Learning Area: Humanities And Social Sciences

Welcome to the Civics and Citizenship Curated Clip Collection. While this resource is still in development, we are excited to offer a pilot version to support teachers during the election period. Each module includes a short video from an Australian television series, along with accompanying activities designed to help students explore the importance of leadership, democracy and being an active citizen. As we continue to build and refine this resource, more videos and materials will be added to enhance the learning experience. We welcome your feedback and appreciate your support as we continue to develop this resource for classrooms.

The PM’s Daughter is a 10-part live action series set in Canberra, the heartland of Australian politics, produced by Fremantle for the ABC. It tells the story of Catalina Parkes Pérez, a teenager who’s like any other, but with one difference: her mother is the new Prime Minister of Australia.
The primary and lower secondary school resource aligns with Civics and Citizenship for students in Years 5-6 and Years 7-8. The secondary school teaching toolkit is designed for Humanities and Social Sciences (HASS), Civics and Citizenship, English and/or Media Arts students in Years 7-10.
The resource can be used flexibly in the classroom, with activities and opportunities for discussion giving students the opportunity to engage with content under the themes of effective campaigning, issues that matter, and the influence of media on audiences. The learning prompts developed for each episode directly link to students’ real-world context on both a local and global scale and champions student voice, agency, and youth leadership – citizenship in action.
The resources consist of activities which utilise content from the series coupled with active student participation, building knowledge of our democratic processes and civic responsibilities with a strong focus on developing media literacy and critical thinking skills. This resource can be used as standalone modules or presented as a unit of work. The lessons are outlined in this resource as well as in the PDF screen sequences; multi-modal slideshows with clips, images, and prompts designed to be a student facing teaching aid in the classroom.

Join ACTF and ACMI in an engaging live virtual workshop, and extended online resource exploring digital futures and current issues as we move towards a world AI integration.

Students in years 6 - 9 are invited to learn about Artificial Intelligence (AI), in the futuristic genre of speculative fiction with Australian Script Producer Jessica Paine for a behind-the-scenes experience of The PM’s Daughter Series 2.

Students will be led through relevant clips, meet industry professionals, and have access to post-production script resources, exploring themes of ethics in technology, AI, and speculative fiction. 

Please print Case Study 1 Script to use for an activity during the workshop. 

Ethical and Responsible AI links: 

• Australia’s Ethical AI Principals – Australian Government 
• Ethics of Artificial Intelligence – UNESCO
• What is responsible Artificial Intelligence? – Gradient Institute 

Novel and Film Comparison
Through this unit of work, students will examine the visual and printed texts of Paper Planes. The book is based on the motion picture screenplay Paper Planes. The major themes include relationships, loss, connectedness, friendship, independence and competition. Suitable for grades 5-8, teachers are advised to select from the following activities those that are best suited to cater for the age group they are teaching and to provide appropriate activities for group work that will support and extend students.

Fold’n’Fly: The Circling Clive
"The Circling Clive" is a paper plane design that makes its on-screen debut as one of character Dylan's original creations in the Australian feature film Paper Planes.
Originally created by THE PAPER PILOTS, this Fold 'n' Fly PDF provides students with the information they requite to recreate the original Clive design.

Activity Suggestions:
Photocopy the template (to scale) and instruct students to recreate Clive.
Explore with the class how simple changes to the original design may impact on the plane's aerodynamics.
After recreating Clive, ask students to design their own paper plane.
Host a class or school paper plane competition using Clive and/or students' original designs.
Watch the Paper Planes film and explore Dylan's creative and scientific journey.

Red Dirt Riders is a 5-part factual program for primary-aged students, showcasing Ngarluma Ngurra in Western Australia’s remote Pilbara region. The series follows the riders as they venture out on their freedom machines to visit sites of significance on Country. The young adventurers embark on rides to learn about the history of place from the people who remember – learning directly from living memory and oral histories.

Developed for students in Years 3-6, this resource aligns with English, History and Social Science (HASS) and Media Arts content in the Australian Curriculum. It also builds knowledge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures. The resource contains a lesson for each of the five episodes, which can be used as standalone modules or presented as a unit of work. Each lesson is arranged as a student-facing multi-modal slideshow (see ‘Screen Sequences’ below) with clips, sound files, images, prompts and printable worksheets. Slideshow content is elaborated on, and curriculum links provided, in a PDF document for teachers. This resource champions First Nations perspectives, inviting students across the nation to experience the rich and layered histories of the Pilbara.

Screen Sequences:

1. The Marsh 
2. Bajinhurrba
3. Weymul
4. Bogged
5. Harding Dam

This resource is divided into three curriculum areas, all based on episodes from MY:24.

English

Providing teachers with strategies for the English classroom, this resource uses selected episodes from MY:24 to explore the compelling and thoughtful themes of the series, and the art of creating a narrative. Using the MY:24 series as a stimulus to encourage students to observe the narrative, reflect on the story and themes in each episode, the teaching strategies in the guide support students to develop their own skills as storytellers. Students are encouraged to analyse character stories, examine their thinking and feelings and make sense of their own experiences.

