NSWTR 2024 HR - Flipbook - Page 38
YEAR 5-6 SECTION
NATURAL INSTINCTS
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Indigenous methods in land care
are important to combat ecological
issues like species decline and how
to encourage bush regeneration.
Traditional Indigenous seasonal
calendars are now being used in
land care, tracking which species are
active and when.
In NSW’s Barwon River,
Brewarrina 昀椀sh traps made of stones
were employed to avoid over昀椀shing
– Murdi Paaki Regional Assembly.
Cool burning or cultural burning
is the practice of using small 昀椀res
to manage ecosystems to clear
areas of land but also ensure
seed regeneration and deliver soil
nutrients. You can learn more about
this practice in this ABC video.
Or read more on the Watarrka
Foundation website.
STAGE 3 – CONSERVATION CRISIS! QUESTIONS
1. By the end of the game, which species had increased
in population number and which had decreased in
population number?
2. Did the overall number of di昀昀erent species drop, that
is, did you completely lose any of the species that were
there at the beginning? If so, which species did you have
left at the end of the game and which did you lose?
5. Of your responses provided in question 4, which
actions by humans do you think could be avoided?
6. If you continued the game, what do you think might
happen in the future?
7. Suggest ways that Indigenous knowledge, such as
sustainable hunting, could be used to help avoid the
reduction of biodiversity of species.
3. List some of the situations on the cards that gave
you an increase in species number. How many of
them were due to human e昀昀orts and how many were
due to natural environmental conditions?
8. Could Indigenous practices such as cultural burning
support or reduce species diversity in an ecosystem?
Think broadly, such as the immediate e昀昀ects of the
burning and the long-term e昀昀ects of the burning.
4. List some of the situations that reduced the species
number in your ecosystem. How many of these were
due to human impacts and how many were due to
natural environmental conditions?
9. How did playing the game help you learn about how
species diversity can change over time?
SPECIES SURVIVAL – MORE THAN JUST SUSTAINABILITY
10. What changes could you make to the game to make it
a more realistic model of species change over time?
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