth and future generations. Core Themes The core units are designed to provide students with the background knowledge about three areas of environmental concern: energy, water and waste. These core themes are structured outlines of an area of study with support materials for the teacher. There is a range of simple worksheets and hands‐on activities for the classroom setting. Extension activities for more advanced and independent students could easily be created, and in some cases have been provided. Three hour session plans, which have already been implemented in the VCAL setting, are provided as a guide. However each VCAL group will be able to modify the session plans to suit their own timetable, and some optional activities have been provided which might be more suitable for some groups. The units include a range of PowerPoint presentations to provide some background information and to support visual learning. We also encourage the use of interactive simulation games and animations that are available on the internet. If it is possible, excursions and/or the introduction of guest speakers will help contextualise the material and also expose the students to vocational pathways. Ideally the students themselves can take leadership roles in organising these events. There are some ideas for practical hands‐on experiments with a list of resources for extension activities. A range of public and private organisations have curriculum resources to support these themes which are free or cheaply available. Where this is available, information about these resources is provided in a section entitled “Further Resources” at the end of each topic. The Personal Challenge The second phase is personal challenge. This is the area where students will be able to demonstrate their skills and abilities predominantly in the personal development strand. It involves an extended four to six week project where students use their environmental knowledge to make changes in their home and community. Page 4 of 11

During the challenge, the students’ aim will be to measure and reduce their ecological footprint. This will involve choosing behaviours that reduce their energy and water use at home or change their consumption practices to reduce waste. Students make daily measurements and records about the actions they complete. Excel spreadsheets are provided to allow individual students to record their changes and then calculate overall savings for the whole group. It is recommended that students focus on a limited number of behaviour as having too many makes the challenge onerous. It is suggested that students select up to five behaviours, and this could be either each student selecting their own challenge behaviours or the whole group selecting the same behaviours. This phase of the program is designed to give students practical and transferable skills to be able to function as youth leaders in the field of sustainability.

While students are completing the challenge it is good to monitor progress daily or weekly to ensure record keeping and motivation is maintained. The student led group project can then be started while the challenge is underway.

Group Project During programmed classes the students will plan and develop an independent student led project. Examples of projects are provided such as: 1. Planning and managing a publicity event to promote sustainability and their personal challenge results. This is the basic version of a group project and is easily completed within one semester. 2. Completion of a school audit including providing recommendations to the school executive. This is also a great opportunity to implement basic sustainability systems such as recycling bins in classrooms, turning off lights/heating/cooling in empty classrooms etc. 3. Introducing composting into the school system 4. Working with Landcare groups on revegetation projects. 5. Running community awareness activities such as information stalls in the main street or asking council to introduce recycling bins in public areas. Many projects could be extended into a larger program depending on the students’ interests and motivation. A series of structured activities has been provided to guide teachers in teaching students some project management and communication skills necessary to implement the project. They include topics such as: • Project design and management • Leadership skills • Publicity and communication skills • Celebration and evaluation

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The explicit teaching of some of these skills will be very important, as will the development of communication skills to present the outcomes of these projects to the wider community and evaluate its success.

Time Frame The resources have been developed to deliver the three parts of the Youth Eco‐ Challenge over one semester. Content for each part has been separated into units which are generally three hours in length with the view to delivering one unit each week. However given the large breadth of the subject area there are a number of options which would allow the program to be adapted to extend it over a whole year. Optional extra units will be provided in future to do this. These are identified by a letter in the unit number (e.g. unit 4a). One semester program The program would extend over two terms; Term 1: Core themes and Term 2: Personal eco‐challenge and a small group project A selection of core theme units could be used to generate a basic understanding of sustainable environments, as well as energy, water and waste management, before embarking on a personal eco‐challenge. See table 1 for an example of a one semester timetable.

