ACSA Conference 2013
Exploring Sustainability
through the Australian
Curriculum: Mathematics
Judy Anderson
The University of Sydney
judy.anderson@sydney.edu.au
Why sustainability?
Australian Curriculum F-10
(ACARA, 2010)
General Capabilities
Cross-curriculum
Perspectives
Literacy
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Histories and cultures
Numeracy
Asia and Australia’s engagement with
Asia
Competence in Information and
Communication Technology
Sustainability
Critical and Creative Thinking
Ethical Behaviour
Personal and Social Competence
Intercultural Understanding
Overview
1. What is sustainability?
2. What local, national and global issues could we
investigate in mathematics lessons? What
mathematical questions could we pose?
3. Do these issues provide “rich, engaging and
authentic contexts”?
4. What impact would doing these tasks have on
curriculum implementation?
What is sustainability?
http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/CrossCurriculumPriorities/Sustainability
“Sustainability addresses
the ongoing capacity of
Earth to maintain all life.”
Sustainable – “able to be
maintained”
Education for Sustainability
(ACARA, The Australian Curriculum, v5.0)
• “Education for sustainability develops the knowledge,
skills, values and world views necessary for people to
act in ways that contribute to more sustainable
patterns of living.”
• Organising ideas: Systems, World Views, and Futures
http://www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au/env_ed/
The Three
Pillars
of
Sustainability
How big is 7 billion?
Visualising populations
Stan’s café – Of all the people in all the world
• http://www.stanscafe.co.uk/project-of-all-thepeople.html#videos
What is a sustainable population?
www.PopulationEducation.org
www.Worldof7Billion.org
China, 1978
Number of Male births per 100 female
births
200 years that changed the world
Hans Rosling
200 countries, 200 years, 4 minutes
Hans Rosling
http://www.gapminder.org/videos/200-yearsthat-changed-the-world-bbc/
What local, national and global issues could we
investigate in mathematics lessons?
GLOBAL ISSUES
• Inefficient use of energy
• Lack of water conservation
• Increased pollution
• Abuses of human rights
• Consumerism
•
…
Population and Resource Consumption
A paradox?
• Educating females reduces birth rates and therefore
population growth
• However, more highly educated people with higher incomes
consume more resources
Miniature
Earth Project
http://www.miniatureearth.com/
If the world were a village of 100
people
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNnbO8x4JA
Y
Welcome to the global village
Earth is a crowded place, and it is getting more
crowded all the time. As of 2010, the world’s
population was 6 billion, 900 million – that’s 6 900 000
000. Thirty-two countries have more than 40 million (40
000 000) people.
Eleven countries each have more than 100 million (100
000 000) people. China has over 1 billion, 300 million (1
300 000 000), while India has over 1 billion, 200 million
(1 200 000 000) people.
Numbers this big are hard to understand, but what if
we imagined the whole population of the world as a
village of just 100 people?
In this imaginary village, each person would represent
about 69 million (69 000 000) people from the real
world.
69,000,000 people
If Australia were a village …
As of June 2006, the population of Australia was 20,589,432.
• If Australia were a village of 100 habitants, then the population of the
entire world would be 31,500 people.
• Caucasian 91, Asian 7, Aboriginal and other 2
• 24 were born overseas
• 80 people in the village speak English at home
• 64 of the 100 live in a capital city
• 20 are under age 15, 67 are between 15 and 65, 13 are over 65
Children’s story:
If Australia were a village of 100 people
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAFu_gUwiM8
&feature=related
If the World were our
Classroom …
•
David J. Smith, the author of If the World Were a Village, has been asked
to write a sequel to the original book.
•
This time, he would like to base his data on a classroom. Our task is to
research whether a single classroom can represent the world. He would
like us to send him a letter reporting our findings.
•
Small groups will first collect the data needed from students in our class
and display it on a graph. We will then study the data and compare it to
the original book and another class.
•
David J. Smith will use our results to decide if this book would provide
an accurate picture of the world
Another investigation:
Travel Magazine Article
The editor of a travel magazine wants to include an
article about the best countries in which to live.
Your job is to present information that compares the
standard of living in Australia with that of three other
countries on three different continents.
Use a variety of methods including data displays, data
analyses and maps to support your conclusion.
AAMT National Mathematics Day
http://www.aamt.edu.au/Activities-andprojects/National-Mathematics-Day-2013
What local, national and global issues could we
investigate in mathematics lessons?
What questions could students pose:
• How much water is saved by fixing a dripping tap?
• How much food is ‘thrown away’ in the canteen in a year?
• How much paper could be saved in a year by putting the
school newsletter online?
• How much electicity is saved by turning off lights for one
hour?
• …
http://www.literacyandnumeracy.gov.au/numeracy
The Activity
Reduce, reuse, recycle, rethink
• Students collect, classify and count rubbish from the
classroom or school bins
• Submit data collection between 15 July and 4 August
• Early years to junior secondary
Is my class green?
Comparing samples and populations
“What actions do you take at home to conserve the
environment?”
• ‘My household has installed a water tank’
• ‘My household has installed a water saving shower head’
• ‘I take shorter showers’
• ‘I turn off the tap while I brush my teeth’
• ‘I turn off appliances (e.g. TV, computer, gaming consoles) at the
power point’
• ‘My household recycles our rubbish’
ABS Website (Via Scootle search)
What actions do you take in your home to
conserve the environment?
2010 Data - % of YES respondents at each year level
Action
Water tank
Shower
head
Short
showers
Brush teeth,
no tap
Off
appliances
Recycle
rubbish
4 or
lower
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
What actions do you take in your home to
conserve the environment?
2010 Data - % of YES respondents at each year level
Action
4 or
lower
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Water tank
45
38
37
43
40
41
41
43
38
Shower
head
40
46
45
44
46
48
46
50
52
Short
showers
74
73
66
60
51
46
44
44
47
Brush teeth,
no tap
92
91
90
89
87
85
85
83
85
Off
appliances
52
51
47
47
44
43
47
44
45
Recycle
rubbish
80
83
82
81
83
80
78
82
78
What local, national and global issues could we
investigate in mathematics lessons?
LOCAL ISSUES
http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/1318.3Feature%20A
rticle14Aug%202009
What local, national and global issues could we
investigate in mathematics lessons?
NATIONAL ISSUES
• Loss of biodiversity and continued destruction of habitat
• Depletion of river systems and groundwater aquifers giving rise to algal
blooms and declining aquatic ecosystems
• High rates of land clearance and vegetation loss
• Poor quality of soils
• Sustantial adverse impacts on water quality (stormwater, sewage, …)
• Invasive plants and animals
• Rising salinity
• Waste management
• Population
Measures of Sustainability
• Living Planet Index
• Happy Planet Index
• Ecological Footprint
• Earth Overshoot Day
• …
Living Planet Index
http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/all_publications/living_planet_report
/living_planet_report_graphics/lpi_interactive/
http://www.happyplanetindex.org/countries/australia/
Calculating Ecological Footprint
http://www.epa.vic.gov.au/ecologicalfootprint/calculators/default.asp
Ecological Footprint Interactive Graph
http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/all_publications/living_planet_report
/living_planet_report_graphics/footprint_interactive/
http://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/gfn/page/earth_overshoot_day/