Getting Started
Learning for life
- All living things are interconnected and interdependent, and the balance can be delicate.
- Humans are ultimately responsible for the state of the environment and its protection for the future.
- Environments change over time and these changes can be caused by nature or humans.
- Changes, whether natural or artificial, can affect whole systems and the environment both for better and for worse.
- Some species are safe in some areas but threats in others.
- There are international agencies which promote environmental protection.
- I can have both a positive and negative impact on the environment.
- Through knowledge and understanding, I can make responsible choices to meet my needs and still promote the protection of the environment.
- The beliefs I have and the actions I take can influence others.
- I may only be one child but I can make a difference.
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Overview
Outback Ferals explores the need for the strict quarantine security of Australia's borders from the point of view of Kyle, a quarantine investigator with a secret mission.
Through the colourful characters in Outback Ferals we learn about life in the Northern Territory – a life that is very different from what many of us can imagine. There is also a serious message underlying the story, which should make us think twice before we take this land of plenty for granted.
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Author profile
Hazel Edwards' most famous book is There's a Hippopotamus on Our Roof Eating Cake.
In 2001, as the Australian Antarctic Division writer, she was part of a resupply expedition to Casey Station. This visit has inspired many of her books since then, including Antarctica's Frozen Chosen which first introduces readers to Kyle, the hero of Outback Ferals.
You can read more about Hazel and her work at www.hazeledwards.com/index.htm
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Useful websites 
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Focus questions
Before reading the book
- How does the illustration on the front cover help you predict what this story will be about?
- What does the title imply?
- What is meant by 'outback'?
- What is meant by 'feral'?
- How does the blurb confirm or clarify your ideas?
- What is an 'environmental activist?'
- What is a 'pandemic'?
- Where is the Top End?
- Why do they 'take infection and the threat of a pandemic very seriously' in the Top End?
- Which groups and organisations do you associate with protecting the environment?
During reading the book
- What does Kyle mean when, on the first page of the story, he refers to pigs, crocs and dogs as 'outback ferals'?
- What is it that Kyle and Jamie are looking for? Why is it a problem?
- In the story, Kyle belongs to the 'special government department', but what is this likely to be?
- Why do quarantine officers have 'more power to enter a back yard than police'?
- Why do Jamie and Kyle have to be so careful about disposing of the diseased vines and disinfecting the trailer and themselves?
- How does A. N. Zac's attitude of 'It's a free country. This is my land,' depict the attitude of the everyday Australian? Is he a rarity?
- Could A. N. Zac be described as an 'anarchist'?
- What is his role in the story?
- What is the status of grapevine leaf rust in the Northern Territory now?
- Did the end justify the means?
- What is Kyle's 'real job' in the story?
- What is it that Ng might be importing that he is concerned about?
- In an 'interview' with the character, Hazel Edwards asks Kyle what his most significant scene is. He replies, 'When I confront Ng, when we're lifting weights in the gym under the house, and reply to his question of why I'm really checking him out.' Do you agree? Why? What would you have done?
- What do you think Ng and Kyle's relationship would be like two years on?
- Was the pandemic threat real, or was it just media hype?
After reading the book
- This book is a sequel – would it have helped to have read its predecessor Antarctica's Frozen Chosen first?
- The working title of the book was 'The Negotiator', but it was changed to 'Outback Ferals'. Which do you think works best? Why?
- What have you learned about the need for strict quarantine laws?
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Activities
Responding to text
The Top End
Individuals 
Small groups
Identify the Northern Territory and Darwin on a map, particularly their geographic relationship to nearby nations.
Brainstorm all the reasons that its location makes it particularly concerning to those agencies charged with protecting Australia's borders from unwanted species.
- Which reason is, potentially, the most dangerous?
- How might this be combated?
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Themes for Education for Sustainability
Grapevine leaf rust
Individuals Small groups
Part of Kyle's job is to drop off pamphlets at plant nurseries. Design one of these pamphlets using the information from the websites listed. Identify the key information that nurseries and their customers would need and present it in a way that people are likely to read and understand.
Border security
Individuals Small groups
On television programs such as 'Border Security' there are often segments which focus on people bringing food, plant material and animal products into the country illegally.
- Why do these products pose such a risk?
Select one of the items from the list at www.daffa.gov.au/aqis/travel/entering-australia/cant-take and design a poster that could be displayed at airports which shows what the product is, the specific threat it poses, and the penalties if it is brought in undeclared.
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Research themes
More than GLR
Individuals Small groups
- What other diseases have the potential to wipe out entire crops?
Investigate the key agricultural crops of your area or one in which you have an interest:
- Why are they important to the area, and the nation as a whole?
- What threats do the growers contend with?
- What would be the impact if one of these were to attack the crop?
- How are these threats kept under control?
