Marisse Manthos

SID: 18500309

Lesson plan: Bin Liners

Weebly link: https://mmanthos.weebly.com

102086 Designing Teaching & Learning

Assignment 2: QT Analysis Template

Evaluate the lesson plan according to the following NSW Quality Teaching model elements.

Evaluation score – refer to NSW QTM Classroom Practice Guide for each element
Comments incl. evidence for evaluation score (2 sentences)

1 Intellectual quality
1.1 Deep knowledge
1 – 2 – 3 – 4 Comments: Knowledge is deep throughout the lesson when a key message around
–5 concepts is sustained to create focus and depth in the content. Writing the agenda and
purpose on the board reminded students of the central concept which weaved the three
activities together.

1.2 Deep understanding

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 Comments: Deep understanding allows students to grasp concepts by exploring how
–5 these concepts relate in complex ways. This was demonstrated when students
successfully designed their own bin liner and justified why their bin liner was an
appropriate alternative to plastic bags.

1.3 Problematic knowledge

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 Comments: Problematic knowledge draws on multiple perspectives which prompts
–5 students to question their assumptions. Students canvas multiple perspectives when
mind mapping the cause and effect of plastic bags which calls on them to question
their own knowledge of plastic bags not as fixed, but as influenced by socially
constructed assumptions.

1.4 Higher-order thinking

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 Comments: Higher order thinking allows students to transform concepts into
–5 meaningful ideas that have implications. Students consider the implications of plastic
bags by problem solving when designing a bin liner, creating their own improved
result to consider how the cause and effect of plastic bags can be transformed into an
implication.

1.5 Metalanguage
1 – 2 – 3 – 4 Comments: Terminology is referred to throughout the lesson and is explained to
–5 students however, a consideration of the role of language is absent. Although scientific
language such as ‘polyethylene’ is defined, the teacher does not comment on how
language constructs knowledge or power in science and this element could be
enhanced by examining the use of scientific language across different contexts.

1.6 Substantive communication

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 Comments: Substantive communication draws on sustained interaction around the
–5 substance of the lesson that is reciprocated by both the teacher and the students.
Activity instructions are consistently communicated to students and communication is
scaffolded by questions that facilitate student interaction, rather than a teacher led
discussion.

Quality learning environment

2.1 Explicit quality criteria
1 – 2 – 3 – 4 Comments: Quality of work expected is required for students to examine the quality of
–5 their own work, considering whether their work can be modified for improvement.
Quality criteria is explicit during the group discussion after the ‘think, pair, share’
activity and cause and effect mapping when the teacher is checking the work of others
although, this element could be improved by providing explicit criteria that students
can use to check their own work.
2.2 Engagement
1 – 2 – 3 – 4 Comments: High engagement is demonstrated when students are interested, attentive
–5 and take their work seriously. The students in this lesson pursue the concepts by
contributing to group discussion of the cause and effect map, with some students even
helping their peers create depth in their understanding of ideas; “nature has to play a
big part in breaking it down”.

2.3 High expectations

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 Comments: High expectations are explicit when teachers create challenging tasks that
–5 encourage students to take conceptual risks. Students are encouraged and recognised
by their teacher (“fantastic work”) however, this element could be improved by
considering student goals that are drawn from their previous knowledge identified in
the True/False activity.

2.4 Social support

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 Comments: High social support is created when students are encouraged for taking
–5 risks and feel safe to do so because of a classroom that values mutual respect.
Consistent support is shown when the teacher encourages student participation in
whole group discussions using positive comments such as “well done”, also
encouraging reluctant students by calling on them to participate.

2.5 Students’ self-regulation

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 Comments: Student regulation is evident when students show initiative, with little time
–5 spent on interrupting the class. All students in this lesson regulate their behaviour by
not only completing the tasks, but by participating and showing deep interest in them.

