What a disaster Year level: 1–4
Unit of work contributed by Jemma O’Brien, Forest Primary, ACT
L3067 Exploring Earth's structure: Earth probe. Copyright State of Victoria (Department of Education and Training).
About the unit
Unit description
Students investigate and explain how the landscape is shaped by nature, and the difference between a ‘harmless’ event and one that is termed a ‘disaster’. They investigate the cause and effects of a particular phenomenon and offer an explanation of these, as well as developing advertising materials for implementing emergency management procedures.
Knowledge, understandings, skills, values
· Students will understand that the purpose of an explanation is to explain specifically how or why something occurs.
· Students will understand that explanations focus on a non-human activity or process, and can be oral, written, visual or a combination of these.
· Students will understand that explanations have a particular format, use subject-specific vocabulary and are written in the present tense in a logical sequence.
· Students will understand that models, diagrams and animations explain phenomena that are usually not experienced in real life.
Focus questions
· What is a disaster?
· How does the structure of the planet cause natural disasters?
· What are the characteristics of and reasons for particular disasters?
· How can we protect ourselves?
Resources
Digital curriculum resources
/ L3067 Exploring Earth's structure: Earth probeL498 Travel back in time: time map
L533 Shaping the land
L1284 World Wonders TV show: bushfire
/ R8936 Breakup of Gondwana
R7265 Colin Johnson - Maitland Floods, 1955: Wading through the floods
R7419 Konrad Dimpel - Burned Out Fields Around My Walking Ways, 2003: The 2003 Canberra bushfires
R11251 The Darwin Story: The aftermath of Cyclone Tracy, 1974
/ R10631 'Wild weather!', 1813-1950s
R8378 Lake dries due to drought, 2006
R8439 Quake line near Meckering, 1968
/ R8819 John Teniswood recalls the 'Black Tuesday' bushfires, 2005
R8863 Bob Elliston describes the 'Black Tuesday' bushfires, 1967
Internet sites
· Australia through time at Geoscience Australia: http://www.ga.gov.au (search for ‘Australia through time’)
· Australian natural hazards at Geoscience Australia: http://webmap.ga.gov.au/hazards (select ‘volcanoes’, ‘earthquakes’ or ‘tsunamis’ as relevant)
· Emergency management for schools at the Attorney-General’s Department: http://www.ema.gov.au/schools. Select where relevant:
o ‘Get the facts’
o ‘Dingo Creek – the disaster’
o ‘Dingo Creek – the recovery’.
· Modelling tropical cyclones at the Bureau of Meteorology: http://www.bom.gov.au (search for ‘modelling tropical cyclones’)
Software
· Access to software that allows for animations and slide shows
Book
· ‘From the boundless deep’, chapter 1 of Hawaii, James A Michener, Random House, 1959
Attached printable resources
The following teacher-created learning resources referred to in the unit of work are available for you to modify, print and use in your own teaching and learning context.
· Explanation checklist (page 10)
· Research reflection (pages 11–14)
Teaching the unit
Setting the scene
Resources
· Hard-boiled eggs (unshelled)
· L3067 Exploring Earth's structure: Earth probe
· L533 Shaping the land
· R8936 Breakup of Gondwana
· ‘From the boundless deep’, chapter 1 of Hawaii, James A Michener, Random House, 1959
· Australian natural hazards at Geoscience Australia: http://webmap.ga.gov.au/hazards (select ‘volcanoes’, ‘earthquakes’ or ‘tsunamis’ as relevant)
· ‘Get the facts’, Emergency management for schools at the Attorney-General’s Department: http://www.ema.gov.au/schools (select ‘Get the facts’)
Teaching and learning activities
Make a model
Boil an egg so that its yolk is just set. Unshell it and slice it in half to demonstrate the structure of the Earth. Have students draw the sliced egg and label its parts with the eggshell being the crust, the white being the solid rock mantle and the yolk being the core. Investigate what they already know about the Earth’s structure by having them add a brief description of each component to their diagram.
Examine some diagrams of the structure of the Earth and use these to create a papier-mâché scale model. Cover a small ball with layers of coloured paper until the ball is about 5.5 cm in diameter. When this is dry, use newspaper to build another layer until the ball is about 8.5 cm in diameter. Finally, add a thin layer of blue and green paper to cover the newspaper layer. When it is thoroughly dry, cut out a cross-section down to the inner ball to expose the layers. Label these the inner core (ball); outer core (coloured paper); mantle (newspaper) and crust (blue-green layer).
Explore the composition of each layer using L3067 Exploring Earth's structure: Earth probe.
Calculate the proportions of each layer in the composition of the planet.
What effect do you think the unstable centre might have on the outer layers?
A moving planet
Use R8936 Breakup of Gondwana and L498 Travel back in time: time map and their accompanying educational value statements to explore and explain the constant movement of the Earth’s surface. Have students predict the likely consequences of this movement. Have groups develop a presentation, in a format of their choosing, that explains the cause of volcanoes, earthquakes and tsunamis. Each student should provide an individual written explanation of the phenomenon to accompany his or her group’s presentation.
Extension activities
Share ‘From the boundless deep’, the first chapter of Hawaii by James Michener. This chapter describes the formation of an island.
Explore how the land is shaped by natural forces using L533 Shaping the land. Create a model or a series of diagrams that demonstrates the formation of one of the following:
· mountains or plateaux
· islands, reefs or atolls
· canyons, caves or valleys
· lakes, ponds, rivers or waterfalls.
Assessment
Assess each student’s written explanation of the tsunami, earthquake or volcano according to the checklist to determine his or her competence with this text form.