Humanities

MY:24 offers a series of unique windows into contemporary Australian life from the perspective of young people. This resource focuses on Civics and Citizenship. The MY:24 stories chosen for inclusion are shaped by issues of local, national and global concern, and provide opportunities to foster learning about the complexity and diversity of contemporary Australian democracy, society, identity, and citizenship.

Health and Physical Education (HPE)

This resource provides teaching strategies to support students in the development of knowledge, skills and depositions that will reinforce their sense of self, and support them in building and managing satisfying relationships, and positively influence, their own and others’ health and wellbeing. MY:24 offers students a wonderful stimulus to study Health and Physical Education and reflect on their own experiences and how these address the contextual factors that influence the health, safety, wellbeing, and physical activity patterns of individuals, groups and communities.

In And Then Something Changed, eight-year old Louis wakes up to what he thinks is going to be just another normal school day, but something has changed. Gone are the motorised backpacks, electric stairs, self-dressing clothes and elevating floors that Louis relies on. In this film we discover what it’s like to be a child with Achondroplasia, a form of dwarfism, and what it’s like to navigate a world that isn’t built for you. This resource will support Year 3 - 6 teachers and students to explore themes from the short film, with learning tasks related to disability, inclusion, accessibility and media representation.

Primary students from around Australia ask Are You Tougher Than Your Ancestors? creator Vanna Morosini, host Ghenoa Gela, and cast members Jeffrin and Harry (from the ‘Milk Run’ episode) about the ideas behind this engaging series, and the work that goes into bringing a TV series to life.

Are You Tougher Than Your Ancestors? explores familiar historic periods and events through the eyes of children who lived through them. Each episode reveals an incredible true story of a resilient and courageous child from the past, and challenges modern-day children to emulate their experiences. Through these participants’ firsthand experiences, students see what their lives would have been like in a different era. The Are You Tougher than Your Ancestors? resource is a History resource for Foundation to Year 6 teachers and students. Episodes and suggested learning tasks relate to the key understandings and inquiry skills outlined in the History sub-strand of the F-6/7 Humanities and Social Sciences curriculum.

In Summer’s Day, we see one Australian girl’s awkward transition into a teenager. Summer’s mother isn’t around when she gets her first period, so she navigates becoming a woman, and her body image troubles, with the help of her best friend Mackenzie.

The free Summer’s Day Teaching Toolkit explores the content and themes in Summer’s Day, including menstruation, puberty and body image. It can be used as a standalone resource, or to complement a school’s health education and puberty programs.

Woven Threads: Stories from Afar is an 8 x 4-minute series which presents varied refugee stories through beautiful and powerful animations. The emotive storytelling compels us to remember our shared humanity, and to identify with the universality of the refugee experience.

The Woven Threads: Stories from Afar Resource aims to support teachers in exploring key themes from the series. The resource also aims to build students’ understanding of, and empathy with, refugees and asylum seekers. It contains curriculum-mapped learning tasks for Year 5-10 students, drawing on content from a wide range of learning areas, capabilities, and cross-curricular priorities. Tasks were designed with an inquiry approach, aiming to foster communication, collaboration, creativity and critical thinking in the classroom.

Director Robert Connolly and actors Ed Oxenbould and Peter Rowsthorn share their experience of making Paper Planes during this virtual excursion. The Q&A format provided students with an opportunity to ask their own questions about filmmaking - from the initial idea, to hiring of the cast and crew.

The Lockie Leonard Resource is a multiliteracy resource aimed to help students in Upper Primary and Lower Secondary school explore the Lockie Leonard television series, based on the original trilogy of books by Western Australian writer, Tim Winton.

This website provides access to over 100 teaching and learning activities, each supported by video clips and student worksheets exploring the themes presented across both the Lockie Leonard texts and TV series.

The Lockie Leonard Resource is divided into four inter-related strands:
Strand 1: Storytelling in a Television Series
Strand 2: Transition and Adolescence
Strand 3: Identity
Strand 4: Reacting, Responding and Creating
plus
Strand 5: Gender Perspectives: A Comparison of Lockie Leonard and Mortified

In addition, it features Character Biographies, Press Kit, Stills Gallery, and Episode Synopses, and an interactive map.
Note: The television series of Lockie Leonard is rated PG.

Access this resource

www.lockieleonard.edu.au

The Mortified Resource is linked to the children's comedy drama series Mortified. The series follows a young girl's journey toward self-acceptance.

The resource is aimed at students in Years 4-8 and offers video clips, interviews with key actors and production staff, lesson plans, and worksheets divided into two parts.

Part 1 - Being Mortified: A Focus on Growing Up, includes video clips from episodes along with activities that analyse how the series conveys meaning. Part 1 features 16 video clips and 4 lessons.
Part 2 - Media Literacy: Constructing, Producing and Responding to Mortified, presents video clips and activities that explore various aspects of television production, including effects, design, and publicity. Part 2 includes 31 clips and 3 lessons.

