Rewild the Wild
Week 10 - Taking Responsibility and Using Your Voice
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Week 10 – Taking Responsibility and Using Your Voice
This final week shifts the focus from learning and action to reflection, responsibility and advocacy. It is designed to help students recognise their growth and understand their capacity to influence the world around them.
Begin by revisiting the journey students have taken across the programme. They have moved from observing nature to actively contributing to it through their Wild Projects. This week invites them to step back, reflect and recognise that their actions have meaning and lasting impact.
Introduce the concept of responsibility in an empowering way. Responsibility is not about pressure or obligation, but about recognising that our choices matter and that even small actions can influence living systems around us.
Advocacy should be framed as purposeful voice. It is about sharing ideas, telling meaningful stories, encouraging others and taking action to protect what matters. Help students see that their voice has power when it is grounded in care and understanding.
Over the past ten weeks, you have explored the natural world in a new way.
You have learned about habitats, biodiversity and how living things depend on each other. You have observed carefully, asked questions and taken real action to help wildlife in your school. Now it is time to think about something even bigger.
This week is about responsibility. Responsibility means understanding that your choices and actions can affect other people, animals and the environment. It means doing the right thing and helping care for what matters.
Here are some questions to ask ourselves:
What responsibilities do we already have at school or home?
How can our choices affect the environment?
What does responsibility look like in our habitat project?
How have you shown responsibility this term?
It is about understanding that our choices matter, and that even small actions can make a difference. It is also about advocacy. Advocacy means using your voice to stand up for something you care about.
Throughout this week, you will reflect on what you have learned, think about how your actions have helped the environment and share your story with others. You are not just learning about the world anymore. You are becoming someone who can help shape it.
Your Weekly Keywords
This activity introduces vocabulary connected to human behaviour and environmental responsibility. The purpose is to help students understand that the health of ecosystems is influenced not only by natural processes but also by the choices people make in their everyday lives.
Begin by reminding students of the journey they have taken throughout the Rewild Your World programme. They have explored habitats, studied biodiversity and built Wild Projects that may support wildlife in their school environment. This final week shifts the focus slightly toward human behaviour and how our habits, choices and actions can affect the natural world.
Introduce the keywords and read them aloud together. Encourage students to think about what each word might mean before looking at the definitions. Invite them to share their ideas and explain their reasoning. This helps activate prior knowledge and encourages discussion.
Students should work with a partner to suggest simple definitions and use the words in sentences. Encourage them to connect the vocabulary to real situations, such as recycling, choosing sustainable products or reducing waste.
This week, your keywords will help you think about how people’s choices and actions can affect the natural world.
Over the past weeks, you have learned about habitats, biodiversity and how animals depend on healthy ecosystems. You also worked together to build Wild Projects that may help wildlife in your school habitat.
Some of this week’s words describe the choices people make. Others explain how our actions, habits and decisions can influence the environment around us.
First, read each keyword carefully. Then try to explain what the word means using simple language. Talk with a partner and share your ideas. Try using each word in a sentence.
As you work, think about questions like these:
What does this word tell us about how people behave?
How can our choices help protect nature?
What actions can people take to care for the planet?
By the end of this task, you will better understand how everyday choices can make a difference for wildlife and the environment.
Quote of the Week – The Palau Pledge
This activity introduces students to the Palau Pledge, a real environmental commitment required of visitors to the Pacific island nation of Palau. The pledge was created with input from the children of Palau to encourage travellers to respect and protect their environment.
Begin by explaining that many places around the world rely on tourism but also need to protect fragile ecosystems such as coral reefs, forests and wildlife habitats. The Palau Pledge was created to remind visitors that exploring nature comes with responsibility.
Optional: Use maps and reliable sources to locate Palau. Research its location, climate, wildlife and natural environments. Explain why visitors may be asked to protect this place.
Read the pledge aloud and allow students a moment to reflect on the language used. Encourage students to notice phrases such as “tread lightly”, “act kindly” and “leave only footprints that will wash away”.
