Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

15 minutes – Part A: Packing List
20 minutes – Part B: Home Site Plan
30 minutes – Part C: School Emergency Procedures
5 minutes – Reflection

Part A: Packing List

Step 1.

Instruct students to get out their workbook and a pen or distribute the Student Worksheet.

Step 2.

Describe the scenario and the task:

A hazard is heading your way and you must quickly pack your bag and leave your home to get to safety. You have 30 seconds to list in your workbook the most important items you need to take with you.

Step 3.

Countdown from 30 or display a 30-second timer on the projector. Once finished, instruct students to put their pens down.

Step 4.

Ask the class for answers to the following questions:

Why did you choose those items?
Hands up how many chose a sentimental item?
How many panicked and couldn’t think clearly?

Step 5.

Explain that the brain under stress does not think logically nor clearly, which is why having lists and plans is important. What you pack should contain both survival items (essentials) and recovery items (things you will need once the emergency has passed such as sentimental items).

Step 6.

Display the suggested items list and the guiding questions on the board. Give students a few minutes to think about their answers to the guiding questions.

Suggested items:

Medications
Phone and chargers
Water bottle
A book/something to occupy your time (remember that electricity may not be reliable to charge gaming devices)
Toiletries
Pets and pet food/medication.

You could also show this picture of a 72 hour emergency kit:

Guiding questions:

When you go away for a night/camping/on holidays what do you need?
What items make you feel comfortable and secure?
What items make you happy?

Step 7.

Play this video:

Pillowcase preparedness: Red Cross (https://youtu.be/L6h4v_N2yQo)

Step 8.

Have students reflect on whether their family has discussed a plan of what to take with them during an evacuation.

Step 9.

Show the class this video on how to pack for an emergency evacuation:

Big Weather: What to take when evacuating due to a bushfire (https://www.abc.net.au/education/big-weather-what-to-take-when-evacuating-due-to-a-bushfire/13664454)

Step 10.

Instruct students to again write down their packing list for an emergency on a piece of paper that they can store in an easy to remember location at home, remembering to include essentials and recovery items.

Explain that the packing list should be done in pen or typed up and printed. They should consider using large text and laminating in case of an electrical blackout or flood. Consider scanning it and saving a digital copy as well.

Optional alternative: Write on a pillowcase as like shown in the Pillowcase Project video.

Step 11.

Ask students to take their packing list home and discuss it with their family, then find a safe place to store it. It should be stored somewhere that is easily accessible to all members of the family (not too high up or locked away where only parents can access it).

Part B: Home Site Plan

Step 1.

Explain to the class that the next task is to draw a site plan of their home, including unsecured items, dead plant material, inner and outer doorways, trees and anything else they can think of. Here is an example you could show them:

Optional: Prior to this lesson, you could ask students to take photographs around the outside of their home to attach to their site plan.

Step 2.

Inform students they will then label items that need to be dealt with to prepare their property for an emergency.

For example:

Clearing dead plant matter (leaves, branches)
Trimming trees, removing loose bark
Outdoor furniture/unsecured items to be secured or brought inside
All doorways to be closed inside the house
Sandbagging external entries
Replacing or charging batteries in portable radios, torches; candles and purchasing spare batteries
Purchasing and charging power banks/portable chargers for devices
Restocking first aid kits
Restocking fuel for generators
Anything else students can think of that is relevant to their home.

Step 3.

Ask students to take their site plan home, inspect their property and add to the items that need addressing to prepare for or respond to an emergency. They will then show their site plan to their family. This could be stored along with their packing list.

Part C: School Emergency Procedures

Step 1.

Provide students with the school’s emergency procedures or walk the students around the school and find emergency procedure information.

This could be a good time to invite in the local fire department or relevant risk/emergency management group to explain to the students how they have created the evacuation plan and what considerations were made.

Note: If multiple year levels are completing this activity or it is repeated over many years the natural hazard may need to be changed each time or you might choose to skip straight to the evacuation drill (Step 4).

Step 2.

Have students form groups of 3-4. Instruct students to analyse how easy it is to understand and follow the emergency procedure information.

Some questions to consider:

Are the instructions easy to find in an emergency?
Do the procedures offer information for natural hazards, such as fire or floods? What natural hazards that are in your local area are missing?
Are there step-by-step instructions, a list or an image? If not, would it be clear what to do when you are under stress?
Are there instructions on how to prepare the classroom (e.g. close windows and doors, turn off electrical devices)?
Does it tell you what to bring during an evacuation?
If there is a strong international community at the school, does the plan provide instructions in languages other than English?
List the changes you would make to the emergency procedures to make it easier to follow.

Step 3.

If the procedures are not clear, as a class decide on a step-by-step guide for what to do in an emergency at the school. This could be displayed in each classroom. Consider the most common natural hazards in your area and choose one to cover on the guide.

Step 4.

Conduct an evacuation drill as a class. Explain to students that during the drill they should take note of accessibility for people with various mobility requirements. If they were pregnant, injured, had impaired vision or were in a wheelchair, would they be able to safely conduct the evacuation? What assistance would they need from others in your class to get there safely?

Step 5.

Ask students for their analysis of the drill and its accessibility for people with mobility requirements.

You might like to collate the feedback as a class into a set of recommendations that could be submitted to the Principal or school board/council.

Reflection

Remind students to take their packing list and site plan home, then inspect their property and add to the items that need addressing to prepare for or respond to an emergency.
Encourage students to discuss their site plan with their family. Provide the RediPlan Resource to students and families, either printed or via your school portal, to fill out as a family.
Ask students to take a moment to reflect on their learning. Ask for volunteers to share what they found most interesting and their main takeaways from the lesson.

Differentiated Learning

Extension -

Students can extend their site plan to the neighbourhood and identify items they could address as a family or contact the local council to fix items (such as street lighting, flood gauges or signage).
Students could use what they've learnt about the evacuation plan for the school to teach another year level about any evacuation maps or procedures and why it is important that they take drills seriously.

Provisions for Learning Support -

Students with literacy needs could think of packing items for the initial time trial, rather than writing them down. They can then take the time to write down or draw their finalised list.
The insights students with learning needs can provide on the school’s emergency procedures would be valuable. Encourage everyone in the class to participate in evaluating the procedures to gain a wide range of perspectives.

Teacher Reflection

Take this opportunity to reflect on your own teaching:

What did you learn about your teaching practice today?
What worked well?
What didn't work so well?
What would you share?
Where to next?
How are you going to get there?

Disaster Resilience - Preparing for Natural Hazards

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