FIRE PRACTICE
Details
Available: We are currently fully booked for 2026.
Please contact school-bookings@unimelb.edu.au to be added to a waitlist or contact MISEP via the link below.
Levels: 7 – 10
Capacity: 30
Duration: 2 hours
This workshop is delivered as part of the University of Melbourne's Melbourne Indigenous STEM Education Program (MISEP) led by our collaborators in the Faculty of Science. To learn more, visit the MISEP page here.
Students will explore the productive uses of fire, particularly in a cultural context. Fire Practice explores what fire is, fire starting, vegetation regrowth, and the impact that Indigenous cultural burns have had on reducing environmental catastrophe. This workshop will challenge student’s preconceptions around fire and explore how it is important in caring for Country, plants, animals and ecosystems.
Fire Practice was created in collaboration with researchers at the University of Melbourne and is facilitated by a team of Indigenous facilitators, who are proud to share parts of their knowledge and culture.
Key Themes: fire, Indigenous knowledge, Indigenous culture, earth sciences, caring for Country, sustainability, land management, ecology
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This workshop is free for all secondary schools.
*Limited availability
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Identify how Indigenous people understand and utilise fire to manage the landscape.
Gain insight into Indigenous ways of Caring for Country.
Understand the key components of fire and what factors affect the properties of a fire.
Explore fire starting techniques by use of a wood drill to generate heat.
Explore current research related to Indigenous land management.
Informally engage with university students - who make up our facilitator team - and learn about diverse post-school pathways.
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Cross-curriculum priority: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures.
Organising ideas for this priority that cover Country and Place, Culture, and People can be viewed on the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority website.
Interested in an incursion?
The Faculty of Science's Melbourne Indigenous STEM Education Program (MISEP) delivers Fire and a whole suite of Indigenous STEM workshops in schools across Melbourne. MISEP aims to ensure that the next generation recognises and respects the impact of Indigenous knowledges on the past, present, and future of STEM.