Australian GovernmentYear: 3

UNIT OVERVIEW: Lesson 6/ 12

By the end of Year 3, students explain how decisions can be made democratically. They recognise the importance of rules. They describe how people participate in their community as active citizens.

Students pose questions about the society in which they live. They share their views on an issue. They present their ideas and opinions using civics andcitizenship terms.

TIME DURATION / RESOURCES:30-60 minutes

AUSTRALIAN CURRICULUM:

How and why decisions are made democratically in communities(ACHCK001)

How and why people make rules (ACHCK002)

http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/humanities-and-social-sciences/civics-and-citizenship/curriculum/f-10?layout=1#level3

LESSON OBJECTIVE:

In this lesson, it will be introduced and discussed who is the Government of Australia and what do they do.

ADAPTATION/ SPECIAL CONSIDERATION:

This lesson consists of visual aids, including table and videos to adapt to the inclusion and awareness of visual learners.

The lesson is adapted for the kinesthetic learners who require hands on tasks and constant movement and motion to understand concepts.

STUDENT PRIOR KNOWLEDGE:

Based on the prior lessons, students should be expected to know what “ruling” is and what it is consists of. The concept of making rules for everyone, that are based on the students within the class. Understand the concept of society and making decisions that are reflective of the needs of the community and society.

INTRODUCTION:

Introducing the word Government. Asking students to think about ideas of what that word means and creating a discussion with the students about any factors they may have seen that include the government.

http://www.peo.gov.au/multimedia/videos/about-parliament-what-is-parliament/

Showing the students a clip that introduces the government of Australia and the concept of elections.

about-parliament-what-is-parliament-popup.html

10-15 minutes

BODY:

Demonstrate to the classroom that there is always two sides to the government, generally a side that agrees with a topic and side that opposes a topic. Asking the students why they think there are always two sides. Guiding the students to agree that it is fair to always have two sides and the benefits of having two sides. Asking the students to think of what would happen if there was only one side?

The teacher then must demonstrate that there are several categories of government, local being the district / city, state being the whole state, and national being the leaders in Canberra including the Prime Minister.

The teacher then demonstrates the local council and how parents and adults go to vote for their local representative in the ballot box. The teacher then must ask the students about the prior knowledge if they have seen any examples of voting.

The teacher asks the students for two politicians for a “mock” voting, one for and one for against eating pizza for lunch.

The two politician, one at a time, must advertise why they want the class to vote for them.

The teacher must state that they are voting for the politician and what the politician stand for.

Once the students have chosen their side, the teacher then asks why the students have picked each side, Questions like:

What is so good/ bad against having pizza for lunch Why did/didn’t they choose to have pizza for lunch?

The students should be given a couple of minutes to think about eating pizza and what their responses should be.

The students must then tick in the allocated box and go to the ballot to choose which one they consider to be the better choice.

The teacher should then finalise counting and ask students to not change sides any longer. The teacher should then reveal the answer, and choose the leader to be the local representative. The local representative must then “mock” meetings with councils over money, standing by their word and responsibility.

20 minutes

CONCLUSION:

Discuss if the students think voting in the election was fair. Do the students think that’s how Australia should be run? What are our opinions about voting and doing it this way? Discuss if they think the job within the local government is difficult/easy? Discuss who would like this job?

5 – 10 minutes

SAFE AND RESPONSIBLE:

Students should not run around the classAll chairs and desks should be stacked neatly

PERSONAL REFLECTION:

TEACHER COMMENTS:

WAYS TO IMPROVE FOR FUTURE DEVELOPMENT:

RESCOURCES:http://www.peo.gov.au/uploads/peo/docs/fact-sheets/prime_minister.pdf

http://www.peo.gov.au/learning/fact-sheets/prime-minister.html

LESSON PLAN DEMO:

http://www.peo.gov.au/uploads/peo/docs/parliamentary-lesson-plans/lessonPlan-elections.pdf

Resources:

Voting:

Yes:

No: