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Operation Climate Change provides integrated learning experiences for children in Years 5 to 10 to explore the issues of the 'footprint' of their community. The Operations are structure learning experiences exploring Climate Change, Purchasing and Waste, Biodiversity, Transport and Air, Energy and Water. Each Operation has three missions integrated across subjects, provides critical thinking strategies and useful assessment tools to map understandings in key areas.
The learners can complete the website material independently, in small groups or whole class work. At the end of a mission the learner earns 'good' greenhouse balloons to use in the 'My Home' game. This reinforces the learning about key issues and a certificate is gained to show parents they have the knowledge to live sustainably.
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Please refer to the OCC Mission Matrix. Specific curriculum links are provided for each OCC operation/mission.
There are 6 operations in OCC:
- Climate Change
- Purchasing and Waste
- Biodiversity
- Transport and Air
- Energy
- Water
Each operation consists of 3 missions. See OCC Mission Matrix for mission details. Each operation includes support pages for teachers, as well as additional lesson activities/program ideas. All missions have been written to conform to the Curriculum Frameworks requirements and to enable teachers to incorporate values and active citizenship components into their teaching curriculum in a fun and meaningful manner.
OCC is based on the Western Australian Sustainable Schools Initiative ecological footprint. OCC aims to introduce students to some of the ways they can reduce their ecological footprint so that they can reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and thereby contribute to the climate change solution. The following diagram summarises OCC in ecological footprint terms.
The package has been designed to include both Teacher and Student sections. The Introduction contains background information for teachers on the following topics:
- Teacher Support
- Whole Systems Thinking (click here for more information)
- Values in Education for Sustainability (click here for more information)
- Australian Sustainable Schools Initiative (click here for more information)
For background information on the overarching learning principles for the development of the OCC package, click on:
- Overarching Learning Principles for OCC
- Five Minds for the Future
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For information on the structure of assessment for the Operations and Missions with associated scoring to assist teachers to determine levels of achievements, click on:
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For additional student activities, presented in the context of integrated programs, click on "Student Activities" beneath each Operation Title.
These notes are designed to enable you to gain an awareness of some of the programs (e.g. Waste Wise, Waterwise, Ribbons of Blue, Airwatch, etc) available to you and your class, as well as an understanding of the crucial areas of climate change and environmental sustainability.
Whether your school is already a sustainable school, has not even heard of the Australian Sustainable School Initiative (AuSSI) or has just begun their journey, this guide is an invaluable resource for the whole school. For further information about the links between AuSSI and the various programs (Airwatch etc) click on the following link:
Program Links
It is not intended that teachers necessarily complete all missions in any one operation or that they complete all operations, although this is optimal. The missions in each operation do allow you to present them as a connected series of lessons, or you may select as appropriate. Teachers should choose the operations and missions relevant to their class/school or educational context.
The missions here are an introduction to the type of activities provided by the various programs (Wastewise etc). Full details of what each program offers and the contact details of the relevant education officer or coordinator is included at the end of this section.
It is envisioned that students can work on the various operations with guidance from the teachers. The missions have minimal explanations, as the depth of background is covered in the Teachers’ Support section for each operation.
All missions in the 5 operations - the toes of the ecological footprint - have been designed in consultation with the environmental education program providers for that topic. The activities and worksheets are a glimpse only of the scope of learning which may be undertaken in any of these areas. All programs offer hands on learning experiences both inside and outside the classroom which provide real life learning across learning areas and enables students to use scientific equipment borrowed from the program providers to accurately and meaningfully measure environmental aspects being studied.
As will be obvious just from this sample of the missions, integrated programming across several environmental issues and several learning areas is very easy to achieve. Some samples of this type of program are to be found later in this section.
At the beginning of each of the operations related to each toe of the ecological footprint, is an explanation of the link between that toe / operation and climate change, as well as the Sustainable School “audit” documents detailing how the specific program links to the toes of the ecological footprint and the fingers of the social handprint. These documents can also guide teachers to possible integration across the curricula.
It is highly recommended that teachers contact the program providers (Waterwise etc) to enhance and develop their studies in one or more of these areas. It is possible for a teacher to integrate water, waste, air etc into a single year’s program covering English, Science and S&E in particular and also Maths, Art & T&E (a sample program follows).Alternatively, schools may decide to nominate different environmental aspects as a focus for different sections/year levels of the school – for example water in year 6 or waste in year 4, etc. Some schools may include several programs across the school each year but focus on different elements of the program at different year levels.
The ways in which a teacher or school decides to tackle the environmental aspect of their individual class or school sustainability program are limited only by the imagination. For further information on curriculum links, click on:
Curriculum Links.
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The principles of learning and teaching, as described in the Curriculum Framework, should lead to school and classroom practices that are effective in helping students achieve the outcomes identified in that document.
