HASS · Year 1

Active learning ideas

Impact of Human Activity on Places

Active learning lets young students see human impact firsthand, turning abstract ideas into concrete examples they can touch and discuss. When children manipulate materials or role-play scenarios, they connect cause and effect in ways that listening alone cannot achieve.

• ACARA Content Descriptions
• AC9HASS1K07

• 25–40 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 4 activities

Activity 01

• Outdoor Investigation Session
• 30 min · Pairs

Model Building: Before and After Places

Provide clay, sticks, and toy animals for pairs to build a natural bushland model, then modify it with farm structures or paths. Students discuss and draw how plants and animals respond. Share models with the class.

How can people change the places where animals and plants live?

Facilitation Tip

During Model Building, circulate and prompt students with: 'Show me where the plants will live now. What might happen to the animals?'.

What to look for

Give each student a card with a picture of a local place (e.g., park, bushland). Ask them to draw one way a person might change this place and one way this change could affect plants or animals.

• Remember
• Understand
• Analyze
• Social Awareness
• Self-Awareness
• Decision-Making

Activity 02

• Outdoor Investigation Session
• 25 min · Small Groups

Litter Hunt Simulation: Park Impact

Scatter safe litter items in the school yard. Small groups collect and sort into categories, noting potential harm to wildlife through drawings. Regroup to brainstorm cleanup rules.

What might happen to plants and animals if people keep cutting down trees or dropping litter?

Facilitation Tip

During Litter Hunt Simulation, model how to record items on a simple chart with columns for 'type of litter' and 'possible animal affected'.

What to look for

Show students images of different human activities (e.g., building a house, planting a tree, dropping litter). Ask: 'Is this activity helpful or harmful to the environment? Why?' Encourage students to explain their reasoning.

• Remember
• Understand
• Analyze
• Social Awareness
• Self-Awareness
• Decision-Making

Activity 03

• Outdoor Investigation Session
• 35 min · Small Groups

Role-Play: Animal Perspectives

Assign roles as animals, plants, or builders. In small groups, act out a scenario where construction affects habitats, then switch roles to suggest protections like fences or revegetation.

What can people do to help protect natural places?

Facilitation Tip

During Role-Play, ask each group to freeze after one minute and identify one emotion their animal character feels.

What to look for

During a walk around the school grounds, ask students to point out one example of a human-made change and one example of a natural element. Then, ask how these two might interact.

• Remember
• Understand
• Analyze
• Social Awareness
• Self-Awareness
• Decision-Making

Activity 04

• Outdoor Investigation Session
• 40 min · Whole Class

Mapping Walk: Local Changes

Lead a whole class walk around school grounds. Students sketch maps marking human changes and natural features, then label impacts on living things back in class.

How can people change the places where animals and plants live?

Facilitation Tip

During Mapping Walk, carry a class camera to document changes and have students predict which changes help or harm living things.

What to look for

Give each student a card with a picture of a local place (e.g., park, bushland). Ask them to draw one way a person might change this place and one way this change could affect plants or animals.

• Remember
• Understand
• Analyze
• Social Awareness
• Self-Awareness
• Decision-Making

A few notes on teaching this unit

Teachers should balance evidence with empathy by showing both benefits and costs of human changes. Research suggests young students learn best when they can physically interact with materials and see immediate consequences. Avoid over-simplifying; instead, guide students to notice nuance through guided questions and peer discussion.

By the end of these activities, students will clearly articulate how specific human actions change places and affect living things. They will use accurate vocabulary and provide examples from their own observations or models.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During Model Building, watch for students who only show negative changes or assume all human actions are harmful.

  Prompt students to include at least one positive change in their model, then ask peers to identify benefits such as 'safer paths for walking' or 'food grown nearby' before adding any concerns.

• During Role-Play, watch for students who assume animals can easily relocate when their habitat changes.

  Have students act out moving to a new place. Ask them to describe obstacles like distance, predators, or lack of familiar food, then revisit their role-play to show realistic challenges.

• During Litter Hunt Simulation, watch for students who assume litter disappears quickly or has little effect.

  Ask students to collect photos of real litter effects from news or school grounds. During the hunt, have them match litter items to potential harm, such as plastic straws to birds or fishing line to turtles.

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Methods used in this brief

• Outdoor Investigation Session