2.6 Student direction

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 Comments: High student direction encourages considerable student choice of
–5 activities, including the time, pace and criteria of these activities which creates a
culture of student responsibility over the challenges they set for themselves. Although
choice is scaffolded into the bin liner activity, students have minimal choice over the
type of activities and this could be improved by giving students autonomy over how
they choose to learn, such as drawing their ideas rather than making a mind map.

3 Significance
3.1 Background knowledge
1 – 2 – 3 – 4 Comments: Background knowledge allows students to connect prior or out-of-school
–5 knowledge to the concepts of the lesson to create a connection to their personal
experiences. Student’s background knowledge is elicited from the True/False activity
at the beginning of the lesson but out-of-school knowledge is absent and could be
incorporated by allowing students to communicate with their families about how they
use plastic bags in their home.

3.2 Cultural knowledge

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 Comments: Cultural knowledge is when there is an understanding of diversity,
–5 considering the perspectives of different social groups who are identified by aspects of
Australian society such as socioeconomic status and ethnicity. There is no recognition
of cultural knowledge in this lesson however it could be incorporated by calling on, for
example, an Indigenous community member to talk about the impact of polyethylene
on the land.

3.3 Knowledge integration

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 Comments: Knowledge integration occurs when connections are made to different
–5 topics or subjects. Although this lesson does not make any connections to other
subjects, an attempt is made to connect the bin liner activity to marketing by asking
students to give their bin liner a name however, asking students to more meaningfully
engage with ICT by publishing their bin liner on an online classroom forum could
strengthen this element.

3.4 Inclusivity
1 – 2 – 3 – 4 Comments: Inclusivity values the contributions of all students by encouraging all
–5 social groups to participate. The teacher in this lesson creates an inclusive classroom
by encouraging participation from a variety of students, asking multiple students to
share their modified bin liners to the class and encouraging them with “a round of
applause”.

3.5 Connectedness
1 – 2 – 3 – 4 Comments: Connectedness draws meaning from classroom activities so that concepts
–5 can be applied by students outside of the classroom to contribute positively to society.
Designing their own bin liner demonstrated high connectedness since they have
created a product that leads them to be involved in environmentalism beyond the
classroom, with some students even considering other uses for their bin liner,
including as a shopping bag.

3.6 Narrative
1–2–3–4 Comments: Narratives are used to transfer class content into the lives of students
–5 through storytelling. A narrative was absent from this lesson and could be included by
asking students to consider their plastic bag usage at home such as counting how many
plastic bags they can find at home.

Word Count: 997

Identifying Areas for Improvement

Identify the four NSW QT model elements you are targeting for improvement.

QT model
1) Metalanguage 2) Student direction
3) Cultural knowledge 4) Narrative

Lesson Plan – Bin Liners

Syllabus: Science Stage: Stage 4 Topic: Earth and Space

Outcomes Assessment Students learn about Students learn to

SC4-13ES Explains how Informal formative ES3 Scientific knowledge Classify a range of the
advances in scientific assessment. influences the choices Earth’s resources as
understanding of people make in regard to renewable or non-
processes that occur the use and management renewable.
within and on the Earth of the Earth’s resources.
influence the choices Investigate some
people make about strategies used by people
resource use and to conserve and manage
management. non-renewable resources,
e.g. recycling and the
alternative use of natural
and made resources.

Note: Not all activities may be captured by the video. Assume they were covered by the teacher.

Time Teaching and Learning Actions

5 min Lesson Preliminaries/Administration
 Settle students into the classroom.
 Mark the roll.

