Home/Curriculum resources/What is Country/Activity 4 (Part one of two): Mapping our school
Learning Areas:
Humanities and Social Sciences, English, Mathematics
Year level:
Foundation
Activity 4 (Part one of two): Mapping our school
This activity is a part of the What is Country resource.
Edge of a Dry Lake. Western Australia. Photographer: Abstract Aerial Art. Source: Getty Images. Used under Licence.
Activity 4 (Part one of two): Mapping our school
Note: this activity may span more than one lesson.
Focus: Observing, experiencing, recording and naming parts of Country in our school.
Possible overarching question: How can we show the different parts of Country that exist around our school?
Step by Step Guide
Step 1: Connecting to students' prior learning
Step 2: Collaborative map creation
Step 3: Combining each section to create a whole
Step 4: Reflection and sharing
Required Resources
Teacher Support Material
Examples of maps (source prior to activity)
Large sheets of paper or mural space
Markers, coloured pencils, collage materials
What is Country Poster
Step 1: Connecting to students' prior learning
Review students' observation sheets and the class categorisation of the sensory walk photos. Discuss the different Land, Water, and Sky features students noticed on their school walk.
Step 2: Collaborative map creation
Explain to students they will be working together to create a large map or mural showing these features from the walk.
Use examples to discuss the possibilities for how students can create their section of the map. Unpack the different components and make connections to your school grounds.
Assign small sections of the school grounds to different students or groups (e.g., the playground, the oval, the native garden, the front entrance, the water tank). Allow students to use drawings, symbols, colour coding, and labels to represent features.
Step 3: Combining each section to create a whole
As a whole class combine all sections to form a large class map or wall mural. As students build the map, encourage them to point out the
Land Country features
Water Country features
Sky Country features
Step 4: Reflection and sharing
Come back to the “What is Country” Poster and ask students about how this is like the school map. Discuss how all the sections of the map join together to tell the story of the school environment as Country.
Related activities within this resources:
Activity 1: Introduction to Country
This activity introduces students to the idea of Country as a living, interconnected system that includes land, water, sky, people, plants, animals, and stories. It supports the development of shared language about types of Country and encourages personal connections to place, laying the foundation for deeper understanding of its significance to many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.
Activity 2: Learning about different types of Country
Building on Activity 1, students will deepen their understanding of Country by further exploring Land Country, Water Country, and Sky Country through visual examples, collaborative sorting, and creative “Countryscape” constructions. This will prepare students to recognise and describe these parts of Country in their own school environment.
Activity 3: Exploring Country in our school environment
Building on Activities 1 and 2, where students explored the concept of Country and types of Country, this activity provides students with the opportunity to experience and observe Land, Water, and Sky Country in their immediate school environment. Students engage their senses to notice features around them and begin to see the interconnectedness of the spaces they move through every day.
Activity 4 (Part two of two): Using positional language
Using students’ collaborative map of their school environment from Activity 4 (Part one), students describe the position of features using positional language.
Activity 5: Creating a whole class Acknowledgement of Country
In this culminating activity, students bring together their learning about Land, Water, and Sky Country to collaboratively create a whole-class Acknowledgement of Country that reflects their observations and developing understanding of the Country they learn and play on. As part of this process, students are guided in learning the name of the local Country and the Traditional Custodians of the land on which their school is located, so this can be respectfully included in the Acknowledgement.