The learning / teaching program should provide students with:
- The opportunity to learn
- A connection with existing learning whilst extending and challenging them
- The opportunity to both act and reflect on meaningful learning experiences
- Motivating learning experiences that are clear in their purpose
- Experiences that respect and accommodate differences between learners.
The general aim of environmental education programs is to provide a range of experiences that will develop skills, knowledge and attitudes leading to individual behaviours consistent with sustainable life practices or behaviours that display positive attitudes towards the environment. Incorporating environmental education into school programs is important because:
- If change is to occur we need to look to the future – long term outcomes
- Concern for the future (in relation to their children), is a motivating influence on parents
- Children are more receptive to change, and quicker to change attitudes
- Children have an influence on significant adults in their lives which leads to change across all ages
- Experiential education: where possible ‘hands on’ field activities are encouraged to promote sensory experiences in order to develop empathy for and about the environment they are in
- In real life, we remember things we care for, or experiences associated with things we care for.
Environmental Education is an important tool for raising awareness of sustainability and changing behaviour to more sustainable practices (Environmental Education Strategy and Action Plan, 2004).
Late in 2002 the Australian Government launched a program called the Values Education Project. The development of the National Framework for Values Education in Australian Schools (2005) emerged from this project. A comparison of the Values for Australian Schooling and the core values component of WA’s Curriculum Framework are presented in a table in the Values section of the Introduction.
The current contact details for all of the program providers who have contributed to this guide can be found at the end of the relevant section. The Sustainable Schools Initiative is a Department of Education and Training program, while most of the others are at, or can be located through officers at the Community Education section of the Department of Environment and Conservation.
Click on the following links for more information on:
What is the Environment?
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Eco Education
Education officers who will arrange excursions / camps to environmental centres
Teacher resources and Lesson materials on various aspects of biodiversity
Elaine Horne
Locked Box 104
Bentley Delivery Centre
Bentley 6983
9334 0333
Marine Discovery Centre
Regional officers
Provide excursion venue and labs for student activities
Sustainable Fishing activities
Website: www.nmdc.com.au or www.fish.wa.gov.au
Education Officer: Michael Burke
39 Northside Drive
Hillarys, 6025
9203 3420
Perth Zoo
PL for teachers and/or whole school
Excursion venue
Education officers to design excursions related to topics of study, and present talks to groups of students
Resource and lesson material for teachers
Website www.perthzoo.wa.gov.au
Education Officer: Julie-Anne Smith
Perth Zoo
20 Labouchere Rd
South Perth, 6151
9474 0356
Waste Wise
Teacher PL
Incursions for teachers participating in the program
Assistance with conducting a Waste Audit
Assistance with information concerning worm farms, composting, recycling and waste minimisation.
School Grants
Website www.wastewise.wa.gov.au
Program Manager: Vanessa Dow
Locked Box 104
Bentley Delivery Centre
Bentley 6983
6467 5141
Keep Australia Beautiful Council
“Learning about Litter” curriculum resource material for primary schools, available in print and CD Rom format.
DVD for middle to upper primary about litter and landfill
Assistance to organise a clean-up event as a Community Service initiative – banners, materials, certificates and media support
Tidy Town program school involvement
Website http://www.kabc.wa.gov.au/
Education Officer: Kate Macrae
Locked Box 104
Bentley Delivery Centre
Bentley 6983
6467 5169
Ribbons of Blue
Regional coordinators throughout most of the state who will assist with setting up monitoring programs, teaching the use of the equipment, accompany classes on monitoring excursions, conduct incursions on local catchment issues, loan equipment to schools, run local projects and arrange PL for staff.
Primary school Teacher Manual printed in 2007
Catchment Days or Confluence events in selected districts
Salt watch activities in relevant districts
Macroinvertebrate Snapshot activities and monitoring excursions
Support from State team and Education officer
Website www.ribbonsofblue.wa.gov.au
Program Manager: Richard Olive
Locked Box 104
Bentley Delivery Centre
Bentley 6983
6467 5127
Waterwise
Whole school PL
Teacher Resource material
School officers who will visit classes to talk to students
Education officers who will arrange PL and assist with developing whole school plans
Excursions to Water Treatment plants
Website www.watercorporation.com.au/W/waterwise_index.cfm
Program Manager: Roy Hallam
Water corporation
629 Newcastle St
East Perth.6007
9420 3463
Airwatch
Teacher PL
Teacher Resource material
Loan schools the equipment necessary to undertake an air pollution monitoring program
Incursions and coordinator visits for schools participating in the program
Weather watch program with channel 7
Website www.airwatch.wa.gov.au
Program Manager: Fiona Marr
Locked Box 104
Bentley Delivery Centre
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To understand climate change, you need to know about the greenhouse effect. Click on the link below: http://www.climatechange.gov.au/en/climate-change.aspx
The Australian Sustainable Schools Initiative-WA, on the Department of Education and Training website, identifies climate change as a key learning focus area. Click on this link: http://www.det.wa.edu.au/curriculumsupport/sustainableschools/detcms/portal/
Go to http://www.hippoworks.com/cartoonlets/display.php?ctnid=55&nav=1 to see the cartoons on climate change. When the first cartoon finishes click on ‘Help the Earth’ (top menu bar) to see more cartoons.