10 mins Direct Instruction

 Welcome students and remind them of the topic.
 Introduce students to Define high density polyethylene as a non-renewable resource
used to make plastic bags and alert students that this term will be used to complete a
comic strip blog post at the end of the lesson.
 Key ideas for this lesson are cause and effect with questions being “why do we use so
many plastic bags in Australia?” and “what is the effect on the environment?”
 Another key idea is solutions with questions being “what have governments done to
solve problems caused by plastic bags?” and “what can citizens do to solve problems
caused by plastic bags?”
 Give overview of activity:
 Designing renewable alternatives to plastic bags using newspapers a choice of
newspaper, cardboard or cotton bags. Teacher will show students a design and
they will improve that design. Students will have two attempts at making their own
biodegradable bin liner.
 Give overview of thinking tools to be used:
 Think-pair-share
 Cause-effect map
 Pros-Cons-Questions
 Classroom Blogging
 Comic Strips

10 mins Think-Pair-Share Activity

  Give students true/false statements worksheet with questions like “the average plastic
bag is used for only 5 minutes but can take up to 1,000 years to break down in the
environment.”
 Students have 2 minutes to individually answer the questions (think).
 Students then have 1 minute to discuss their responses with the student sitting next to
them (pair).
 Teacher will then lead class discussion based on worksheets for 5 minutes (share).
10 mins Cause-Effect Mapping Activity
 Give students cause-effect map worksheets.
15 mins  Students are introduced to two community members: An Indigenous representative and a
member from an environmental organisation (such as ‘Clean Up Australia’), who offer
their perspectives on plastic bags.
 Students and community members work in partnership to brainstorm the causes and
effects of plastic bags using the cause-effect map worksheet.
 Students have 2 minutes to think of as many reasons for why we they use so many
plastic bags in Australia at home.
 Go around the class to check student understanding. Highlight the link between the
causes identified and the production of high density polyethylene bags.
 Students have 2 minutes to list as many sub-effects of the production and use of plastic
bags. Circulate to assist students.
 Teacher leads brief class discussion to summarise the environmental effects identified by
the students.
5 mins Direct Instruction
 Teacher to show students how to construct a biodegradable bin liner by folding 4 sheets
of newspaper. The bin liner will fit into the teacher’s waste-paper basket.
5 mins Pros-Cons Activity
 Teacher invites students to highlight the pros and cons of the biodegradable bin liners.
10 mins Students create their own bin liner
 Student pairs choose one of three materials: Newspaper, cardboard or cotton bags.
 Each pair is to make their own biodegradable bin liner. Students can have access to the
internet to explore instructions or inspiration.
 Teacher to circulate for assistance and encouragement.
15 mins Student Centred Activity
‘Organic Origami’ – Student centred approach to creating their own bin liners
 Students to identify ways to improve the bin liners using the MAS sheet.
 Students to work in pairs to refine their the newspaper bin liners. Circulate around the
room to assist students.
 Students demonstrate their improved designs to the teacher, using the teacher’s waste
paper basket as a test.
 Teacher to encourage peer support during demonstrations.
 Students are asked to select two scientific words from the lesson (for example,
‘polyethylene’ and ‘biodegradable’) and are asked to create a short cartoon hand-drawn
comic strip that includes these two words. The comic strip must be three pictures in total
and must respond to this stimulus: How are plastic bags used in your home and how
could you replace them?
 Summarise and close the lesson.
How am I measuring the outcomes of this lesson?

Learning Outcome Method of measurement and recording

SC4-13ES Informal questioning of student understanding as the lesson
progresses.
Part C: Academic Justification

The NSW Quality Teaching Framework (QTF) calls on educators to reconceptualise

teacher-centred approaches by drawing on constructivist pedagogy. The QTF was

used to code a lesson plan provided by ITC publications (‘Bin Liners’) and found four

poorly scoring elements: Metalanguage, student direction, cultural knowledge and

narrative. Best practice of these four elements will be discussed in turn, with a

particular focus on how modifications to the lesson plan could strengthen each

element.

The QTF describes metalanguage as talking about language and how it can be used as

a source of knowledge and power (NSW Department of Education and Training,

2003). Although ‘polyethylene’ was defined briefly in the lesson, metalanguage

scored poorly since the role of language in the lives of students was not considered.

