Natural Resources Matter

Lesson Overview

Year Level: Year 1
Subject: HASS (Humanities and Social Sciences)
Unit: Exploring Our World (Lesson 13 of 15)
Lesson Duration: 40 minutes
Curriculum Links:

• ACHASSK031: The natural, managed and constructed features of places, their location, how they change and how they can be cared for.
• ACHASSK032: The weather and seasons and their influence on our daily activities.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

• Identify natural resources used in daily life.
• Understand why natural resources are important to communities.
• Recognise local natural resources in their area.

Resources & Materials

• Small baskets or trays (one per group)
• Real-life natural resources (e.g., small rocks, leaves, sand, water in a jar, small sticks)
• Large poster paper and markers
• Images of Australian landscapes and industries (mining, farming, fishing)
• A small "surprise discovery bag" with mystery items like a cotton ball (representing cotton farms), a small wooden block (representing trees for construction), and a shell (representing fishing)

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Lesson Structure

Introduction (5 minutes) – Activating Prior Knowledge

1. Think-Pair-Share Activity:

   • Ask students, “What do we find outside in nature that helps us every day?”
   • Have them turn to a partner and discuss for 30 seconds.
   • Take three responses and record them on the board.

2. Mystery Bag Challenge:

   • Hold up the "surprise discovery bag" and pull out a cotton ball, a wooden block, and a shell.
   • Ask, “What do you think these objects represent in nature?”
   • Guide them to the idea of natural resources (trees, cotton, water).

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Main Activity (25 minutes) – Exploring and Applying Knowledge

Part 1: Sorting Natural Resources (10 minutes)

1. Divide students into five small groups.
2. Give each group a basket containing natural items (e.g. rocks, leaves, sand, water).
3. Have the groups sort these items into two categories on a poster:
   • Things that help people
   • Things that make nature beautiful
4. Groups then share their findings with the class.

Part 2: What’s in Our Community? (10 minutes)

1. Show images of different Australian landscapes and industries (e.g., water in rivers, trees for furniture, farms for food, mines for minerals).
2. Ask, “Do we have any of these resources in our town?”
3. Students describe one natural resource they see often (e.g., the ocean near a coastal town, eucalyptus trees near a bushland).
4. In pairs, students create a “Resource Rhyme” about one natural resource they’ve learned about (e.g., “Water is blue, it helps me too!”).

Part 3: Role-Playing a Resource (5 minutes)

1. Assign each student a resource (e.g., tree, river, farm).
2. Have them act out what their resource does while the class guesses what they are.

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Conclusion (5 minutes) – Reflection & Wrap-Up

1. Ask, “What would happen if we ran out of these resources?”
2. Reinforce ways to take care of natural resources (e.g., saving water, not littering).
3. Students complete the sentence: “Natural resources are important because…”
4. Thank students for being resource detectives today!

Assessment & Differentiation

Assessment

• Observation during group sorting activity (Are students able to classify natural resources?)
• Listening to student explanations of local resources (Can they connect resources to their community?)
• Participation in role-playing activity (Are they demonstrating understanding through movement and actions?)

Differentiation

• Support: Pair students who need extra assistance with a confident peer during sorting activities.
• Extension: Challenge fast-finishers to draw a picture of a resource in their area and label it with three ways it is used.

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Teacher Reflection After Lesson

• Were students able to identify and explain the role of natural resources?
• Did they show engagement in hands-on and movement-based activities?
• How well did they apply knowledge about their local community?

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This lesson delivers deep, engaging learning in an age-appropriate way, incorporating movement, creativity, and discussion. It provides memorable, real-world connections to make Year 1 students aware of the importance of natural resources in their daily lives.