Read more about climate change at: http://epa.gov/climatechange/kids/cc.html
To understand climate change, you need to know about the greenhouse effect. Go to the Greenhouse Effect page on the same site you just visited: http://epa.gov/climatechange/kids/greenhouse.html . See the animation of the greenhouse effect on that web page. Click on animation at the bottom of that page.
Also visit: http://www.dec.wa.gov.au/component/option,com_docman/gid,1713/task,doc_download/ and read about the greenhouse effect.
For further information on different aspects of climate change click on:
Climate Change Risk Communication
Behavioural Barriers to Effective Climate Change Policy
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[Download PDF]
Purchasing is about making sound/effective choices about qualitative and quantitative aspects of buying things. Purchasing in a broader sense is connected to the social and economic phenomenon of consumerism, which may be defined in the negative as the chronic purchasing of new goods and services, with little attention to their true need, durability, product origin or the environmental consequences of manufacture and disposal. Indeed, it has been said (author unknown) that consumerism means: "You work in a job you hate, to buy stuff that you don't need, to impress people that you don't like." Some of these negative consequences of purchasing – both social and environmental – are leading more and more people to suggest that there must be a better way to organise our societies / world. OCC explores aspects of our purchasing behaviours.
Waste is something we all produce as part of everyday living but perhaps don't normally think too much about … Increased consumption results in greater waste both directly from disposal and indirectly from production processes. OCC explores aspects of waste in our society.
Student Activities - Purchasing
For a selection of additional student activities, click on:
Student Activities – Purchasing (& Consumerism)
For an example of a lesson plan integrating three learning areas and values click on:
Integrated Lesson Plan This lesson plan is for Mission Earth Master Chef.
For a selection of additional student activities click on:
Waste and Litter Student Activities and Waste and Litter Teacher Notes
Waste and Litter Extension Activities
Definition - What is Waste?
Waste, commonly called rubbish or garbage, is something we all produce as part of everyday living but perhaps don’t normally think too much about. There are many definitions that are used to describe waste as material that is no longer used or needed or perceived to have no value. Waste often ends up in landfill if it is not socially, environmentally or economically viable for it to be reduced, reused or recycled.
Waste is all material not wanted by the person or persons whose activities produce it. (Statement of Strategic Direction for Waste Management in Western Australia, September 2004.)
Increased consumption results in greater waste both directly from disposal and indirectly from production processes. Most solid waste generated in WA ends up in landfill sites. Poor waste management practices at landfill sites can lead to land contamination and pollution of surface and groundwater resources. Landfill sites also generate methane, a major greenhouse gas, and litter problems. Landfill fires are also potentially environmentally damaging and may generate potentially toxic fumes. Communities living adjacent to landfill or waste treatment facilities can be particularly anxious about potential health effects arising from accidents or poor management practices.
Types of Waste
Waste is classified into either organic (living) or inorganic (non-living). Organic waste is anything that was or is living including garden waste (eg. leaves, grass clippings, branches, hay, flowers, woodchips and bark), food waste (eg. fruit, vegetables, tea, bread, cereals, eggshells, grains, meat and dairy products) and other (eg. paper, animal hair, faeces, vacuum cleaner dust, hair, wool, wood ash) (green waste).
A survey undertaken by the Australian Food and Grocery Council in 2003 found that Australia wastes about 2.2 million tonnes of food annually, or 13% of total food consumed (Australian Food and Grocery Council, 2003). This equates to the annual food consumption of nearly 3.2 million Australians. (State of the Environment Report WA 2007)
Inorganic waste includes plastics, glass, aluminium and other metals, materials such as sand and bricks and hazardous household waste.
Organic waste can be recycled by using it as mulch, composting or through a worm farm. Inorganic waste can be reduced (or avoided), reused or recycled.
For further information on waste from an Australian perspective click on:
A History of Waste - the Australian View
Litter is anything that is left where it’s not meant to be. Litter is usually waste. Various aspects of litter are addressed including:
- Definition – What is litter?
- Litter in Western Australia
- Litter in your school
- Stormwater and marine litter
- Laws about littering
This information about litter can be accessed by clicking on:
Information on Litter
The 3Rs - Reduce, Reuse and Recycle
The "3 Rs" are important as we reduce the amount of waste going to landfill and save money, energy and resources that would otherwise have been used to make a new product. It also means that if it becomes a habit to reuse items students may be less likely to simply throw things away.
Waste is a growing problem in Australia. Each year Australians recycle more, but also create more waste as the population grows and consumption increases. By following the 3Rs, it is possible to dramatically reduce the waste we produce.
