Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10 minutes

Tune In: Floods in Australia

20 minutes

Find Out: Change of perspective

20 minutes

Take Action: Our community

10 minutes

Reflection

Learning intentions and success criteria

Students will

explore the impacts of flood events - both negative and positive
review case studies that apply a combination of current and traditional land management strategies.

Students can

describe the positive and negative impacts of flooding events
discuss the benefits of combining traditional and current land management strategies
identify areas in their local community that could be impacted by flooding events and the strategies in place to manage these.

Tune In: Floods in Australia

Ensuring psychological safety and inclusivity:

Before beginning this lesson, it is essential to account for the experiences of any First Nations students in your class. It is important not to isolate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in how the material is taught. Some First Nations students may have important insights or contributions which should be welcomed. However, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students should not be expected to contribute any more than other students.

Step 1

Watch the following video with your students:

Understanding Floods - (youtube.com/watch?v=ivUKLr8q4sE&list=TLGG6njXiBCeZ68yOTA0MjAyNA)

Ask your students after viewing:

How would you know when a flood is coming?
How can you prepare for flooding?
How would you know when it is safe to return after a flood?

Student answers may include monitoring social media and other communication channels, accessing online information and preparedness plans, and using local council information. Further information can be found through the Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience (knowledge.aidr.org.au/resources/emergency-planning-tools/).

Step 2

Now, pose to your students an interesting question: Are floods bad? Ask students to justify their answers.

This question has no right or wrong answers and will be based on student experience. The answer will be a matter of perspective and provides students with the opportunity to practise their reasoning and decision-making skills. Students should be able to consider their current level of knowledge and reach a conclusion based on what they know.

Find Out: Change of perspective

Step 1

Highlight that, much like fires, floods can be dangerous, but they are also an important part of an ecosystem's cycle. Ask your students: What benefits do you think floods could provide?

After you have some ideas from your students, ask: Do you think it is possible to reap the benefits of floods while avoiding the harm?

Step 2

Outline to students that recently, there has been a return to traditional land management practices as Australia grapples with climate change and increasing severe weather events. Share the Australia State of the Environment 2021 Presentation with your students.

Step 3

Explain to the class that today they are going to explore case studies showing how specific First Nations communities in Australia interact with flood events. Divide your students into groups and provide them with one of the three Case Studies below. Each group shoud read the case study and answer the accompanying questions.

Step 4

As a class, invite students to share the key findings from their case study. You might like to also use the following prompting questions that are on the Student Worksheet:

How did the community in your case study display resilience?
What benefits did the flooding provide?
How was risk reduced?
Are there concepts or ideas here that we could apply to flood management in Australia at present?

Take Action: Our community

Step 1

Ask students to remain in the same groups they were in for the previous activity. Explain that they are going to discuss the following questions on their Student Worksheet. Students would benefit from being able to conduct online research while considering the answers to these questions.

What areas in your local community might be impacted by flooding?
What would the negative impacts be?
What management plans does your local community have in place to mitigate these impacts? Find your Local Emergency Management Plan (EMP) from your local council. Do these documents include any references to traditional knowledges?
Where in your local community might benefit from flooding events? What would these benefits be?
Who are the Traditional Custodians of your local area?
Do they have any resources or information available on their land management practices, past or present?

Reflection

Ask the students to complete the below sentence stems as an exit ticket:

Reflect on our original question, ‘Are floods bad?’

I used to think…
Now I think…
Now I want to know…

Perspectives on Flooding

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Summary

Lesson guides and printables

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