Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10 minutes	Part A: What is climate?
25 minutes	Part B: Climate and Natural Hazards
30 minutes	Part C: Independent Activity
05 minutes	Reflection

Part A: What is climate?

Step 1.

Start by asking what students know about climate. Many will have heard of climate change but might not be sure of what the climate is. Ensure they are confident describing ‘climate’ before proceeding.

An example definition might be: “Climate is the long term weather conditions in a specific geographical area. For example, if you live in a tropical climate, it is usually very warm and only has two seasons, the wet season and the dry season.”

Step 2.

Watch:

AskBOM: Why do we have different climates across Australia? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSVef2Esn9k)

Step 3.

As a group, list Australia’s climate zones. Write these out on the board as you go.

These would be:

Tropical zone
Subtropical zone
Temperate zone

These are then further divided into 7 zones, as can be viewed on this PowerPoint:

Step 4.

Ask students what kind of landscapes we would expect to see in each of these climates. Would there be rivers, rainforests, deserts, mountains, plains?

These two maps (also on the PowerPoint) show the distribution of vegetation across Australia.

Comparing this to the first map, students can see that there’s a lot more greenery in the north (Climate Zone 1 & 2: rainforest, humid and very wet) and east coast of Australia (Climate Zone 6 & 7: cool, wet). There is not much vegetation in the middle of Australia because it is Climate Zone 3 & 4: hot dry summer and warm winter, with very little rainfall.

Step 5.

Ask students what kind of weather we would expect to see in each of these climates. Things like storms would be common across all climates, especially if we consider dust storms. We know places like Brisbane flood, but we’re unlikely to see a flood on the Nullabor Plains - although we might see drought.

Step 6.

Ask students why Australia’s climate is different from that of Asia or Europe. Hopefully, they will list climate zones that are different and understand that it is Australia’s size that makes our climates so diverse.

Step 7.

Ask students to identify where your school is on the map and what climate zone that is.

Part B: Climate and natural hazards

Step 1.

Now lead this to a discussion about natural hazards. Prompt students with specific, local examples, such as ‘Have we ever had a flood here?’ or ‘Have we ever been affected by bushfires in our town?’

Focus on how the event was experienced by the community and possibly the individual children.

Step 2.

Watch:

Climate Emergency: Australia on the frontline of climate change | 7.30 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sNP5jgDa_g)

Step 3.

Have students consider whether droughts and extreme heat conditions are causing more of these events. Students will hopefully be able to make the connection between global warming and climate change.

Part C: Independent activity

Step 1.

Students will produce a map of their local area.

Students should include any local terrain and features, such as rivers, hills, and bushland.

It might be useful to look up an aerial map of your local area using GoogleMaps to use as a reference.

Step 2.

Students then add labels describing the features of their climate zone and the hazards that climate could produce, such as flooding of the local riverbanks, or a fire in the bushland on the outskirts of town.

Reflection

Revisit the connection between our climates, global warming and the resultant floods and bushfires. Ensure students understand that the natural disasters they are likely to experience are highly dependent on the area in which they live (although there is always the possibility of unlikely events still occurring.)

Differentiated learning

Extension

Check out F ire management on Country.

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?

Resilient Australia - Understanding Australia's Hazardous Climate

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