This quote comes from the Palau Pledge. Visitors who travel to the island nation of Palau promise to respect and protect the natural environment.
The pledge reminds people that when we explore nature we must also care for it.
Read the pledge carefully and think about what it means.
Why do you think visitors are asked to make this promise?
Talk with your class about how people can explore the world while protecting it. After your discussion, use the template opposite to create your own pledge for a place that you think needs protecting.
Rewilding the World – The Turtles That Follow the Stars
Introduce this story as a real example of how small changes in human behaviour can help protect wildlife. Explain that baby loggerhead turtles have been hatching on Queensland beaches for thousands of years and rely on the natural light of the moon and stars to guide them to the ocean.
Guide students to notice how the story begins with the life cycle of the turtles. The hatchlings break out of their eggs, dig through the sand and begin their important journey toward the sea. Highlight how this journey is guided by the natural glow of the horizon over the water.
Encourage students to think about how human activity can sometimes change natural environments. Bright lights from houses, roads and buildings can confuse young turtles and cause them to crawl away from the ocean.
Discuss how communities have worked together to help solve this problem. Special turtle friendly lights, turning off unnecessary lights and protecting nesting beaches are examples of how people can support wildlife.
This week, you will read a true story about baby turtles and how people are helping them find their way to the ocean.
Imagine a quiet beach in Queensland on a warm summer night. Beneath the sand, tiny loggerhead turtle hatchlings begin to move inside their eggs. Soon they break out of their shells and dig up through the sand together. When they reach the surface, the hatchlings must quickly crawl to the ocean.
For thousands of years, baby turtles have used the moon and stars to guide them. The light over the ocean helps them move in the right direction. But today, many beaches are much brighter than they used to be. Lights from houses, streets and buildings can confuse the turtles. Some crawl toward these lights instead of the ocean and may not survive the journey.
As you read the story, notice how communities in Queensland are helping solve this problem. Special turtle friendly lights are used near beaches, and people are encouraged to switch off bright lights during nesting season.
Think about why darkness at night is important for turtles and many other animals. After reading, be ready to share one interesting thing you learned and explain how people can help protect wildlife by making small changes.
Comprehension – Understanding A Sustainable Future
Introduce this text as a real and relevant exploration of how human choices shape the world around us. Emphasise that students are not just learning about problems, but about their own power to create change.
Guide students to notice the structure of the text. It begins by explaining humans as ecosystem engineers, then explores the consequences of our actions, before moving into solutions through the 10 R’s and everyday choices.
Encourage students to focus on key concepts such as ecosystem engineers, biodiversity, habitat loss and the idea of a negative feedback loop. These may be new ideas, so allow time for discussion and examples.
Use questioning to deepen understanding:
What does it mean to be an ecosystem engineer?
How can small actions lead to big environmental changes?
What is a negative feedback loop and why is it important?
This week, you will read an information text about how humans shape the planet and how our choices can support or harm the environment.
As you read, think carefully about what it means to be an ecosystem engineer.
Notice how humans change landscapes, ecosystems and even the atmosphere through the way we live, build and create. Pay attention to the idea of a negative feedback loop. Notice how harming nature can make the Earth less able to support life, and how this can affect both people and wildlife.
You will also learn about the 10 R’s and how they guide us to make better choices. Think about how actions like refuse, reduce, reuse and rewild can help protect and restore the planet.
As you read, notice how small everyday decisions, such as what we buy, eat and use, can become part of a much bigger global impact. Consider how individual actions connect to larger systems like farming, cities and industry.
Work your way through the comprehension questions and see how far you can progress through the levels. Try to make it all the way to the end. The answer section is in the next part of this learning sequence.
Record Your Answers – How Far Will You Stretch Your Thinking?
This activity focuses on students reflecting on sustainability and understanding how human choices impact the environment. The purpose is to move beyond simple recall and support deeper thinking about responsibility and action.
