Trees and Economics: The Accountant's Advocacy

Middle  Secondary

Australian Curriculum General Capability: Information and Communication Technology Capability
Australian Curriculum General Capability: Critical and creative thinking

Australian Curriculum Cross Curriculum Priorities: Sustainability Priority

Cooperative Learning Activity

Teacher

This activity could be used for Ecology or looking at the economics of urban planning or for carbon offsets in rural regions.

Introduction: Scenario

You are to be "an Accountant" working at the Council. You are to attend a Council meeting to inform the Councillors of the economic benefit that trees have to the Council.

You are to develop a presentation - written notes and a PPT - to inform the Council. This presentation should be between 5 - 10 minutes in length.

1. In groups of 4 - 5 students, read the following articles: 

Economic Value of Trees

The value of trees in urban areas

Tales by Trees: Do Living Trees Have Economic Value? [USA]

ABC News - Landline 26 February 2023

2. Together create a Mind Map of the ideas express here and then convert the ideas into a presentation. One student is to exclude themselves from the creation of the presentation and become a "Devil's Advocate". The D'sA is to create 10 hard hitting questions as if they were the Councillors.

3. Use Mind Meister to create the mindmap.

4. Role play the presentation and the questioning.

The Bank, the Sergeant and his bonus: What does History tell us about Accountancy in Australia?

Secondary

Australian Curriculum General Capability: Literacy

Australian Curriculum General Capability: Ethical Understanding

Australian Curriculum General Capability: Numeracy

Australian Curriculum Cross Curriculum Priorities: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures

Cooperative Learning Activity

1. As a group of 4 - 5 students, read the following article from The Conversation 5 December 2018

Write down 10 dot points between you that you all agree on as interesting.

2. Part of the article is a 31min audio file from the History Lab published on 28 November 2018. This audio file is now at UTS 

Local copy PDF - Transcript

As a group, listen to the audio file. What further information did you get from this audio file? Add to your dot points.

3. How was Macquarie presented in this History Lab audio file? Do you all agree with this assessment?

4. Sergeant Jeremiah Murphy is at the centre of this history.

Sergeant Jeremiah Murphy holds the unique place in Australian commercial history as being the first person in Australia (whose affairs were recorded as a ledger account prepared within a double-entry accounting system). His bank deposit on 5 April 1817 was the first deposit taken by the Bank of New South Wales. (Source: R.Craig Jeremiah Murphy: Bank Account 1" Australian CPA, December 1998, pp. 68 - 9)

What was mysterious about this deposit? Why is this finding important today?

5. As a group, you are to create two of the following:

a. A poem about Sergeant Jeremiah Murphy and his deposit
b. A replica of the Holey Dollar (in papier mache or wood)
c. A report from Macquarie requesting the commencement of a bank
d. A letter or song from an Aboriginal Elder describing the massacre at Government Provision Depot at Cox's Road in 1816
e. A timeline of the events [history] leading up to the deposit of Jeremiah's money

Luca Pacioli - what about him?

Primary Middle  Secondary

Australian Curriculum General Capability: Numeracy

Australian Curriculum General Capability: Personal and social capability

Australian Curriculum General Capability: Critical and creative thinking

 

1. "In 1494, Luca Pacioli wrote a 27-page book about accounting, and this is where the symbols plus and minus first appeared. His book was used for hundreds of years to teach the art of accounting. Then, during the Middle Ages, double-entry bookkeeping began. Debits and credits were now being entered for each exchange that merchants made. This type of accounting became the form we use today in our lives and businesses." (Source: Credit Critics)

And,

"It is said that Luca Pacioli published works for the double entry accounting system based on procedures in use by Venetian merchants during the Italian Renaissance. Most of the accounting principles and cycles described by Luca are still in use to this very day. His documentation includes journals, ledgers, year-end closing dates, trial balances, cost accounting, accounting ethics, Rule 72 (developed 100 years earlier than Napier and Briggs), and extensive work on the double entry accounting system." (Source: STP Tax)

You are to make a presentation [using one of these tools] about Luca Pacioli, his life, and, his contributions to accounting. You must include:

a. an image of Pacioli and a short biography

b. the meaning and example of double-entry bookkeeping

c. a ledger

d. accounting ethics

e. Rule 72

 

2. Share with a partner your presentation. Answer any questions they might have. Change your presentation to reflect these questions.

 

The Cost of Food Waste

Primary Middle  Secondary

Australian Curriculum General Capability: Numeracy

Australian Curriculum General Capability: Personal and social capability

Australian Curriculum General Capability: Critical and creative thinking

1. Read the following

"Food waste or food loss is food that is not eaten. The causes of food waste or loss are numerous and occur throughout the food system, during production, processing, distribution, retail and consumption. Global food loss and waste amount to between one-third and one-half of all food produced. In low-income countries, most loss occurs during production, while in developed countries much food – about 100 kilograms per person per year – is wasted at the consumption stage.

• Each year in New South Wales, more than 25 million meals are delivered by charity OzHarvest from food that would otherwise be wasted.

• Each year, the Australian economy loses $20 billion in food waste. This has a crucial environmental impact through the waste of resources used to produce, manufacture, package, and distribute that food.

In addition, it is estimated that 7.6 million tonnes of CO2 is generated by the disposed food in landfills. It is also the cause of odour, leaching, and potential generation for diseases." (Source: Wikipedia)

"What is the cost of food waste in your household?"

2.

For one month, you are to keep detailed records of the cost of all foods consumed and not consumed in your household.

As each item of food is brought - write down in a table [Excel]:

a. the name of the food eg. Bananas

b. the number eg. 5 bananas

c. the cost of the food

d. the date of when it was consumed - eg. 5 days after being brought. Whether it was fresh or cooked.

e. Whether any of the food was thrown out [guess the amount].

f. Whether any of the food not consumed was recycled - eg. given to the compost or worm farm

Food is to include all dry or packaged food; drinks including dairy or vegetable based; eggs; cheese; biscuits; vegetables and fruit. Food also includes take-aways.

 

3. Calculate the cost of the food brought for your household - per month; per year [based on the monthy expenditure].

4. Calculate the amount of food waste for your household - per month; per year.

5. Work out the percentage of food waste for your household using the amount that was brought and the amount that was wasted.

6. Knowing that the average food waste in Australia is 100Kilograms/person/year work out if your family is average, above average or below average.

7. What strategies will you do this year to improve your family's food waste?

 

 

 

Sweatshops and Child Labor WebQuest Middle  Secondary Australian Curriculum General Capability: Numeracy Australian Curriculum General Capability: ICT Capability Australian Curriculum General Capability: Ethical Understanding Original Document now in the WebArchive Revamped WebQuest: Local Copy - Word docx Last updated July 2024

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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