Table 1: Example timetable ‐ one semester Term 1 Core Themes Week Unit # Unit Topic 1 2 1 Introduction to Sustainability 3 2 Interact with the environment (fieldtrip) 4 3 Energy production and use 5 4 Reducing energy use 6 5 Field trip (energy, water, waste) 7 6 Water flowing around us 8 7 Using water 9 8 Our water footprints 10 9 Waste Term 2 Personal Eco‐ Group Project Challenge Week Unit # Unit topic 1 10 Introducing the personal eco‐challenge 2 11 Monitoring of Introduction to project design personal and management eco‐challenge 3 12 Monitoring Organising events

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Term 2 4

7 8 9 10

Personal Eco‐ Challenge Monitoring

Group Project

Leadership skills; working on project Monitoring Publicity and communication skills; working on project Calculating personal eco challenge results Working on project Working on project Completion of project Celebration and evaluation

Full year program Some teachers may elect to extend the study over the whole year, completing two components of 100 hours of work each. Optional extra units will be provided in future for this. If you would like to be contacted when these units are available, please contact Murray Irwin (see contact details in the support and feedback section). These units will extend the core themes and give students a broad grounding in energy, water and waste education as well as covering the many of the course criteria in literacy, numeracy and personal development strands. These units are identified by a letter in the unit number (e.g. unit 4a). This would allow students to conduct their own personal eco‐challenge and then focus on developing project management skills to create a larger group project of their own. For example, this could involve establishing a recycling system, implementing some energy efficiency changes at school or designing and building a model sustainable house. See table two for an example whole year timetable. Note that running the Youth Eco‐Challenge over a full year instead of one semester would involve running some of the units in a slightly different order. Units haven’t been provided for the student led project or the preparation for the event, as the content of these classes will depend on the nature of the project. Numerous other project ideas have been provided as a guide for students to choose from.

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2. Interact with the environment 3. Energy – production and use 4. Energy – reducing our use

4a. Alternative energy

9b. Transport*

9a. Waste*

15. Calculating results of personal eco‐ challenge Group Project 11. Introduction to project design and management 12. Organising events

Monitoring

Personal Core Themes Eco‐Challenge 10. Introducing the personal eco‐challenge Monitoring of 8a. Water & waste personal eco‐challenge Monitoring 9. Waste

Term 2

Student led project

Term 3 Group Project (continued) Student led project Student led project

4b. Embodied energy Student led project in what we buy 8 6. Water flowing Student led project around us 9 7. Using water 13. Conflict and leadership skills Student led project 10 8. Our water footprints 14. Publicity and communications skills Student led project Note: * denotes session plans and activities which are yet to be designed (submission of ideas welcome).

1. Introduction to Sustainability

1 2

Table 2: Example timetable – full year Term 1 Week Core Themes

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Preparing for celebration event and project completion Preparing for celebration event and project completion Celebration event for project completion 16. Summary and Evaluation

Student led project

Term 4 Group Project (continued) Student led project Student led project

Personal Development and VCAL Level The YEC should satisfy the criteria for the personal development strand across the foundation, intermediate and senior levels. Each level differs in the degree of complexity of the tasks and the level of independence and leadership demonstrated by the students. The more advanced students need to be able to demonstrate more complex planning, organisational, problem solving and communication skills. The scope of the activities is sufficiently broad that it would be suitable for students across different levels with only a few modifications. Most of the activities in the core theme study provide a suitable entry point for foundation level students, but there are some extension activities that could be added for intermediate and senior students. Senior VCAL students would be expected to take more of a leadership role within the structure of the course. They would need to demonstrate greater initiative and be prepared to take more responsibility in organising group activities such as excursions, speakers and the student led project. The course has been mapped in detail to the foundation personal development strand course criteria – see the learning outcomes matrix.

Assessment methods The activities in this program have been designed as learning activities. As teachers proceed through the units of work, it will be possible to collect a portfolio of evidence to be used for the assessment of the relevant learning outcomes. The worksheets within the unit have been designed to be collected as a portfolio of tasks. One possible way to monitor assessment for each student could be printing a copy of the outcomes matrix for each student and recording attendance and completion of tasks via this document. Each learning activity in the unit outlines has suggestions for student assessment. It also states the student roles and responsibilities required for each activity. This will enable teachers to assess their progress and map it to the VCAL criteria for each subject strand.

Key Messages behind the Youth Eco‐challenge It is now commonly agreed that humans need to change the way we are using the resources in our environment. Many people making simple changes will help enable us to enjoy the pleasures of modern living while not jeopardising our future due to wasteful resource use. It is easy to feel overwhelmed by the scale of the environmental problems we face, and many of us lack confidence that our efforts really can make a difference. This program provides a step by step guide to understanding the environmental issues around water, energy and waste and in taking steps to make important lifestyle changes.

