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Topic 2 – Fairness and equity

This primary school resource focuses on establishing strong foundations for learning about tax and super.

Last updated 27 February 2020

This primary school resource focuses on teaching values and actions to help establish strong foundations for learning about tax and super.

Overview

Tax talk

  • Fair isn't always equal.

Learning intention

In this topic, students:

  • recognise the difference between equity (fairness) and equality (even distribution)
  • solve problems to achieve fair outcomes
  • represent, compare and link different representations of fractions
  • reflect on a personal experience of fairness
  • suggest how they can manage unfair situations.

Focus question

  • Is fair always equal?

Activities

  1. Introduction – think-pair-share
  2. Fairness vs equal – photo stimulus
  3. Experiencing unfair – scenarios
  4. Distributing resources – group problem-solving
  5. Visualising fair – fraction bars
  6. Extension – think board
  7. Fair or Foul? – decision making
  8. Making unfair situations fair – journal entry
  9. Reflection – class circle

Resources

Some resources are available as both a PDF and as accessible text. If a resource does not have a text version and you need an accessible version, email us at schoolseducationprogram@ato.gov.au.

Topic 2 resources

Australian Curriculum Connections

Content

  • English
  • Mathematics
  • HASS
  • HPE

General capabilities

  • Literacy
  • Numeracy
  • ICT
  • Critical and Creative Thinking
  • Personal and Social Capability
  • Ethical Understanding

Curriculum mapping

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Introduction – think-pair-share

  1. Pose the following question for students to think-pair-share:      
    • What does fair mean and what are some examples?      
      • Think – 30 seconds
      • Pair – 1 minute
      • Share – 5 minutes
  2. Record key themes and examples on chart paper to display in the classroom.

Fairness vs equal – photo stimulus

  1. Show students the pictures of fairness and equity (Resource 1 – PDF, 140KBThis link will download a file).
  2. Ask:    
    • Is everyone being treated equally in this picture? (point to equality picture)
    • Is this fair? Why or why not?
    • Is everyone being treated equally in this picture? (point to equity picture)
    • Is this fair? Why or why not?
    • Can you think of a situation where fairness is important? Why?

Experiencing unfair – scenarios

  1. Students spread out safely around the room.
  2. Give each student a random number of star jumps (between 3 and 150) to complete in 30 seconds.
  3. Ask:      
    • Why was this task unfair?
    • Would it be fair if I gave everyone the same number of star jumps to complete? Why or why not?
    • What could I have done to make the task fair?
    • Would this make the task better or worse? For whom?
    • Why do you think people have different views about what is better or worse?

Distributing resources – group problem-solving

This activity may contribute to student portfolios.

  1. As a warmup, give each student a range of Australian notes and coins (Resource 2 – PDF, 118KBThis link will download a file). Ask each student to make up $40.00 using the notes and coins they have.
  2. Students record the actual notes and coins they used to make up the $40.00 (Resource 3 – PDF, 76KBThis link will download a file).

Teacher tip

Encourage students to label each note or coin as a value using the decimal notation. For example, fifty cents would be labelled as $0.50, one dollar would be labelled as $1.00, twenty cents as $0.20, five dollars as $5.00.

  1. Use a grouping strategy to organise students into groups of five.
  2. Give each group a set of five characters (Resource 4 – PDF, 165KBThis link will download a file), the problem to solve. See Resource 5: problem solving scenario – instructions (text version) or PDF (89KB)This link will download a file.
  3. Groups solve the problem and record their solution.
  4. As a class, discuss how the problem was solved and whether the solution was fair.

Prompts

  • Hands-up if each character in the group purchased what was required.
  • Hands-up if your group succeeded in purchasing everything required.
  • How did you solve the problem? Invite each group to share.
  • Which character paid the greatest amount in order for the group to succeed? Why?
  • Which character paid the least amount? Was this fair?
  • Which character saved the most money?
  • Do you think this was fair? Why or why not?

Visualising fair – fraction bars

This activity may contribute to student portfolios.

