Bushfires Research Project
You will be researching the impact bushfires have on communities in Australia and around the world. You need to use your research skills to find out how and why bushfires happen, how they are fought, what happens to people who are affected by them, and how they can be prevented. At the end of this research project there will be a design challenge. You will design a machine to help a community either before, during, or after a bushfire. Your research will help you to identify a way to help bushfire affected communities. You will need to find reliable information about bushfires to make sure your design is something bushfire affected communities really need.
Learning Intention – What are we learning in this task?
We are learning to understand how bushfires happen.
We are learning to understand what can make a community safe before a bushfire comes.
We are learning about what people need after a bushfire has been through their community.
Success Criteria – How do we know we have done the task well?
I can explain how bushfires start.
I can use strategies to keep myself and my home safe from a bushfire.
I can show understanding and kindness to people who have had a bushfire in their community.
I can design a machine to help communities be safer when it comes to bushfires.
Learning Outcomes
Critical and Creative Thinking
This task teaches us to think critically and creatively about information we are given (NESA, 2021).
Critical thinking is using what we already know and what we have learned to consider how we can use our knowledge in our lives, ask more questions about a topic, or come up with our own thoughts and opinions about what we have learned. You will be using critical thinking to identify the problem your machine will help to solve. You need to think critically about what you research and how you use your findings to decide how a machine can help. You will then use your critical thinking skills again to consider what to include in your design (The Hanen Centre, 2016; NESA, 2021).
Creative thinking is thinking about new ideas that people haven’t considered before. You will think creatively when you consider how to stay safe in a bushfire. You will need to be creative because even though there are strategies to use – you need to change them to suit yourself, your family, your home, and your community. You will also think creatively when you consider new ways to tackle problems that bushfires cause and how to solve those problems (NESA, 2021).
Use of ICT
You will use Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to find most of your information in this task. You will need to use the internet wisely and make sure your resources are reliable. Look for websites from experts and official organisations such as the NSW Rural Fire Service or official news sites like the Sydney Morning Herald. Think about the information you use and what it means for the next step in your research. Does what you just read makes sense to you? Make sure more than one website has the same information so you know it’s right.
You will also communicate your findings and your design using ICT tools for presenting slide shows, drawing and coding (NESA, 2021).
Ethical Understanding
In this task, you will research how people are affected by bushfires. You will not only think about how a bushfire can affect places but the people and animals who live in those places. When you understand what it might feel like to be in those situations, it becomes easier for you to decide your personal values. By designing a machine to help, you also understand how you can make a difference in difficult situations (NESA, 2021).