The 3Rs are listed in order of importance: first reduce, then reuse and finally recycle what is leftover. The first priority must always be to reduce the amount of rubbish produced.
Reduce means to create less waste in the first place so that there is less rubbish that might become litter or go to landfill, and potentially reduce waste disposal costs.
Reuse means to use the same item repeatedly or even to find another way to use them, such as buying refills or using old jars to store other items.
Recycle means to return a waste item to a factory where it can be made into another of the same product or something different. For example, recycled aluminium cans can be made back into cans or into engine blocks for new cars.
Did you know? 20 recycled aluminium cans can be made with the same amount of energy required to make one new can from raw materials.
Purchasing and Consumerism: What is wrong with Consumerism?
DefinitionsThere is a clear distinction between purchasing and consumerism. Purchasing is about making sound/effective choices about qualitative and quantitative aspects of buying things which may not readily be linked to consumerism per se.
Furthermore there are many positives associated with purchasing including the provision of essential goods and services to people.
"Consumerism is the equating of personal happiness with the purchasing of material possessions and consumption" (Wikepedia). Consumerism may also be defined in the negative as the chronic purchasing of new goods and services, with little attention to their true need, durability, product origin or the environmental consequences of manufacture and disposal.
Understanding ConsumerismConsumerism interferes with a sustainable and just society by replacing the normal common-sense desire for an adequate supply of life's necessities, community life, a stable family and healthy relationships with an artificial ongoing and insatiable quest for more and more possessions and the money to buy them, with little regard for the true utility of what is bought. An intended consequence of this, promoted by those who profit from consumerism, is to accelerate the discarding of the old, either because of lack of durability or a change in fashion.
Marshall Plan (USA) – a recent history of consumerism:
"Over the past two or three decades, the (marketers) have seized on the primal desire for authentic identity in order to sell more gym shoes, cars, mobile phones and home furnishings……………………..The yearning that we feel for an authentic sense of self is pursued by way of substitute gratifications, external rewards and, especially, money and material consumption" (from the essay, "What's Left?" Clive Hamilton, Quarterly Essay, 2007, p.41, Black Inc., Feik, C. Editor).
Unfortunately many people become used to the intrusion of advertising into their consciousness in the form of television or print advertising so they fail to protect themself, or worse, their children from being seduced by consumerism "Advertising long ago discarded the practice of selling a product on the merits of its useful features. Modern marketing builds symbolic associations between the product and the psychological states of potential consumers, sometimes targeting known feelings of inadequacy, aspiration or expectation, and sometimes setting out to create a sense of inadequacy in order to remedy it with the product" (Hamilton p.41). Convinced that their self worth is based on $200 athletic shoes or designer clothing, children are already on the road to spiritual dissatisfaction and resentment as well as a perception of diminished self-worth. When they become adolescents they are probably not going to be happy or productive even were they provided with an endless supply of things that few parents could afford. As Hamilton points out, products and brands can never give true meaning to human lives, so consumers "lapse into a permanent state of unfulfilled desire" (p.42).
Consumerism supports inbuilt and perceived redundancy.
Inbuilt redundancy: Products are made with inbuilt redundancy so that we replace it frequently. "In-built redundancy is something we now associate with a vast range of products we regularly use and then discard. But with a growing global population always needing and wanting more, how can this throw-away and-replace mentality continue?" (http://www.uts.edu.au/new/speaks/2007/August/1608.html)
Perceived redundancy: Products are made psychologically obsolete long before they actually wear out. A generation is growing up without knowing what quality goods are. Friendship, family ties and personal autonomy are only promoted as a vehicle for gift giving and the rationale for the selection of communication services and personal acquisition. Everything becomes mediated through the spending of money on goods and services. | [top] |
[Download PDF]
Climate change can impact on biodiversity, and reduced biodiversity and abundance can impact on climate change. OCC explores aspects of biodiversity in the context of climate change.
For a range of additional biodiversity lesson activities with curriculum links, explanations, answers and extension, click on:
For an example of a lesson plan integrating three learning areas and values click on:
Integrated Lesson Plan - This lesson plan is for Mission Under My Feet.
Definition and distribution of Biodiversity
Biodiversity is the variety of life: the different plants, animals and micro-organisms, their genes and the ecosystems of which they are a part. Australia is one of the most diverse countries on the planet. It is home to more than one million species of plants and animals, many of which are found nowhere else in the world.
Biodiversity found on Earth today consists of many millions of distinct biological species, the product of four billion years of evolution. Biodiversity is often used as a measure of the health of biological systems.
A definition that is often used by ecologists is the "totality of genes, species, and ecosystems of a region". An advantage of this definition is that it seems to describe most circumstances and present a unified view of the traditional three levels at which biodiversity has been identified: (Wikipedia)
- genetic diversity - diversity of genes within a species. There is a genetic variability among the populations and the individuals of the same species.