  1. Students use fraction bars to show how much money each character in their group spent in relation to the amount they were given (Resource 6 – PDF, 68KBThis link will download a file).
  2. Ask:      
    • Was your group's solution fair? Why or why not?
    • How does visualising help you decide whether the solution was fair?
    • Why do you think people have different views on what's fair?

Extension – think board

This activity may contribute to student portfolios.

  1. Students use a Think board (Resource 7 – PDF, 99KBThis link will download a file) to show different representations of one of the fractions on their fraction bar from Activity 5.

Fair or foul? – decision-making

  1. Students respond to each prompt by giving a thumbs-up if they answer 'fair', thumbs-down if they answer 'foul' and palm flat for 'I don't know'. Each time, ask:      
    • Why is this fair or foul?
      Prompts    
      • Your older sister's bedtime is later than yours.
      • Your friends won't let you play a game.
      • Your younger brother has fewer chores to do than you.
      • The same student always gets to be roll monitor.
      • You save a seat for someone in the undercover area.
      • Everyone stays in until the culprit fesses up.
      • Your friend lets you cut in line in front of him at the water tap.
      • You get punished for the behaviour of other students in the class.
      • You are made to make up the learning time you lost for being late to class after lunch.
      • An injured student is given a shorter distance to run in a race.
  2. Students pick one of the unfair situations and talk with a classmate about how they could turn it into a fair situation.
  3. Students share their responses and explain why their solution is a good one and better than the original.

Teacher tip

Use examples from students' everyday life as prompts in the game.

Making unfair situations fair – journal entry

This activity may contribute to student portfolios.

  1. Students draw and describe an unfair situation they have experienced and consider how the situation could have been changed to make it fair.
  2. Give the following instructions:      
    • Draw a line down the middle of the page.
    • On the left-hand side, draw a picture of something that has happened to you that was unfair. It can be something that is unfair in class, in your family, on a team or in your community.
    • Underneath, describe the picture and how it made you feel.
    • On the right-hand side, draw a picture of how that same situation could change to become fair.
    • Underneath, describe how the event would change to become fair and how this new situation would make you and others' feel.
  3. Students edit and publish their illustrated journal.

Teacher tip

Remind students not to share anything too personal. Use protective interrupting if necessary. If students are reluctant to share their personal experiences, allow them to choose an example from Activity 7.

Reflection – class circle

  1. Ask:      
    • What might stop someone from reporting unfairness?
  2. Invite students to suggest how this might be solved and to place their ideas in a confidential suggestions box.
  3. Read out the suggestions and ask students to decide on the most appropriate solution.

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Text versions of resources

The following is an accessible text version of resources for Years 3-4, Topic 2 – Fairness and equity:

We do not have accessible text versions for all resources. If a resource does not have a text version and you need an accessible version, email us at schoolseducationprogram@ato.gov.au.

For a complete list of this topic’s resources, see Resources.

Resource 5: problem solving scenario – instructions

This resource is for Years 3-4, Topic 2 – Fairness and equity, activity titled Distributing resources – group problem-solving.

Along with this accessible version, which you can either print or use online, we also have the same resource available as a PDF – Resource 5: problem solving scenario – instructions (PDF, 89KB)This link will download a file.

Instructions

This problem-solving task is to be completed by a group of 5 students.

1. You have been given a character card that tells you how much money you have been allocated.

2. Each character must buy their own:

  • pencil
  • eraser.

3. The group must buy

  • „one big notepad
  • „one pen
  • „one ruler.

Rules

Each character:

  • must finish with $2 of their own money
  • can contribute to buying items for the group
  • cannot give other characters money.

How to succeed

As a group, work out how the money will be used so that each character has a pencil and eraser and $2 left, and each group has a note pad, pen and ruler.

Cost of items

Each character needs

Item

Cost

1 pencil

$1

1 eraser

$1
Each group needs

Item

Cost

1 big notepad

$2

1 pen

$4

1 ruler

$6

Spending

How much did each character spend:

  • Kiandra
  • Darwin
  • Callington
  • Diamantina
  • Indigo

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QC61191