Gore (2007) suggests that learning about language can take many forms, including

both “visual and symbolic” (p. 21) and this is supported by Papademetriou & Makri

(2015) who suggest that language can be represented and learned through visual

design. However, this alone does not equate to best practice since it does not provide

students with opportunities to explore language outside of the classroom. As Garcia,

Moizer, Wilkins & Haddoud (2019) suggest, social media “permeates” (p. 61) the

lives of students, particularly blogging platforms, which offers an archive of learning

using both visual and written methods. Creating a blog post at the end of each lesson

that includes at least two key words from the lesson could, as Halic, Lee, Paulus &

Spence (2010) suggest, connect what is learned in the classroom to the students’

everyday lives since students must reflect on how the language they have learned

coalesces with discourses on knowledge and power.

The QTF asserts that student direction is directly linked with high engagement, since

students assume greater responsibility over activities they have chosen (NSW

Department of Education and Training, 2003). Gore (2007) also points out a link

between choice and engagement, suggesting that students “are more likely to engage

seriously with a given task” (p. 23) if some elements of the task were chosen by

students. Student direction challenges, what John (2006) calls, the “rational planning

model” (p. 487) since this model reinforces teacher, rather than student, control.

However, Biggers & Forbs (2012) argue how aligning student direction with

‘discovery learning’ provides a balance between teacher and student directed learning

since it can be scaffolded or guided. In fact, Rahman (2017) argues that a guided

discovery model is more effective than “pure discovery” (p. 99) since students can

“assume responsibility” (NSW Department of Education and Training, 2003, p. 34),

whilst also achieving learning outcomes. Providing students with opportunities for

discovery by asking them to choose one of three biodegradable materials would

strengthen this QT element. Rather than the teacher demonstrating how to make a bin

liner, students can draw from background or cultural knowledge to create their own.

This activity – titled ‘Organic Origami’ – prompts creativity and choice which aligns

with best practice around constructivist pedagogy.

It is important to acknowledge that the QTF calls on teachers to position all students

as being capable of challenging work with a “belief in students’ capacity to learn”

(Gore, 2007, p. 29). However, if students are to engage in challenging and meaningful

work, Kumar, Zusho & Bondie (2018) argue that content must reflect the cultural

diversity of students. Keating (1997) advocates for inviting members of the

community who reflect cultural diversity into the classroom and this is supported by

the QTF through its suggestion to “include members of the community […] as a

resource in lessons” (NSW Department of Education and Training, 2003, p. 43). The

lesson plan is modified to include community members, specifically Indigenous

members and representatives from environmental organisations such as ‘Clean Up

Australia’, to share their perspectives during the cause and effect mapping activity.

Including community members enhances cultural knowledge by providing students

with access to non-dominant perspectives which promotes inclusivity of diverse

students (Gore, 2007).

Narrative was also poorly scored in this lesson. The QTF suggests that storytelling

can “bring to life” (NSW Department of Education and Training, 2003, p. 50) lesson

content if it is relatable. Synder’s (1997) experimentation with comic strips concluded

that they are effective reflection tools that allow students to connect what they are

learning to their own lives. Storytelling was added into this lesson plan by asking

students to develop a comic strip that creates a story about how plastic bags are used

in their own home and what they could use as a substitute. This activity builds on the

cause and effect mapping activity by asking students to translate cause and effects to

their own lives whilst drawing inspiration from community members to consider the

use of plastic in diverse cultures.

The QTF reconceptualises quality teaching by drawing on constructivist pedagogy.

Modifications to the ‘Bin Liner’ lesson plan have been made to strengthen four QT

elements whilst also ensuring that high scoring QT elements are supported rather than

compromised.
 References

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Elementary Classrooms: Preservice elementary teachers’ learning about the

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Halic, O., Lee, D., Paulus, T., & Spence, M. (2010). To blog or not to blog: Student

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