Australia and New Zealand

In this project, we are going to learn about living conditions, social issues and cultural features in Australia and New Zealand.

Learning objectives

Learn about living conditions, social issues, and cultural features in Australia and New Zealand to be able to compare with your own life and experiences.

What to do

1.Get an overall view of Australia and New Zealand. Do the assignments: Australia, Australia: Aborigines, and New Zealand.

2.Choose a country, topic, and if you would like to work individually or in groups.

-Country: Australia or New Zealand.

-Topic: History and native inhabitants, education, economy and professional life, famous landmarks and tourism, politics, animals and plants, sports, traditions and food, You can also come up with a topic of your own choice (talk with your teacher).

-How to work: Individually or in groups.

3.Search for information and prepare a PowerPoint to present your topic. This should be included:

- Describe your topic 

PP of the school system in the US https://slideplayer.com/slide/6910227/ 

 

- Explain the advantages (fördelarna) or disadvantages (nackdelarna) or your topic's positive or negative aspects.

The school system in the US

 

“On the one hand, the educational system in the US is very free. The parents can choose to home school their children or pay for private education. Besides, everyone also has the right to be educated because state schools are free. On the other hand, you have less choice if you don’t have money to pay for a private school.” 

 

“Another positive aspect of the American schools is that they provide their students with a lot of extracurricular activities such as sports, music, art, theatre, and academic clubs. I think these activities can help students to interact better with one another and find friends at school. A negative aspect might be that you don’t interact with a lot of people outside of school. Thus, only people with the same background will get to know each other”. 

 

- Compare your information about Australia or New Zealand with your own life and experiences. Do you see any similarities and differences with how you live? 

“A similarity between the school systems in Sweden and the USA is that both systems provide a certain degree of freedom. You can choose the school you would like to attend. However, both systems can also be seen as segregating students. In the USA the freedom of choice only includes people who can afford to pay for their studies or students who are very successful in sports who can finance their education through scholarships. In Sweden, on the other hand, you don’t pay for education and therefore it seems like everyone has equal rights to choose. Nonetheless, to be able to choose a school you have to know the system and many children are too young to have this knowledge. Consequently, the freedom of choice will only apply to children with parents who have this knowledge”.  

Assessment

-You will show your knowledge about the countries by discussing it with your teacher. You will also compare different features in Australia and New Zealand with your own life and experiences. You will talk in pairs. 

Time

Week 15: Learn about Australia and Australian Aborigines

Week 16: Learn about New Zealand +choose your country and your topic.

Week 17: Collect information

Week 18: Listening comprehension + Collect information.

Week 19: No lessons in English.

Week 20: Prepare presentation+Presentation

Week 21-22: Assessment

Läroplanskopplingar

Syfte

• reflektera över livsvillkor, samhällsfrågor och kulturella företeelser i olika sammanhang och delar av världen där engelska används.

Kriterier

• I muntliga framställningar i olika genrer kan eleven formulera sig enkelt, begripligt och relativt sammanhängande.
• I muntlig interaktion i olika sammanhang kan eleven uttrycka sig begripligt och enkelt samt i någon mån anpassat till syfte, mottagare och situation.
• Eleven diskuterar översiktligt några företeelser i olika sammanhang och områden där engelska används, och kan då också göra enkla jämförelser med egna erfarenheter och kunskaper.
• I muntliga framställningar i olika genrer kan eleven formulera sig relativt varierat, relativt tydligt och relativt sammanhängande.
• I muntlig interaktion i olika sammanhang kan eleven uttrycka sig tydligt och med visst flyt samt med viss anpassning till syfte, mottagare och situation.
• Eleven diskuterar utförligt några företeelser i olika sammanhang och områden där engelska används, och kan då också göra välutvecklade jämförelser med egna erfarenheter och kunskaper.
• I muntliga framställningar i olika genrer kan eleven formulera sig relativt varierat, tydligt och sammanhängande.
• I muntlig interaktion i olika sammanhang kan eleven uttrycka sig tydligt och med flyt samt med viss anpassning till syfte, mottagare och situation.
• Eleven diskuterar utförligt och nyanserat några företeelser i olika sammanhang och områden där engelska används, och kan då också göra välutvecklade och nyanserade jämförelser med egna erfarenheter och kunskaper.