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There are several important key messages that underlie sustainable living. To enable teachers to reinforce these messages and clarify misconceptions and stereotypes about being environmentally responsible, a summary of these messages is given below. It will also help to keep everyone motivated to make the changes needed and to help students feel hopeful and positive about doing their best for our shared future on the planet. The key messages are as follows: • It’s about being green, not extreme. • It’s about using our resources smarter, not about going without. • It’s about using the right resources for the right purpose. • There is no one‐off solution that will solve the issues, it will take ongoing effort into the future. • If we forget to do something or cannot do it this one time, all is not lost. Do it next time, don’t give up. • Living sustainably will mean making decisions on an ongoing basis about what we buy and consume. • Start with simple things and build up to larger things. • Business needs help and encouragement to work smarter as well. • Remember business provides services that you use. Therefore you have a lot of power in how you spend your money. • Talking about what we are doing to live more sustainably will help others think and do the same. • No one likes being told off or told what to do, so offer suggestions and support but leave it to them. • We need everyone in the community to do their bit. Small deeds by many people can make big changes.

Support and Feedback We would welcome feedback, suggestions and ideas for improving this resource. If you notice errors or have a great activity that worked well with your students we would like to help share this with others. We would also like to just hear if you implemented the program and how it went. We strongly suggest that you utilise the expertise and help that is available already within your community. Contacting local land managers such as Parks Victoria, Water Authorities, Landcare Groups, Waterwatch, local council or other environment teachers may help provide the additional expertise and ideas necessary to help make this an engaging and interesting program for your students. If you require funding to run bits of the program, we suggest you look at the options listed at www.resourcesmart.vic.gov.au/for_educators_3351.html and www.vaee.vic.edu.au/resources/awards_grants.htm.

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Unfortunately we are unable to provide direct individual support to help you implement the program at the present time. However, we may be able to help with suggestions on how to implement Youth Eco‐Challenge so feel free to contact us. Contact details: Murray Irwin, Senior Project Manager, Environment Victoria 03 9341 8100,

Acknowledgements Creation of this resource has required the efforts of many people involved in the Youth Eco‐Challenge projects. We would like to thank: All of the Environment Victoria staff involved in developing and running the pilot Youth Eco‐Challenges, including Rob Ball and Charlie Davie who developed the original Youth Eco‐Challenge concept that was later expanded to this VCAL version. Thank you to the City of Casey and Phill Start for their support in running these pilots. Thanks to Murray Irwin who led the pilot programs for a VCAL version of the Youth Eco‐Challenge, and who led the creation of this resource. In addition Domenica Settle for assisting with the evaluation of the projects and editing and refining the design of this curriculum resource. The Youth Eco‐Challenge VCAL resource would not have been possible without the support, ideas and development work of our partners who agreed to host the pilot projects. Those partners were Goldfields Employment and Learning Centre (GELC), the Maryborough Education Centre (MEC) and the Macedon Ranges Community Based VCAL (made up of Cobaw Community Health, Kyneton Secondary College and Central Ranges Local Learning and Employment Network). We are particularly grateful to Marcia McGrath (VCAL co‐ordinator for Macedon Ranges Community Based VCAL), Deb Robinson (VCAL co‐ordinator for Goldfields Employment and Learning Centre) and Martin Lynzatt (VCAL co‐ordinator for Maryborough Education Centre). Of course we learnt a great deal from the students who participated in the Youth Eco‐Challenge and we thank them for their feedback. It was amazing to see the effort they put into the sustainability events and projects that they undertook. Thank you to Cathy Nelson who took on the role of refining all the existing resources, mapping the activities to VCAL outcomes and designing and/or revising a number of the activities. Finally we need to acknowledge that without the financial support of the Department of Sustainability and Environment we would not have been able to develop the Youth Eco‐Challenge or completed this resource. This project was funded by the Department of Annette Salkeld Sustainability and Environment. Director, Sustainable Living Environment Victoria Page 11 of 11