BUSHCRAFT and WILDERNESS ACTIVITIES

Lesson Structure

There are 10 lessons in this course:

1. Understanding Wilderness Areas
   • Introduction
   • Living Things
   • Ecological Relationships
   • Climatic Zones
   • Climate/Soil/Vegetation Interrelationships
   • Plant Associations
   • Continental Drift
   • Understanding Impacts of Weather on Wilderness Activities - Highs and Lows, Thunderstorms, Atmospheric pressure changes in storms, guide to weather symbols.
   • Terminology
   • Participant Fitness Levels - testing current physical fitness and further tests
2. Equipment
   • Introduction
   • Equipping to survive - minimum essential items for the survival kit, additional items, individual medical kit
   • Essential Items for Wilderness Travel
   • Clothing
   • Nutrition
   • Food packaging
   • Liability and Insurance
   • Risk Assessment
3. Protection from the Elements
   • Introduction
   • First Aid Procedures
   • Hypothermia (exposure)
   • Hyperthermia (heat exhaustion)
   • Building a wilderness shelter
   • Lighting a fire
   • Mental strength
4. Natural Resources
   • Introduction
   • Finding water - plan ahead to find water, how much water do you need? Landscape vegetation and animal signs, things to avoid, making an above ground still, soakage water, water from tree roots
   • Case Study - Survival story
   • Bush tucker or Survival Food - Australian bush tucker foods.
   • Preparation of plant food.
   • Animals for food
   • Use of Bush Tucker Food
5. Navigation
   • Introduction
   • Navigation and direction finding - how to use a compass, map reading, longitude and latitude, scale, contour lines, estimating distances, pacing.
   • Navigation by the sun, moon and stars
6. Dealing with Emergencies
   • Introduction
   • Venomous creatures - snakes - symptoms of a poisonous bite, first aid, arachnids - first aid, marine creatures - jelly fish, cone shell, first aid, scorpionfish, lionfish and stonefish - first aid, other dangerous marine creatures.
   • Carnivorous mammals - bears, big cats
   • Poisonous plants
   • Bushfires
7. Camping
   • Introduction
   • Setting up camp
   • Camping - different styles of camping
   • Successful camp programming
   • Waste disposal
8. Passive Land Based Activities
   • Introduction
   • Observing nature
   • Orienteering
   • Environmental activities for children
   • Plant collection
9. Water Based Adventure Activities
   • Introduction
   • Some water-based activities - snorkelling, scuba, sailing, speed boating and jet skiing, canoeing, white-water rafting, water skiing.
10. Active Land Based Adventure Activities
    • Introduction
    • Activities - abseiling, hang gliding, rock climbing, snow skiing, snowboarding
    • Motorised Vehicles - landscape impact, safety, considerations
    • Mountain Bikes
    • Horse Riding

Aims

• Appreciate the scope and implications of ecotourism opportunities in wilderness areas.
• Prepare for an excursion into a wilderness area
• Determine appropriate methods of protecting against the elements.
• Determine different uses for natural resources in the wilderness.
• Navigate in a wilderness area using a variety of different techniques.
• Deal with a range of emergencies in a wilderness situation, including developing contingency plans and determining appropriate first aid.
• Explain campsite establishment and management.
• Determine appropriate procedures for managing different passive wilderness activities.
• Determine appropriate procedures for managing different water based wilderness activities.
• Determine appropriate procedures for managing different active wilderness activities.