New Tricks: YEAR 2 - HPE - Elaborate2

Little J dreams of being an acrobat in a circus when he grows up. With the help of Jacko and B-Boy, he practises circus tricks in the backyard after school. Uncle Mick, a search and rescue officer, comes to school to talk about his work. Little J uses his circus skills to demonstrate a search and rescue procedure.

Elaborate - Examine health messages and how they relate to health decisions and behaviours

Theme - TEAMWORK

After viewing Little J & Big Cuz, Episode 3 ‘New Tricks’, engage students with the following activities to support their understanding about personal and social strengths, safety, search and rescue work.

Present students with a range of situations requiring a search and rescue response, such as:

  • a small child or cat stuck in a tree
  • someone caught in a rip at the beach
  • a dog stuck down a drain
  • a child lost in the Australian bush.

Divide the class into smaller groups. Ask groups to select one search and rescue situation, or create one of their own, which reflects their local conditions. Once in their groups, each group is given butcher’s paper to brainstorm strategies they would take to launch a search and rescue operation. The students could be guided by -

  1. Who to call, and the phone numbers of assistance agencies?
  2. What to do to remove themselves and others from danger?
  3. How to recognise the signs of dangerous situations and people in difficulty?
  4. Where to go to find safety in the situation?
  5. When is the best time to react, and respond to an emergency?
  6. What equipment is needed to rescue the person or animal in the situation?

Have students consider what part Aboriginal specialist workers and/or Torres Strait Islander specialist workers like trackers, wildlife rangers, etc. can play in the rescue.

Incursion: Invite an ambulance or paramedic representative to the class to train students in skills needed to save someone’s life in an emergency, such as CPR, electrical shock care, drowning, bee stings, asthma attack, etc. It is never too young to have students understand what they need to do in an emergency.

Suggested resources:

Divide the class into groups, and have each group select one survival skill to practise or become knowledgeable about. Video/photograph students demonstrating the skills and make a class compilation of the videos/photo stories. The video/photo story could be documentary style, involving a voice over narration that explains equipment and teamwork required to perform the rescue.

Use editing software to construct the video and record the voice over.