- species diversity - diversity among species in an ecosystem. "Biodiversity hotspots" are excellent examples of species diversity.
- ecosystem diversity - diversity at a higher level of organization, the ecosystem. Diversity of habitat in a given unit area. To do with the variety of ecosystems on Earth.
The 1992 United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro defined "biodiversity" as "the variability among living organisms from all sources including, 'inter alia', terrestrial [land ecoregions, as distinct from freshwater ecoregions and marine ecoregions], marine (saltwater environments), and other aquatic ecosystems, and the ecological complexes of which they are part: this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems".[brackets added]. This is, in fact, the closest thing to a single legally accepted definition of biodiversity, since it is the definition adopted by the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity.
Distribution
Biodiversity is not distributed evenly on Earth. It is consistently richer in the tropics and in other localized regions such as the California Floristic Province. As we approach polar regions, we generally finds fewer species. Flora and fauna diversity depends on climate, altitude, soils and the presence of other species. Large numbers of the Earth's species are formally classified as rare or endangered or threatened species; moreover, most scientists estimate that there are millions more species actually endangered which have not yet been formally recognized. About 40 percent of the 40,177 species assessed using the IUCN Red List criteria, are now listed as threatened species with extinction - a total of 16,119 species.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodiversity - cite_note-4#cite_note-4 A biodiversity hotspot is a region with a high level of endemic species. These biodiversity hotspots were first identified by Dr. Norman Myers in two articles in the scientific journal The Environmentalist. Dense human habitation tends to occur near hotspots. Most hotspots are located in the tropics and most of them are forests.
Brazil's Atlantic Forest is considered a hotspot of biodiversity and contains roughly 20,000 plant species, 1350 vertebrates, and millions of insects, about half of which occur nowhere else in the world. The island of Madagascar including the unique Madagascar dry deciduous forests and lowland rainforests possess a very high ratio of species endemism and biodiversity, since the island separated from mainland Africa 65 million years ago, most of the species and ecosystems have evolved independently producing unique species different from those in other parts of Africa.
Many regions of high biodiversity (as well as high endemism) arise from very specialized habitats which require unusual adaptation mechanisms. For example the peat bogs of Northern Europe and the alvar regions such as the Stora Alvaret on Oland, Sweden host a large diversity of plants and animals, many of which are not found elsewhere.(Wikipedia).
Biodiversity and the Impact of Climate Change
Click on Terrestrial Biodiversity to find out more about the following topics:
- Land Management
- Managing WA Forests
- Tackling Salinity
- Tuart Trees
- Wandoo Trees
- Fauna, Flora, Bugs and Butterflies
- Feral Animals
Click on Marine Biodiversity to find out more about the following topics:
- Marine Parks and Reserves
- Coral Reefs
Terrestrial and Marine Biodiversity
Climate Change can impact on biodiversity, and reduced biodiversity and abundance can impact on Climate Change.
Changes in climatic factors such as temperature and rainfall may directly affect the distribution, lifecycles, habitat and extinction rates of individual species. In turn these changes may modify certain ecosystems and communities. In altered ecosystems, invasive species are likely to thrive, whilst rare species may become extinct.
Climate change may also indirectly affect species and ecosystems by altering important factors such as:
- fire frequency and behaviour
- salinity
- the spread of diseases such as dieback
- water flows in rivers and wetlands
- the level of groundwater
- the number of extreme climatic events (floods, hail, tropical yclones, drought)
- ocean acidity
These factors may greatly reduce the ability of our biodiversity to adapt to climate change naturally.
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Introduction
For additional student activities click on:
AuSSI-WA and Air Watch
Climate Change Game and the associated Teacher Notes for Climate Change Game
Carbon Dioxide Game and the associated Teacher Notes for Carbon Dioxide Game
Air – Student Activities
For an example of a lesson plan integrating three learning areas and values click on:
Integrated Lesson Plan This lesson plan is for Mission Hug a Tree.
What is the atmosphere?
The gases surrounding the earth make up the atmosphere. It is many hundreds of kilometres thick and is composed of four layers, these resulting from the properties of the air within. Details of the names, thickness and temperature of each layer may be seen in
figure 2.
It is the troposphere, the lowest level of the atmosphere, which is the most important when we consider regional and local air pollution problems. Ozone depletion and the enhanced greenhouse effect are global air pollution problems that affect the atmosphere.
The greenhouse effect is a result of an overall heat gain by the atmosphere as a whole. Ozone depletion occurs in the second level of the atmosphere, the stratosphere.
What is the air?
The air is the substance around us which we breathe in and out of our lungs. At the earth’s surface, air consists of
- 78% nitrogen (N2),
- 21% oxygen (02),
- less than 1% of argon (Ar),
- a very small amount (0.03%) of carbon dioxide (CO2),
- traces of other gases such as methane (CH4) and oxides of nitrogen (NOx).