Begin by reminding students that this task is about thinking carefully, not working quickly. The questions are designed to help them reflect on what they have learned about waste, sustainable choices and protecting ecosystems.
Before students begin, model how to answer one question using a full sentence and clear reasoning. Show students how to explain their thinking rather than giving very short or incomplete answers.
Now that you have explored ideas about sustainability, you will answer a series of questions to show your understanding.
The questions will help you think about how human choices can affect the environment. Some will ask you to remember information, while others will ask you to explain ideas, make connections and think about real-life situations.
Write your answers in full sentences where needed. Take your time and read each question carefully before you begin. Think about what the question is really asking. If a question feels challenging, slow down and think it through. That means your brain is learning and growing.
These questions will help you understand not just what people do, but why our choices matter for protecting the planet and supporting biodiversity.
What is its Environmental Footprint?
This activity helps students understand that every product has a “life story” and that each stage—raw materials, production, transport, use and disposal—has environmental impacts. Students investigate these stages to uncover the product’s environmental footprint and consider more sustainable choices.
Assist students to:
Understand the concept of an environmental footprint
Analyse the life cycle of a product (supply chain thinking)
Identify impacts on biodiversity, climate, resources and people
Develop critical thinking about consumption and sustainability
As students develop the mind map allow them to follow their thoughts and realisations: for example for a bottle of orange juice you would have multiple packaging considerations: the bottle, printing the label, how the label is attached, the lid (usually of a different material to the bottle), how these are amassed for supply (in boxes which are themselves manufactured and printed). These would also have different disposal considerations at the end of their life.
Consider how the environmental footprint could be reduced at a personal level E.g. Buying locally produced rather than imported, opting for products made from recyclable materials, choosing organic orange juice rather than juice relying on chemical use and other sustainable methods at a manufacturing level.
Encourage students to connect this learning to their own choices. Even small decisions—buying local, reducing waste, choosing reusable items—can reduce their environmental footprint.
Every product we use has a story. Before it reaches our hands, it has travelled through a long journey—from raw materials in the ground or grown on farms, to factories where it is made, then transported, packaged and eventually used and thrown away. Along this journey, energy and resources are used, and this creates an environmental footprint—the impact that product has on the planet.
In this activity, you will work in groups to become investigators of that journey. Choose a common product and map out its life from beginning to end. As you follow each stage—where materials come from, how it is produced, how far it travels, and what happens when it is discarded— identify the environmental impacts along the way.
By the end of this unit, you will be able to identify the environmental impacts of everyday items and describe how your choices can help reduce these impacts.
Photopoint Monitoring – Tracking Change Over Time
This activity introduces students to the concept of long-term environmental monitoring through photopoint observation. It is designed to help students understand that ecological change happens gradually over time and requires patience and consistency to observe.
Begin by explaining that scientists often return to the same location to record changes in ecosystems. Photopoint monitoring is a simple and effective way to do this by capturing images from the same position over an extended period.
Support students to select a clear and consistent location within the school habitat. This should be an area where change is likely to occur, such as near planting zones or Wild Project installations.
Model how to take a photo from a fixed position. Emphasise the importance of:
Standing in the same place each time.
Keeping the same angle and framing.
Taking photos at a similar time of day where possible.
This week, you will begin a long-term project to observe how your habitat changes over time. You will use photopoint monitoring to record your progress. This means taking a photo from the same place each time so you can clearly see what changes.
First, choose a spot in your school habitat. This should be a place where your Wild Projects are and the plants are growing.
Stand in the same position each time and take your photo from the same angle.
Try to take your photo at a similar time of day.
Use your test card to help you line up your photo so it looks the same each time.
You will take your first photo this week. Then, you will return to the same spot over the next months to take more photos. Upload your images each time so you can compare them and see how your habitat grows and changes.
As you do this, think about and record:
What changes you can see.
What plants are growing.
What animals or insects might be visiting.
How your habitat is improving over time.
This is one helpful way scientists can observe change in the real world.