# MetaPet for Schools
## Overview and Australian Curriculum Alignment

**Audience:** classroom teachers, curriculum leaders, assistant principals, principals  
**Recommended year levels:** Years 3-6  
**Delivery shape:** 7 sessions x 20 minutes  
**Teacher load:** no student accounts, no setup-heavy admin, no marking required

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## What This Sequence Is

MetaPet is a short classroom sequence built around a **digital companion**. Students read the companion's **visible state**, test actions, notice **patterns**, and explain how simple **system rules** create visible changes over time.

The sequence is designed to support:

- Digital Technologies
- Health and Physical Education wellbeing learning
- Personal and Social capability

It is suitable for:

- a Digital Technologies mini-lesson
- a STEM block
- a wellbeing session
- a relief lesson

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## What Students Learn

By the end of the sequence, students will:

1. explain that a digital system responds to inputs and changes state over time  
   **Lessons:** 1, 2, 5  
   **Codes:** `AC9TDI4K01`, `AC9TDI4P02`, `AC9TDI6P02`
2. read companion state information and use it to make a reasoned action choice  
   **Lessons:** 1, 2, 4  
   **Codes:** `AC9TDI4K03`, `AC9TDI4P04`, `AC9TDI6K03`
3. describe simple feedback loops, cause and effect, and patterns in a system  
   **Lessons:** 4, 5, 6  
   **Codes:** `AC9TDI4P02`, `AC9TDI6P05`, `AC9TDI6P06`
4. use classroom wellbeing language to identify feelings, responses, and regulation strategies  
   **Lessons:** 3, 4, 7  
   **Codes:** `AC9HP4P05`, `AC9HP6P05`, `AC9HP4P08`
5. work with others to compare observations, share explanations, and reflect on respectful digital use  
   **Lessons:** 2, 6, 7  
   **Codes:** `AC9HP4P03`, `AC9HP6P03`, `AC9HP6P08`

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## Australian Curriculum V9.0 Alignment

### Digital Technologies: Years 3-4

| Code | Focus | What it looks like in MetaPet |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `AC9TDI4K01` | Explore digital systems and peripherals for a range of purposes | Students identify the device as a digital system and explain how it displays companion state and accepts input |
| `AC9TDI4K03` | Recognise different types of data and how the same data can be represented differently depending on purpose | Students read colour, icon, text and mood labels as different ways of representing the same state |
| `AC9TDI4P02` | Follow and describe algorithms involving branching and iteration | Students describe "if this state is low, then this action helps" and repeat a care loop |
| `AC9TDI4P04` | Implement simple algorithms as visual programs involving control structures and input | Students observe how button inputs trigger rule-based changes in the companion state |

### Digital Technologies: Years 5-6

| Code | Focus | What it looks like in MetaPet |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `AC9TDI6K03` | Explain how digital systems represent data using numbers | Students connect visible companion state to underlying tracked values and explain why different outputs come from the same stored state |
| `AC9TDI6P02` | Design algorithms involving branching and iteration | Students predict which sequence of actions should stabilise a companion state and explain their reasoning |
| `AC9TDI6P05` | Implement algorithms as visual programs involving control structures, variables and input | Students test how repeated inputs and changing state values affect outcomes over time |
| `AC9TDI6P06` | Evaluate solutions against criteria, user stories and broader impact | Students reflect on whether the companion supports calm, clear, useful classroom learning |

### Health and Physical Education: Years 3-4

| Code | Focus | What it looks like in MetaPet |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `AC9HP4P03` | Practise personal and social skills in relationships | Students work in pairs, take turns, and compare observations respectfully |
| `AC9HP4P05` | Identify emotional responses and practise regulation strategies | Students name companion feelings and connect them to calming or recovery actions |
| `AC9HP4P08` | Apply health-enhancing behaviours for wellbeing | Students discuss routines, balance, and actions that support calm and recovery |

### Health and Physical Education: Years 5-6

| Code | Focus | What it looks like in MetaPet |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `AC9HP6P03` | Select, use and refine personal and social skills | Students collaborate on explanations, negotiate action choices, and present findings |
| `AC9HP6P05` | Analyse emotional responses and propose regulation strategies | Students explain how responses affect behaviour and suggest strategies for self-management |
| `AC9HP6P08` | Analyse health-enhancing behaviours for wellbeing | Students discuss how routines, balance and reflection support individual and group wellbeing |

### General Capability Link

The sequence also supports **Personal and Social capability**, especially:

- self-awareness
- self-management
- social awareness
- social management

This is useful when the sequence is positioned as both Digital Technologies learning and classroom wellbeing practice.

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## How Teachers Can Use It Quickly

- **Digital Technologies mini-lesson:** use Sessions 1, 2 and 5
- **STEM block:** use Sessions 5, 6 and 7
- **Wellbeing session:** use Sessions 3 and 4
- **Relief lesson:** use Session 1 or Session 4 as a standalone

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## What Teachers Need to Know Up Front

- Each session is designed for **20 minutes**
- Students can work individually or in pairs
- The sequence uses **light reflection**, not formal grading
- The classroom version is designed around **on-device storage** and **no student account setup**

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## Curriculum Source Notes

This package was written against **Australian Curriculum V9.0** and the ACARA planning documents for:

- Digital Technologies Years 3-6
- Health and Physical Education Years 3-6
- Mental health and wellbeing curriculum connections

Use this document as the leadership and planning summary, then move to the lesson cards.