- Water vapour is present in air in varying amounts. (In Perth this can vary from 0.3% on cold days to 1.0% on hot days.)
The air also contains tiny particles such as dust, sea salt, volcanic ash and soot which are small enough to float in the air for a long time.
Air has been a part of the planet’s systems longer than life, although its composition has varied due to changing geological and atmospheric conditions.
What is air pollution?
Air pollution occurs when the air contains gases, dust, fumes or odour in amounts that could be harmful to the health or comfort of humans and animals or could cause damage to plants or materials. The substances that cause air pollution are called pollutants.
Before the industrial revolution, nature’s own air-conditioning managed to keep the air fairly clean. Wind mixed the gases and spread them out, rain washed the dust and other easily dissolved substances to the ground, and plants absorbed carbon dioxide and replaced it with oxygen. In the post-industrial revolution years, considerably more pollution has been added to the air by industrial, commercial and domestic sources.
As these sources are usually found in or near Australian cities, the gases that are produced are usually concentrated in the air around them. It is when these concentrated gases exceed safe limits that we have a pollution problem. Nature can no longer manage air pollution without our help.
Pollutants which are pumped into our atmosphere and are polluting in their own right are called primary pollutants. Some examples are carbon monoxide from car exhausts and sulphur dioxide from the combustion of coal. Further pollution can arise if primary pollutants in the atmosphere undergo chemical reactions. These are called derived or secondary pollutants. An excellent example is photochemical smog.
Area sources refer to widespread, low-level sources of pollution. For example, there are a large number of homes in Perth. Individually, each home contributes only a little pollution, but in total all homes make a significant contribution. Other examples of area sources include fires, light industry, service stations, road works, gardens and horticultural properties. read more ...
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Introduction
Energy is the ability or the potential of something to “do work”. Therefore, all matter is considered to be a potential form of energy. Today, scientists convert energy into matter – and matter into energy – as allowed by Albert Einstein’s formula. In 1905, at the age of 26, Einstein proposed the world-famous equation in physics, known as E=mc2. Einstein’s discovery of the link between matter and energy has paved the way for the peaceful use of nuclear power.
Energy and Climate Change
Fossil fuels contain carbon and when these fuels are burned, the carbon is released into the atmosphere and combines with oxygen to make carbon dioxide, one of our main greenhouse gases. See “Future Actions” section below for an elaboration on links with climate change. For further information also click on:
Websites for Climate Change and Energy
‘Switched On’ Booklet
Energy- Student Activities
For an example of a lesson plan integrating three learning areas and values click on:
Integrated Lesson Plan This lesson plan is for Mission Cosy House.
What are the forms of energy?
Energy is found in many forms, such as light, heat, sound and motion. All energy forms can be classified into two categories,
kinetic energy and 
potential energy. read more ...
A summary table of ‘forms of energy’ is available by clicking:
Forms of Energy
Ref: http://www.worldofenergy.com.au/factsheet_energy/07_fact_energy_forms.html
We use many different energy sources to do work for us. On average, every person in the industrialised world uses about six times the amount of energy as every person in the developing world. Primary energy sources are classified into two groups - non-renewable and renewable.
- Non-renewable energy sources include coal, natural gas, petroleum (the three fossil fuels), uranium (a source of nuclear energy) and propane. These energy sources are called non-renewable because their supplies are limited, they draw on finite resources that will eventually dwindle. Petroleum, for example, was formed millions of years ago from the remains of sea plants and animals.
We cannot make petroleum in a short time. These non-renewable energy sources are used to make electricity, to heat our homes, to move our cars and to manufacture all kinds of products. - International competitiveness relies on access to competitively renewable energy sources include solar power, solar thermal, wind turbines, hydro power, wave and tidal power, biomass-derived liquid fuels, biomass-fired generation and geothermal energy. These energy sources are called renewable because they are constantly replenished and they do not run out.
Our national wealth depends upon reliable, safe and high-quality energy supplies in Australia. The energy sector encompasses the identification and development of primary energy sources such as coal, gas, oil and uranium, as well as renewables like hydro-electricity, wind, solar and biomass. Australians spend about $50 billion on energy a year. Energy exports - including coal, natural gas, oil, petroleum products and uranium - earn about $24 billion a year.
Energy is a significant input for major industries such as aluminium, steel, cement and pulp and paper; their priced, reliable energy. The energy sector directly employs about 120,000 Australians while energy-intensive industries employ hundreds of thousands more people. The aluminium, cement and paper industries alone employ 35,000 people.
Australians continue to demand more energy to meet our electricity needs. Over the past 30 years, Australian energy consumption has more than doubled from 2,700 petajoules (PJ) to more than 5,500 PJ a year. One petajoule (PJ) of energy approximates to 278 gigawatt hours (GWh). Energy consumption in Western Australia has risen by an average rate of four per cent each year.
