LESSON PLAN: Patrick Griffin - 19812351 Page 1

PART A: PREPARATION AND STRATEGIES

Year: 9/10 Syllabus section: Design & Technology: Activity of Designers: The work of past and current designers across a
range of settings
Lesson 4/10
Unit Name: Berry Island Interactions

Aboriginal site: Berry Island

Lesson Topic: Aboriginal Design Solutions - Bark Canoes Duration: 60 minutes

Prior knowledge/skills required Resources

• ICT Resources: Projector
• Visit to Berry Island in • Site images / Photos, Map of Aboriginal communities in the Sydney area
previous lessons • Nawi: Tied bark canoes (National Maritime Museum, 2016)
• Materials: 4 strips of soft bark, xanthorrhoea sap or glue substitute, string
• Tray of water, marbles/ballast for weight
Quality Teaching Elements (lesson focus) - Highlight relevant items
1. Intellectual Quality 2. Quality Learning Environment 3. Significance
1.1 Deep knowledge 2.1 Explicit quality criteria 3.1 Background knowledge
1.2 Deep understanding 2.2 Engagement 3.2 Cultural knowledge
1.3 Problematic knowledge 2.3 High Expectations 3.3 Knowledge integration
1.4 Higher-order thinking 2.4 Social Support 3.4 Inclusivity
1.5 Metalanguage 2.5 Students’ self regulation 3.5 Connectedness
1.6 Substantive communication 2.6 Student direction 3.6 Narrative
How are Quality Teaching (QT) elements achieved in the lesson?

QT element/s in the lesson Indicators of presence in lesson

Higher Order Thinking Students develop their understanding through task which require experimentation,
analysis and evaluation that progress through open ended questions, inquiry-based
learning and an authentic task.
Engagement Student engagement is promoted by the authentic/kinaesthetic task of constructing
a model canoe to apply students’ understanding.
Cultural Knowledge Aboriginal cultural knowledge is examined meaningfully, with a focus on
understanding Aboriginal perspectives and production process as complementary to
understanding contextual design solutions.

PART B: SEQUENCE OF ACTIVIES IN LESSON

Syllabus outcomes: (number/s and descriptor)
DT5-1 Analyses and applies a range of design concepts and processes
DT5-3 Evaluates and explains the impact of past, current and emerging technologies on the individual, society and environments
Students learn to:
• Investigate the design practices and solutions developed by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander People and other
Indigenous Peoples
• Analyse the interrelationship of design with technology, for example: – Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander design
solutions
• Evaluate and explain the impact of past, current and emerging technologies on the individual, society and environments, for
example: – Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Peoples
Timing Lesson content Student/ teacher activity 8 ways link
Lesson introduction Students: Enter classroom
5 Mins Teacher: Mark attendance roll, outline the lesson schedule on the
board. provide an acknowledgement to country (Cammaraygal)
 LESSON PLAN: Patrick Griffin - 19812351
Presentation / Discussion:
10 mins Connections to Berry Island
Review Images from the Berry
Island site to create visual
references to relevant
elements of the site such as
• Tree scars,
• Waterhole/grinding stone
• significance of in the
island site as a point of
confluence, trade, fishing
etc.
(Resource: Site images, Projector)
15 mins Artefact analysis & Drawing
interpretation
Resource: Nawi: Tied bark
canoes (National Maritime
Museum, 2016)
20 Mins Model bark canoe experiment
(Authentic/Kinaesthetic task)
In 4 groups of 5 (mixed ability),
students build a model bark
canoe to experiment and
apply findings to understand
bark canoes as an Aboriginal
design solution.
(resources)
• 4 strips of soft, bark,
• Xanthorrhoea, sap
or glue substitute
35 mins Share Knowledge & Analyse
Students test the model bark
canoes in water to analyse the
effectiveness of Aboriginal
construction techniques.
Students share findings and
learn what other methods
Aboriginal people used
Resources:
• tray of water,
• marbles/ballast for weight
45 Mins Discussion of significance to
land & community links
Discussion of the significance
of mark canoes to transport,
trade, fishing and links
between saltwater freshwater
communities
Resource: Map of Aboriginal
communities in Sydney
60 Mins Lesson Conclusion
Page 2
Teacher: Recap relevant findings from Berry Island site visit:
• “How did the Cammeraygal Aboriginal People access and
travel to Berry Island?” (bark canoes: Stringybark/Lane Cove)
• Ask students to explain what resources on Berry Island could
be used for making constructing a bark canoe? What clues
are there onsite? (Scaffold with images: tree scars, stone axe
Waterhole/grinding stone, tree sap, xanthorrhoea grass sap)
Students: Answer questions:
• Identify material and tool resources that may be used in
Aboriginal design and construction practices of canoes.
• Recognise the role of bark canoes as a design solution
developed by Aboriginal people that is inherently linked
country
Diagnostic assessment: note student responses to assess level of
scaffolding required for remaining lesson.
Teacher: Present various Aboriginal canoe designs:
• Explain That different Aboriginal design solutions were
place/specific based on timber resource availability and
waterway type
• Scaffold student interpretation of technical drawing of bark
canoe to determine processes
Students identify timber materials and processes used in various
canoe designs from orthographic drawings to determine most
appropriate construction method.
Students: Apply findings from site and drawings to cut, shape and fix
the ends of bark strips to form a model canoe.
Teacher:
• Informal assessment, Observe and record students’ abilities
to apply understanding through practical task
• Scaffold students’ progress if though open & reflective
questions to prompt higher order thinking:
o “How do you know that will float?”
o “Why have you folded the bark this way?”
• Differentiate materials and scaffolding for student ability
Students:
• Analyse the model bark canoes in water to analyse the
effectiveness of various indigenous construction processes
with reference to stability, hydrophobia/ permeability or
buoyancy
• Reflect/ self-assess the performance of their design for
structural stability, hydrophobia/permeability, buoyancy
Teacher:
• Complement student understanding by explaining what
other processes aboriginal people may have used (soaking
and drying bark, smoking and charring, stitching etc.)
Teacher:
• Facilitate a discussion that scaffolds students understanding
the importance of Bark canoes as a link between Berry
Island and other Aboriginal communities (Gadigal, etc.).
• Ask questions to informally assess student understanding.
Students: Discuss and the significance bark canoes with reference to
community connections, draw connections between Indigenous
knowledge systems
Teacher: Explain the transition to next class, dismiss students on bell
Students: Pack up materials, place bark canoes on windowsill to dry
 LESSON PLAN: Patrick Griffin - 19812351 Page 4
Resources to support this Lesson
Site images / Photos, Map of Aboriginal communities in the Sydney area

Sydney Red Gum sap Watering hole & Axe grinding grooves

Tree Scars (link to canoe trees) Map of local Aboriginal communities within the Sydney
Harbour / Parramatta River area

Berry Island - Satellite view “A Native going to Fish with Torch” 1788-97, Port
Jackson Painter, Watling Drawing 43, Natural History Museum