Lesson plan:

Identify places of value

Work with students to identify and list the places in the local area which they value and are important to them. Start with the home, the school and the local community.

Survey others

Students can design and conduct a survey of other students to find out which are the most valued places in the school. The results can be graphed and displayed in the classroom or school foyer.

Make a photographic display

Take photographs of the most valued areas in the community and display with captions that indicate why these areas are important to the students. This would make a great display in the local council offices.

View For Sale
Watch Part A of For Sale and discuss the story. Why is the old warehouse space important to the Lift Off children, to a real estate agent, and to the local councillor? Talk about spaces in the school and local community that are valuable to different groups for different reasons. Consider the local shopping centre from business, social, service and recreational perspectives. What happens when there is conflict e.g. skateboards being used in malls, or shops selling similar products competing for your business? Go for a walk around the local area and look for signs that indicate what is valued and what is being protected.

Explore 'what is valuable?'

Talk about the different things that people value. Ask your students to discuss what they think are the most valuable things in their home or school. Allow time for them to individually collect, draw or list them. Pose questions such as: how did you come to your decision? If you have to leave one item out, which would it be and why? If you could only choose one item, which would it be and why?

Ask students to work in groups of two or three to compare their individual lists. Students can note which items are similar and which are different, and discuss reasons why such different things have been selected. Students can group things that are the same or similar together and give each group a name. (This could be things such as people, places, toys, feelings etc.)

Compile a class list of the most commonly valued things. Compile a list of the most common reasons given by students for why they valued things.

Give your students the opportunity to work in small groups to write down the things they consider to be the most valuable in the class or school. Compare the lists and discuss similarities and differences. Challenge the class to come up with a common list of only five items.

Discuss the value of friendship

Discuss the value of friendship. Watch the Wakadoo Cafe Story Be my friend in Part A again. Brainstorm all the reasons why friends are important. Talk about the rights and responsibilities that students have in developing positive personal relationships.

Watch Part B of this episode. Discuss Nipper's and Aku's actions and their responses when they fight over EC. What role did EC play in the conflict? What did Nipper and Aku learn in this story? What is the value of EC to Mr Fish, Nipper, Mrs Burke, and to Aku?

Compare the concept of value for different people

The three minute Animated feature story in part A is called Dancing pants. It is about Mandy who, delving into an 'op shop' clothing bin, discovers a brightly coloured, embroidered, sparkly, patched pair of jeans. When she and others wear them, the most amazing things happen. The bright, colourful and contemporary cel animation is set to music. Watch Dancing pants again. Discuss what happens and why the pants affect different people in the story in different ways. Discuss what other objects of clothing Mandy might find in the clothing bin and imagine how they might affect people. Write a class story or a play about a different object and how it affects a range of new characters.

Discuss the saying 'One person's rubbish is another person's treasure'. Talk about the function of an 'op shop' and discuss what types of items might you give to an 'op shop'? Who do you think might find these things useful? Why do we give things away rather than throwing them out? Visit an 'op shop' and talk about their business. You might collect some items for the drama box etc.

Develop a plan

The class could plan to conduct a trash and treasure stall one lunchtime to raise money for a charity or as a school fund raiser. Students will need to plan the project carefully considering such things as getting permission, arranging a date, designing and arranging publicity, collecting items to sell, determining pricing, arranging money for a float etc. Students could also conduct a brief survey on the day of the stall, observing who is buying what and why.

Play with money

As a class, examine several money board games eg 'Monopoly', 'Squatter'. Discuss the buying and selling ideas as well as any incidents of exchange or barter that occur. Encourage your students to make up a buying and selling game. This could be an invented game or an adaptation of a known game like 'Snakes and ladders'. Encourage the inclusion of knowledge about people in the local area who buy and sell things.

Investigate the value of money

Watch the Munch Kids segment in Part B. The Munch Kids are discussing the theme For sale. Continue the debate about what money cannot buy e.g. sunshine, air, friendship. Make a list of items such as the following, and ask students to divide them into items they could sell and those they could not. Could you sell...

If you could sell it, how would you decide how much to sell it for? If you couldn't sell it, explain why not.

Give the students some time to work on this list and then discuss how they are going. Ask students to identify which items they find easy to deal with and which ones cause them problems. Discuss.

Selling or giving

Discuss with students whether there are things that their parents could give away and/or sell.

Are there things your parents could sell or give a way that you couldn't? Why?
Are there things that you could give a way or sell that your parents couldn't?
Are there some things that just can't be sold? Why? Why not?