Fossil fuels are the primary sources for supplying our energy needs. The electricity generation sector accounts for about 30 per cent of total energy consumption. Coal provides about four-fifths of Australia’s electricity needs. Renewable energy sources contributed to five per cent of energy used in electricity generation in 2004/2005. However, the use of natural gas and renewable energy is increasing significantly throughout Australia.
Electricity has traditionally been generated from coal – a fossil fuel. But with growing environmental concerns over the effect of greenhouse gases, we are starting to produce energy using natural or renewable sources such as wind, the sun and water.
In May 2007, “Making Decisions for the Future of Climate Change”, The Premier’s Climate Change Action Statement was published which outlines the actions being taken to reduce Greenhouse emissions from the generation of electricity.
The following actions were detailed:
- Replacing diesel fired power stations in Broome, Derby, Halls Creek and Fitzroy with stations which generate energy using LNG.
- Commissioning the $400m NewGen Kwinana power station which provides power using gas technologies. This is expected to reduce emissions by 50% compared to traditional coal-fired power stations.
- Implementing policy to secure the Gorgon LNG project and future LNG projects for domestic use
- Requiring the Gorgon LNG project to store carbon. The CO2 content of the gas is to be reinjected underground into permanent geological storage. (This will be the largest carbon capture in the world.)
- November 2006 – the Cervantes wind farm opened (80MW capacity)
- Cervantes wind power being used to run the Kwinana desalination plant which provides drinking water for Perth (17% or 130 m.lites per day), which avoids 220 000 tonnes of greenhouse emissions annually. Wind farms have low impact on existing land use as stock can graze beneath them.
The goal is to reduce emissions to 60% of the 2000 levels by 2050. Total emissions were 66.6 m tonnes in 2005 – so needs to be reduced to 26m by 2050 to meet the target.
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Introduction
Australia is a dry continent and our water resources are increasingly under significant pressure from our growing population and climate change. See ‘Water and Climate Change’ below.
For additional student activities click on:
Curriculum Links, Explanations, Answers and Extension
Student Activities and Teacher Notes for Student Activities
Labels for Land Use Activity
Waterwise Detective
Home Water Use
For an example of a lesson plan integrating three learning areas and values click on:
Integrated Lesson Plan This lesson plan is for Mission Turn Off.
Water has some remarkable features:
- Water is known as the universal solvent because it can dissolve many substances, both solid and gaseous, that come into contact with it.
- Water is the only natural substance that exists as solid, liquid and gas within normal earth temperatures.
- The temperature of water affects how quickly substances dissolve in it and, in some cases, the quantity that can be dissolved: for example, warm water holds less dissolved oxygen than colder water, but it holds more of most solids.
- Temperature also has a major effect on living things within the water. Compared to air or soil, bodies of water change temperature slowly, so aquatic life is generally not exposed to sudden fluctuations of temperature.
- Water containing salts is a good conductor of electricity – the basis of the technique for measuring the level of salt in the water (salinity).
- Moving water and ice are powerful agents of erosion – removing particles from unprotected soil surfaces, stream banks and rock faces, resulting in cloudy or turbid water.
- Water has a surface tension, which causes it to form drops and to have a ‘skin’ strong enough to support the weight of some aquatic insects.
- Water also sticks to other surfaces, enabling the capillary action of water in fine tubes, such as soil pores.
The properties of water vary naturally depending on the surrounding environment, so data collected about water quality must be interpreted in the context of that particular environment and position in the catchment.
This information has come from the following sources:
Crook, Thelma. Understanding Water Quality and Peel Ribbons of Blue
Meeting Western Australia’s future water needs calls for everyone to take conservation measures, every day! With our water supplies stressed by growing populations and other factors such as less recharge to groundwater and global warming, the Water Corporation and the Department of Water are looking to stretch this precious resource.
Water Use at Home
The average Perth metropolitan house uses about 303 kilolitres of scheme water a year with about 50% of that used inside the home.(prior to the 2001 introduction of the 2 day watering system homes used an average of 350kilolitres with about 58% of it used outside the home. In many country regions the average is much higher.
Water consumption is greater during the summer period, mainly due to water use on gardens. In the metropolitan area on one day in winter, we could use 400 megalitres (or 400,000 kilolitres) of water. On a hot day in summer we could use 1,000 megalitres (or one million kilolitres). Seventy per cent of all metropolitan scheme water is used in homes and 30 per cent is used for industrial, commercial and institutional purposes.
For today’s water use, use over the past seven days and other up to the minute information, go to http://www.water.com.au/S/supply.cfm
One stumbling block to efficient water use is that many people don’t realise just how much water they really use. When surveyed some people thought their daily use was as little as 4·5 litres and few believed it was more than 280 litres. In fact, the actual average use for a four people household is between 700 and 1100 litres per day.
