Resource+2

= Resource 2 =

'Behind the news- Uluru video script' It's the rock in the middle of the desert that attracts 350,000 people each year, but soon those visiting Uluru, in the centre of Australia, might not get to see as much of it as they'd like. A plan has recommended closing the rock to all climbers. That's got a lot of people fired up. It's known as the heart of Australia - a 348m high sandstone outcrop in the middle of the desert, that seems to change colour as the outback sun moves across its ochre face.

 With a stunning landscape like this, it's no wonder hundreds of thousands of visitors trek out to the red centre, near the exact centre of Australia, to take a look.

 But many don't just enjoy the view from the bottom. About a third of tourists decide to climb all the way up to the top - the equivalent of hiking up an 85 storey building!

 The climb generally leaves visitors with a smile on their face, but the fact they can do it at all hasn't left everyone happy.

 The question of whether to climb or not to climb Uluru has left this rock in a pretty hard place.

 Indigenous Australians have lived in this area for many thousands of years and as such have a very strong connection with Uluru.

 The site has spiritual significance and according to their culture and laws, it shouldn't ever be climbed.

 But in the past, the local indigenous people didn't get any say in how it was run, so climbers were allowed.

 On top of their spiritual reasons, the traditional indigenous owners also worry for the safety of those climbing, because the track is very steep and dangerous; in fact, 35 people have died attempting the tough trek.

 Finally, there are the environmental impacts that come with the thousands of visitors traipsing all over the place, such as rubbish and erosion on Uluru itself.

 Despite all these concerns, tourists are still allowed to climb the rock... well, technically.

 Anyone who visits the park is now asked to respect the wishes of the traditional owners and in the past twenty years, 35 percent less people decided to make the trek.

 But now a new report has been released that recommends more drastic action - closing Uluru for good.

 The traditional indigenous owners love the plan because it's what they've wanted all along.

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> But despite being the owners, they don't get final say on it...

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> That comes down to the government, because they manage the area.

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> At this stage it's still too early to say if the plan will go ahead because everyone gets two months to have their say on it before the government makes a final decision.

__<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Description of resource __

<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">This resource is a script from a short video from the children's program 'Behind the news'. The report is about conserving one of Australia's greatest natural wonders- Uluru, by putting forward the argument that tourists should not be allowed to climb the rock as it has adverse affects on the local environment and does not respect the spiritual significance to the traditional owners of the land.

<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">This resource is a part of a multimodal text as it represents the spoken text (voice overs) in the video. The deconstruction of the video into a written text is a model of the process of creating a multimodal text that these Stage 2 students will be developing in the unit of work. This resource is drawn upon in lesson 2, to model written grammatical features of an exposition.

__<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Relevance to unit outcome __

<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">The 'Behind the news' video script clearly links with the focus outcome of the unit of work, ENS2.6 Describes people’s interactions with environments and identifies responsible ways of interacting with environments (Board of Studies, 2007, p. 33). The news article evaluates the necessity of caring for and conserving Uluru and gives a detailed argument of the negative human impact on the local environment. The article also recognises that Aboriginal peoples have a special and significant relationship with this land.

__<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Aspect of literacy explored in unit __

<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">﻿This resource can be used when modelling the grammatical features of an exposition. By deconstructing the video into a written script, students are able to focus on the written grammar, text structure and development of argument in the piece.

<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Students are able to clearly read and identify elements such as statement of position and discuss the order of key 'evidence' in backing up the argument/statement of position. The K-6 English Modules explain that students at Stage 2 'need to consider, in developing an exposition, which are their strongest arguments and which are their weakest and decide where they are best placed.' (Board of Studies, 2007, p. 250). Through discussion and questioning students consider the strength of arguments in this article, helping them to develop a deeper understanding of text structure that they can use when collaboratively writing their own expositions. Through modelling, students are able to begin developing their own expositions.

__<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">References __ <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Board of Studies. (2007). HSIE K-6 Syllabus. Sydney: Author

<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Board of Studies. (2007). English K-6 Modules. Sydney: Author