The lessons cover topics like drama, production elements, behind-the-scenes insights, and more.

Access this resource

www.mortified.edu.au

The My Place for Teachers Resource provides rich educational material for primary and lower-secondary teachers using the My Place TV series in the classroom for Australian History and English.

The website features teaching materials from both series 1 and 2 and includes:
- 2 Decade Timelines, 2000s-1880s and 1870s-Before Time, each highlighting events of Australian History and politics, Society and culture and Science & technology, that underpin the stories of the children and the development of Australia. Each decade cites selected Indigenous and non-Indigenous histories.
- 78 clips, each with associated Teaching Activities and student activity sheets for Years 3-6 and beyond. The activities have rich curriculum content that relate directly to the Australian curriculum for the studies of History and English.
- 3 main Themes and 22 sub-themes, where teachers can search for relevant resources to support their individual programs.
- Behind the Scenes information including interviews with Nadia Wheatley (writer) and Penny Chapman (producer), stills gallery, clips bank, and production materials including scripts, press kits and a poster.
- Our Place, an interactive online teacher forum where teachers can share their strategies for using My Place in the classroom and upload stories of their own students.
The My Place for Teachers website is a partnership project between Education Services Australia (ESA) and the Australian Children’s Television Foundation (ACTF)

Awards

eLearning Industry Excellence Awards 2010
Winner - eLearning K-12

Australian Education Publishers Award 2010
Winner – Best Primary Education Website

Interactive Media Awards (U.S.) 2010
Winner - Outstanding Achievement Award for Education

Australian Teachers of Media Awards (ATOM) 2010
Finalist – Best Primary Education Website

Australian Teachers of Media Awards (ATOM) 2010
Finalist – Best Instructional/Training Resource

Access this resource

www.myplace.edu.au

This resource provides opportunities for discussion and activities for primary age students related to the key learning areas of Science, Humanities, English, Health and The Arts.

Teachers may choose to screen the Dogstar series sequentially or they may select particular episodes and use those activities from this guide that meet the needs of their students or that relate to topics being investigated in their classroom. Discussion questions and activities are provided in this guide to support a number of the central themes explored throughout the series including families, relationships and feelings; humans, pets and other animals; heroes and villains; technology and inventions; responsibility for the natural environment and the future.

Information about the development, production and technology behind the series has been included to assist teachers of older students to develop learning experiences in relation to animation and to the creation of this series.

In each episode of Bushwhacked! Series 2, an important message about ecosystems is explored. The Bushwhacked! Series 2 Resource harnesses those messages to inspire a greater awareness in students of Australia’s unique Indigenous people, their culture and their relationship with the land.

This resource highlights discussion topics and provides activities for teachers to use in their middle-primary to middle-secondary classroom.

The discussion topics and activities included in this resource are aligned with content, knowledge and skills in the Australian Curriculum areas of English, Science, The Arts (Media), Humanities (Geography) and the Cross-Curriculum Priorities of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures and Sustainability.

Bushwhacked! can be enjoyed by a wide range of age groups, from middle-primary to middle-secondary, and is a valuable resource for a large range of curriculum areas, including English, Science, The Arts (Media), Humanities (Geography) and the cross-curriculum priorities of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures and Sustainability.

Included in the Bushwhacked! Series 1 Resource are brief synopses of each episode, so that teachers can view them either in order or in groups that support their classroom program.

This resource provides some ideas for discussions and activities relating to the series as a whole, including examples from episodes, which can be used before and after each episode is viewed.

The Bushwhacked! Australian Flora and Fauna Resource was developed by Samantha Doggett (Teacher, Serpell Primary School)

“I have been working this term on the new program Bushwhacked! This has been a wonderful series that Grade 1 children have thoroughly enjoyed. This series would easily attract all primary school years from Foundation to Grade 6. They have gained extensive knowledge about Australian animals, landscape and Indigenous traditions.”

Bushwhacked! is a unique nature television program now in its third series. This highly acclaimed documentary series appeals to children and teenagers from 5 to 14 years old. Highly dramatic and exciting, it is an example of how well-researched locations, excellent scripts, very high production values, and fascinating Australian animals and issues can create not just entertainment, but a valuable and enjoyable learning experience.

The Bushwhacked! Series 3 Resource is written and organised for educators who wish to use episodes from the series as part of their teaching and learning sequence. The study guide provides discussion topics and activities with a focus on specific learning areas or general themes.

The content included in this study guide is aligned with, knowledge and skills in the Australian Curriculum areas of English, Science, The Arts (Media), Humanities (Geography) and the Cross-Curriculum Priorities of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures and Sustainability.

Ready For This cast members Madeleine Madden (Zoe) and Aaron McGrath (Levi), along with Head Scriptwriter Liz Doran, provide a behind the scenes insight into the award-winning TV series, acting and the script-writing process.