Future Now: Primary unit

An Acknowledgement of Country is a statement that pays respect to the Traditional Custodians of the Country that you are learning or meeting on and recognises their ongoing relationship with Country. The Australian Museum respects and acknowledges the Gadigal people as the Custodians of the land on which the Museum stands.

Which First Nations Country or Nation was your school built upon? If you are unsure contact a local First Nations organisation to find out. You might like to start with the NSW Aboriginal Land Council and the Aboriginal Education Consultative Group.

Ask your students to write an Acknowledgement of Country for your school. To get them started, read more about why an Acknowledgement of Country is important and how to write one in this ABC article.

Read or watch Just a Dream by Chris Van Allsburg.

Discuss the story as a class, using the below prompts to get your students thinking.

• Walter has a dream about what life will be like on Earth in the future. What does he see?
• How far into the future do you think Walter travelled?
• What does Walter do to stop his dream from becoming a reality?
• When does Walter decide to change the future?
• Walter has a second dream about the future. What does he see?

Using arts and craft supplies, create a vision for the future. Add labels to highlight key features of your illustration.

Share illustrations in partners. Scaffold your students' responses with the statement starters below.

• I think life in the future…
• I think this because…
• The future I have illustrated is _______ years from now.

Visit and explore our Changing Climate exhibition which showcases the causes of climate change, what life in Australia will look like in 2040 if we don’t take action, and what you and I can do to make a difference.

We have also a range of free learning resources to support your visit, which you can access below.

Take a look into a hopeful future with three dioramas featuring scale models and audio-visual content that bring sustainable landscapes to life and highlight innovative solutions for tackling the impacts of climate change. Featuring everything from community gardens to flying taxis, each pod explores how solutions can be applied to your home life or community.

Find out where Future Now is touring and plan your visit! When visiting Future Now, access and download our activity sheet below. Use it to find examples of positive solutions in each of the three dioramas!

Watch How to talk to kids about climate change created by Save the Children Australia.

In small groups, ask your students to define 'sustainable living'. You can get them started with the following prompt:

• The answer is 'sustainable living'. What are 5 questions that could be linked to this answer?

Research sustainable living technologies and practices, and ask your students to answer the following questions.

• What can you do at home to live sustainably? Look up examples from other people's homes, such as creating a worm farm, taking shorter showers, using reusable bags and containers, playing outside or collecting rainwater.
• What technologies are available today that can help people live sustainably? You can get started by researching solar panels, wind turbines, insulation, chicken tractor or public transport.

At the beginning of term, count up the amount of rubbish your class creates with your lunches over the course of a week e.g. plastic packaging or plastic bottles.

Plan a 'nude food' lunchbox or organise a class 'rubbish free lunch' day. 'Nude food' is food with little or no packaging, for example fruits! A 'Rubbish free lunch' day challenges students to prepare a lunchbox with no disposable packaging. Are your students up for the challenge?

At the end of term, count up the amount of rubbish your class creates in a week now. Is it less that the beginning of term?

Develop a sustainability checklist for your school, to see where you might be able to save on energy, stop water wastage or reduce rubbish.

Examples include: leaking taps, second-hand uniform shop, lights turned off when not needed, recycling bins, compost bins, native plants that require minimal watering, rainwater tanks, broken objects repaired.

Investigate sustainability in the school using your checklist.

In pairs, design a 'cubby house of the future' – start by drawing a diagram of the cubby. Add descriptive labels that identify and explain sustainable features of the design.

Examples include: curtains and window awnings to block heat, skylight for natural lighting, light coloured roof to reflect heat, location of cubby close to deciduous plants to provide shade in summer and sunlight in winter, pulley system for clean transport of goods, reusable or repurposed (upcycled) materials.

Make a diorama of your designed cubby houses using at least 50% recycled materials and “8R” principles.

• Rethink: What do I really need to buy?
• Refuse: What won’t I buy?
• Reuse: Can someone use this again?
• Repurpose: What can I upcycle?
• Reduce: How many do I need?
• Rot: Can this be composted?
• Repair: Can I fix it?
• Recycle: How can this be recycled?

Reflecting on your design

Reflect on your 'cubby house of the future' design and the making process. Use the below question prompts to get your students thinking.

• What worked? What would you do differently next time?
• Does your diorama match your design? Why or why not?
• How did you apply the “8R” principles?
• Using recycled materials was easy. Agree or disagree?

An exhibition in a museum normally tells a story through objects, specimens, models, sounds, text, digital platforms, art, pictures and/or archival sources. A student-curated exhibition for your classroom or school would give great scope for object-based learning giving opportunities for students to investigate objects in ways that encourages collaboration, research, and discussion.

Host a 'Future' exhibition at school – you can call it after your class name, for example Future 5R. Display cubby house dioramas and invite other classes in the school as well as parents and carers to visit. Follow our scaffolded activity page to create your own exhibition in the classroom.