Three areas, on average, account for 80% of all water used inside the home. - 33% is used in the shower (about 51 litres per person per day), 27% in the washing machine (about 42 litres per person per day) and 21% in the toilet (about 33 litres per person per day). The remaining 19% accounts for all other use inside the home, including the kitchen.
Water Conservation
Ways to save water inside the home:
- Using water efficient shower heads
- Taking shorter showers
- Installing dual-flush toilets
- Using a water efficient washing machine or dishwasher
- Operating washing machines and dishwashers only when they are fully loaded
- Checking for leaky taps and replacing worn washers
- As well as changes in water use behaviour, the use of water-efficient appliances around the home can save a substantial amount of water.
The new Water Efficiency Labelling Scheme (WELS) was introduced in 2005 and is now mandatory on all washing machines, dishwashers, showers, toilets and taps.
The WELS scheme has two features:
- A star rating which gives a quick comparison of the various brands’ water efficiency; and
- A water consumption figure.
This scheme is similar in principle to the `energy efficient´ scheme which also uses stars and is required also on washing machines and dishwashers.
The more stars (1 - 6), the more water efficient the product. This system replaces the “A” labels previously used.
Population and Climate:
Western Australia covers one third of the continent of Australia. Despite its size, the state only has four main climactic types: Mediterranean, Semi-Arid Grassland, Hot Desert and Monsoonal (check your atlas to see these areas shown).
Over half the state receives rainfall that is so low and unreliable that the land is useless when it comes to food production. WA therefore has a very low population density (1996) of 0.7 people per square kilometre. Like other countries in this situation, the land cannot support many people and those people living here are crowded into a small part of the total area. Most people live where they can earn an income and for most of Western Australia’s population, this means in or close to Perth.
1) The South-west of WA has a Mediterranean type climate, similar to that of countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea (like Greece and Italy). The summers are hot and dry, and the winters are cool and rainy. Most of the rain falls between May and August. Because this is in winter, the rainfall is not lost to evaporation and so is available for use by native plants and people’s crops. This rainfall is fairly reliable. WA has more rainfall than most Mediterranean countries, and in the heaviest rainfall areas south of Perth, forests of jarrah and karri are found. Cleared areas are used for intensive farming such as dairy, orchards and vineyards, because the soil is fertile and reliable rainfall and irrigation ensure water supplies. Tourism is also a major source of employment in this area.
Inland, it is drier and the rainfall is less reliable. Farmers can’t rely on receiving the same quantity and at the same time each year, so this area is largely used for wheat and sheep (extensive farming).
The South-West of the state has 90% of the population, and even here the population is not spread evenly but tends to be concentrated in Perth and the main large towns such as Bunbury, Mandurah and Geraldton. Perth became the largest WA centre for many reasons, mostly historical.
Governor Stirling declared Perth the capital in 1820, so most government workers were (and are) situated there. In the early days, Perth attracted more farming settlers than anywhere else. The port was close (Fremantle), so shipping and trade was concentrated in Perth also. Most main roads, and later railways, led to Perth and Fremantle. Western Australia’s manufacturing industry began in Perth and is still there. Manufacturing provides employment for 8% of all WA workers.
The tertiary (service) industry employs the most people in WA. This includes the education, health, financial, commercial and hospitality industries as well as the public service.
2) The semi-arid grasslands are a half-way climate type between the hot desert and wetter coastal areas. Rainfall is lower and less reliable and droughts are common. In the southern parts it rains in winter and wheat and sheep are farmed. In the northern parts it rains in summer, so much of the rain which falls is evaporated and so can’t be used. Crops can’t be grown without irrigation. Most people here live on the coast or in mining towns.
3) Hot Desert areas have a rainfall of less than 250 millimetres per year and that is unreliable. The whole year’s rain may come in one tropical cyclone. Huge cattle stations on the edges of the deserts need vast areas to support their herds as the natural vegetation is low in nutritional value. Most people living here earn a living in the mining towns or ports.
4) Monsoonal climate typically experiences hot, wet summers and warm dry winters. A small area of the state along the Kimberley coast is monsoonal. The area is not useful for grazing as it is so rugged and the soil is poor.
The Hot Desert and Monsoonal areas are thinly populated .The rainfall while often heavy in the Monsoonal areas is unreliable and often comes in the form of tropical cyclones which cause flooding and erosion. Most of the water drains away quickly or soaks in and what is left is quickly evaporated.
In the dry outback, mining, irrigation (Kununurra and Carnarvon), tourism and ports have led to scattered pockets of population inland and around the coast. The main towns in these areas (such as Port Hedland, Broome, Carnarvon, Kununurra and Karratha) are connected to these industries.
Perth has a Mediterranean climate with hot, dry summers and mild, wet winters. However, climate is not a constant and cannot be taken for granted. Perth’s long-term average rainfall is 880mm, but for the period from 1975 -2001, it was only 790mm.