Investigating
Resources
· ‘Get the facts’, Emergency management for schools at the Attorney-General’s Department: http://www.ema.gov.au/schools (select ‘Get the facts’)
· Australian natural hazards at Geoscience Australia: http://webmap.ga.gov.au/hazards
· Research reflection (pages 11–14)
Teaching and learning activities
What is a disaster?
Discuss whether all volcanoes, earthquakes and tsunamis result in disasters.
Is it possible for an event such as this to occur without its resulting in a disaster?
What is it that turns such an event into a disaster?
Discuss the term ‘disaster’ with students and use a think-pair-share strategy to develop a class definition.
Using the class definition, would losing a mobile phone be classified as a disaster? Why?
Compare the class definition to a dictionary definition.
How has the perception of a disaster changed?
What synonyms could be used for ‘disaster’?
Brainstorm the sorts of disasters that can occur using a definition that includes a phrase such as ‘widespread and long-term impact’ and then classify these according to whether they occur because of nature or humans.
Fire or flood?
Ask students to select a natural event from the list provided, and investigate and explain its cause in a format of their choosing. This process should demonstrate students’ knowledge of the phenomenon and their mastery of the medium. Identify the essential elements of an explanation and create a checklist of these as a guideline for content and standards.
bushfire / blizzard / cyclone/hurricane / drought / floodheatwave / landslide / thunderstorm / tornado / volcano
As well as the explanation, which should include diagrams that may be animated, students should also include information about:
· where the phenomenon is most likely to occur, and why
· natural warning signs that should be heeded
· measurement systems
· the effects of the phenomenon on the environment.
Help students:
· identify what they know and what they need to find out
· locate information in a variety of formats; information must be accurate, authoritative and current
· select relevant information and create a bibliography
· organise their information using headings, paragraphs and graphics to create a sequential explanation
· present their learning in an appropriate format.
Offer students an opportunity to make their presentation to an audience.
In their shoes
· R10631 'Wild weather!', 1813-1950s
· R7265 Colin Johnson - Maitland Floods, 1955: Wading through the floods
· R8819 John Teniswood recalls the 'Black Tuesday' bushfires, 2005
· R8863 Bob Elliston describes the 'Black Tuesday' bushfires, 1967
· R7419 Konrad Dimpel - Burned Out Fields Around My Walking Ways, 2003: The 2003 Canberra bushfires
· R8378 Lake dries due to drought, 2006
· R11251 The Darwin Story: The aftermath of Cyclone Tracy, 1974
· R8439 Quake line near Meckering, 1968.
View or listen to the resources listed above, and have students put themselves in the shoes of the victims. Discuss how they might feel if they experienced a natural disaster. Have them record their stories. Some students might have personal accounts to share.
Assessment
To track their development, compare students’ later explanations with their earlier attempts.
Have them use Research reflection (pages 11–14) in order to evaluate their success as a researcher and to identify those areas where they need more assistance.
Have them talk about why they chose that particular presentation format for their explanation.
How did it meet the needs of the task, the topic and the audience?
Bringing it together
Resources
· L1284 World Wonders TV show: bushfire
· Emergency management for schools at the Attorney-General’s Department: http://www.ema.gov.au/schools. Select where relevant:
o ‘Dingo Creek – the disaster’
o ‘Dingo Creek – the recovery’.
Teaching and learning activities
In real life
Have students find a real example of the sort of disaster they have chosen and compare its significant behaviour to their research.
How was it a typical example of the phenomenon?
What, if anything, could have been done to prevent it or to reduce its effects on local people?
Use L1284 World Wonders TV show: bushfire to write a script about bushfires for a television show. Have groups of students who have investigated the same disaster prepare and present a news report about it.
Protect and preserve
Ask students to investigate the preparation and management strategies for events that may affect your area.
What has been done?
What needs to be done?
Whose responsibility is it to ensure it is done?
What can the students take responsibility for?
Have the students prepare and present posters, pamphlets, advertisements or fliers that provide the community with the information it needs to prepare for a disaster.
Extension activities
Have students participate in Dingo Creek – the disaster and Dingo Creek – the recovery. (Go to Emergency management for schools at the Attorney-General’s Department: http://www.ema.gov.au/schools and select the relevant links.)
Communicating
Teaching and learning activities
Words and pictures
Create a number of large panels, one for each type of disaster, which can become graffiti walls of phrases, thoughts, personal responses, poems, drawings, book titles, photos, newspaper clippings and so forth, relating to that particular type of disaster.
Have students list examples of figurative language that describe appearance, actions and attitudes, and look for commonalities among the panels.
Are all the expressed feelings negative?
Discuss the meaning of ‘Every cloud has a silver lining’ and look for examples of positives that come from disasters.
From fact to faction
Faction is a genre that personalises an event where all details are verifiable and historically and scientifically accurate. Have students use what they have learned to create a faction story. This story could be in the form of:
· a first-person narrative from the point of view of the event itself, such as ‘I was born when the continental plates at latitude X and longitude Y shifted ...’
· a photographic essay from the point of view of an onlooker who survived a disaster
· a breaking-news story from a television or newspaper reporter on the scene
· a series of tweets describing what is happening, in less than 140 characters per message
· an object bearing the brunt of the event, such as a tree in a cyclone
· a scientist identifying the warning signs and predicting or explaining the effect in a particular area (for example, referring to its topography)
· a survivor telling of his or her experiences
· a rescue or relief worker describing the scene and his or her response
· a wildlife rescue officer during the clean-up
· a survivor reflecting on how his or her life is likely to change because of this.
Writer: Jemma O’Brien
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What a disaster by Jemma O’Brien, Forest Primary, ACT 14
Explanation checklist
Name / Class / DateThe student:
1. understands that the purpose of an explanation is to explain specifically how or why something occurs rather than providing a personal anecdote