Create a wiki to share your information using a site such as pbwiki and wikispaces.
To understand how a plant disease can affect the people, and indeed the history of the world, read some historical fiction about the effect of the blight which hit Irish potato crops in the 1800s, and the subsequent famine and immigration of the Irish to many parts of the world. Suggestions include:
- Children of the Famine trilogy by Marita Conlon-McKenna
- The Hunger: The diary of Phyllis McCormack, Ireland 1845-1847 by Carol Drinkwater
- The Coldest Winter and Bound for America by Elizabeth Lutzeier
- Bridie's Fire by Kirsty Murray
- Nory Ryan's Song by Patricia Reilly Giff
Feral facts
Individuals
- As well as unwanted plant diseases, parts of Australia are also under threat from the impact of feral animals. What is the definition of a feral animal?
As you read, make a list of all the feral creatures that are mentioned in the story. Compare your list to the one on this government website:
www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/invasive/ferals/index.html
Select one creature and produce an outline that is detailed enough to serve as the basis for a television documentary. You would need to include information about:
- the reasons the species was introduced
- its geographical spread
- its impact on the environment, other fauna and agriculture
- attempts to deal with the problem.
You would also need to include any relevant maps, charts, tables and graphs.
There is funding available for just three programs to be made so argue the case for your topic on the basis that it is the most important for the general public to know about.
Individuals Small groups 
Class
Debate the topic: 'It was irresponsible of earlier generations to introduce these species to Australia.'
Environmental activists
Individuals Small groups
There are many groups, organisations and government agencies concerned with the protection of the environment, especially as people become more aware of the impact of global warming and climate change.
- These groups are often labelled 'green' or 'greenies'. Why?
Identify the key groups and agencies active in Australia and create a recruitment poster or a wiki entry for each that describes their focus, strategies and contact details.
Cats and cages
Individuals
There are many people who believe that domestic cats should be subject to the same regulations and restrictions as domestic dogs, especially in light of the damage they do to the natural environment.
- Investigate what the regulations for owning both cats and dogs are in your area. Are they discriminatory?
Individuals Class
Some councils are passing by-laws that include:
- making it an offence for a cat to be off their property at any time
- restrained cats on a leash when they are off their property
- compulsory registration and microchipping of cats
- compulsory de-sexing of cats
- owning no more than two cats at a time.
Take on the role of a councillor either for or against these regulations and put your case for their adoption or abandonment. Post your comments to a class blog using
BlogNow or
Edublogs, and then hold a formal debate.
Having listened to the arguments, compose a class Letter to the Editor for each side of the debate. Then, negotiate a compromise with suggestions that could be put to your local council.
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Assessment
Assessment tasks are dependent on the teacher's identified outcomes of the unit, the tasks selected and the evidence that teachers determine to be acceptable for the age group.
Values and attitudes evolve as our expertise and experience grows and so cannot be measured. However, by exposing students to activities such as these we start them on their journey of awareness of the wider world, particularly if we give them the opportunity and time to reflect on their learning.
From fact to fiction
- Although this is a work of fiction, it has a strong message. What is that message?
- What attitudes, perspectives or values does the author assume that the reader already has before reading the book?
- What does the author want us to know, remember or appreciate as a result of reading this book?
- How does she do this?
- Whose positions, voices and interests are foremost?
- Are any views either excluded or given prominence in the text?
In her Teachers Notes on her website, the author writes, 'I'm still concerned that it is 'fact' laden, or suffering from researchitis so I put in more characterisation and humour such as the scratch football match.'
- Has she achieved her purpose?
- Do the facts interfere with the story being told?
- Is this a story about the characters or their message?
- How did contextual factors influence how you interpreted the message?
- Is this a reasonable way to shape young readers' ideas and opinions? Why?
- How did your knowledge, understandings or attitudes change as a result of reading this text?
Build a blurb
Read a number of blurbs from a variety of novels.
- What is their purpose?
- What are their key elements?
Write a new blurb for this book that is no more than 100 words and focuses on its environmental message and will entice someone to read it.
Design a cover
This cover, by David Liston, was the result of a work-experience exercise becoming a real-life opportunity. Some of the criteria he had to work with were:
- A young adult novel of 30,000 words, set in Darwin.
- Could have future filmic possibilities as settings involve crocodiles, choppers, the Night Markets and the Beer Can Regatta.
- Potential readers are males and females 12-17 upwards.
- The cover needs to look active, adventurous and male-orientated.
- It could be photographic or symbolic.
- A strong contrast such as orange/black silhouette, so that the cover would reproduce well in black and white newspaper reviews.
- Could be a wraparound cover, and you will need to design space for the blurb and bio for the back.
Compare how the present cover of the book matches these criteria and then design your own, considering all of these elements.
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