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- Cartown: Communicating a message
Cartown: Communicating a message
Copyright Education Services Australia | Resource title: Cartown: Communicating a message Digital resource identifier: L1345 Resource description Stage of schooling: MiddlePrimary CCE focus: Citizenship in a Democracy |
Context
This resource allows students to explore arguments for and against plans to reduce the number of vehicles travelling in the centre of a city and decide whether to support a traffic congestion toll during peak travel times. Students look at a range of media, evaluate the impact of the media and use media tools to construct a television program supporting a particular view on the central issue.
Opportunities for Civics and Citizenship learning
‘Cartown: Communicating a message’ provides opportunities for students to:
identify methods for communicating information
explore the effectiveness of different media in communicating information
research different viewpoints about current issues
develop their own viewpoint about an issue
form an argument for supporting a particular viewpoint.
Ideas for the classroom
Ask students where they get most of their information about what is happening in their local community. Write the media sources on the board.
Ask students to form small groups and complete a Plus, Minus or Interesting (PMI) chart relating to the effectiveness of each of the media sources in providing information.
Ask students to decide which form of media they believe is (a) the most effective and (b) the most popular. Take a class vote. Invite students to provide reasons for their answers.
Explain to students that they will be taking part in an exercise exploring two different viewpoints about a traffic issue. Invite them to begin the learning object. Explain that they will need to choose one of the two options presented and design a television program to support this view.
Complete the activity by asking students to share their designs and vote for the one they believe is most effective.