Larrakia

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Introduction
Larrakia is a website powered through CSIRO which has information relating to the Indigenous Australian's calendar of the seasons. Individuals can gather information about the current seasonal changes and the behaviours and actions of different native plants and animals at this time.

Instructions
This website is perfect for science life skills students as it perfectly covers one of their dotpoints (see below) and is also simple and clean to use with lots of interactive features.

For use in class, ask each student to collect data from a season of their choosing (a current season, the season their birthday falls in etc.). Ask them to copy down information about the plants and animals in their chosen season and present to the class as a short, one minute, informal presentation.

Syllabus Dot Points
Science Life skills: explore a seasonal calendar used by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
Students communicate by: presenting ideas and information gathered through a scientific investigation in a variety of forms, using digital technologies as appropriate
compare the timing of the seasons in the Southern and Northern hemispheres
presenting ideas and information gathered through a scientific investigation in a variety of
forms, using digital technologies as appropriate
SCLS-14ES explores features of the solar system, including the Earth’s position and movement
SCLS-9WS uses a variety of strategies to communicate information about an investigation

Creative Spirits - Land Management

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Introduction 

Creative spirits is a website that focuses on Indigenous culture and offers a number of resources to explore their culture including arts, history, economy and health. There is also a substantial section on land management practices, both past and present. This section of the site not only details modern land practices, but also historical land management practices such as fire management and land care.

This can be used to educate students on Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander science practices.


Overview and How to Use

The website is cleanly and simply set out, making it simple to navigate through and find the information a student needs. The page "Aboriginal land and land rights" page has a number of sub-headings that discuss a number of issues, past and present,  relating to land management.

If a student is looking for information on land care, they simply click the "Land care" link and will be directed to the following page:

This page discusses evidence supporting traditional land management practices as well as information relating to modern land management practices used by rangers to maintain land.

Outcomes Covered
This site would be excellent for educating stage 5 students on sustainability, covering the following dot points:
LW2 e. assess ways that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' cultural practices and knowledge of the environment contribute to the conservation and management of sustainable ecosystems
f. evaluate some examples in ecosystems, of strategies used to balance conserving, protecting and maintaining the quality and sustainability of the environment with human activities and needs

SC4-13ES explains how advances in scientific understanding of processes that occur within and on the Earth, influence the choices people make about resource use and management