Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10 minutes	Part A: Australian climate
20 minutes	Part B: Analysing maps
20 minutes	Part C: Investigating Natural Hazards In Various Places Throughout Australia
20 minutes	Part D: Infographic Activity
05 minutes	Reflection

Part A: Australian climate

Step 1.

Commence the lessons by letting your students know that they will be investigating climates in different places and doing various exercises that show the connection between weather and natural hazards.

Step 2.

Ask your students to pay attention while presenting the video to the class: AskBOM: Why do we have different climates across Australia? (https://youtu.be/uSVef2Esn9k).

Step 3.

In the video, climate scientist Linden Ashcroft says, “If you’re travelling around Australia, you'll notice that the outdoors doesn't always look and feel the same”.

Ask your students about their experience of a climate different to the one they usually live in. For example, when they have visited friends and family in other parts of the state, country, town or during holidays and what did you notice about the weather?

Part B: Analysing maps

Step 1.

As a class, investigate weather maps of Australia and discuss how and why there are different climates in Australia. Facilitate a brief discussion on the following questions:

What type of map is this? climate zone map based on temperature and humidity.
What does the map show you? The different climate zones throughout Australia.
What are the five main categories in the key? Hot humid summer, warm humid summer, hot dry summer mild winter, hot dry summer cold winter, warm summer cold winter, mild/warm summer cold winter.
Analyse the 7 states and explain their climate zones. Some of them may experience various climate zones, why might that be the case?

BOM website links that you and your students can explore and interpret:

Temperature/humidity zones (http://www.bom.gov.au/jsp/ncc/climateaverages/climate-classifications/index.jsp?maptype=tmpzones#maps)
Seasonal rainfall - major zones (http://www.bom.gov.au/jsp/ncc/climate_averages/climate-classifications/index.jsp?maptype=seasgrpb#maps)
Koppen major classes map of vegetation and climate (http://www.bom.gov.au/jsp/ncc/climate_averages/climate-classifications/index.jsp?maptype=kpngrp#maps).

You may like to go through the map of Australia as a class to ensure students know how to read a map, key, coordinates etc. Either as a class or in groups, students can investigate the links and report back to the class or teacher. Geography teachers would be familiar with explicitly teaching the six features of a map using BOLTSS (this acronym represents the first letters of the six features listed below):

B – Border: A line around the map to show the edges of the map to prevent confusion with other text
O – Orientation: Shows direction using a compass rose or north arrow
L – Legend: Key to the symbols and colours used
T – Title: A precise name of the map, usually placed above the map or sometimes in the figure caption
S – Scale: A measure between the map and the real-world usually a linear scale, and sometimes a ratio or statement
S – Source: A source is the origin of the data shown on the map so that the reader knows where the information comes from.

Step 4.

Now that you have analysed the map of Australia, climate and weather patterns. Pull up or refer to the map again and ask students if they think regions of Australia are more or less susceptible to specific hazards and why this could be?

define the region
define the climate
define the hazard
explain why this region is more susceptible to experiencing this particular hazard
does the Australian landscape exacerbate these hazards, and why?

For example, bushfires are the most common natural hazard in Australia. The gradual drying of the Australian continent has produced an environment prone to fire.
Bushfires tend to occur when light and heavy fuel loads in Eucalyptus forests have dried out, usually following periods of low rainfall. The potential for extreme fire weather varies significantly throughout Australia, both in frequency and severity.

Part C: Investigating natural hazards in various places throughout australia

Step 1.

Explain to your class that you will demonstrate how to use the interactive disaster map on the Australian Disaster Resilience Knowledge Hub website (knowledge.aidr.org.au/disasters/) to investigate the frequency and severity of hazards in Australia.

Step 2.

As a class, start with a blank map and click on ‘Select None’ on the right-hand panel of the screen. Choose each disaster type in turn, clicking on ‘Select None’ each time to clear the map. Use the full year range to return a good number of results. Click on a pin on the map to show information about a particular disaster.

Step 3.

Now that students know how to interact with the site, they will investigate in pairs.

Step 4.

Explain that each pair needs to choose one of the natural disaster types:

Year 7 students will investigate Hydrological hazards involving water processes, including floods, droughts and tsunamis.
Year 8 students will investigate Geomorphic hazards, including earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

Step 5.

Explain that each pair will investigate the natural disaster together, comparing the climate and disaster maps provided and labelling their blank map of Australia with the information. They will then answer the following questions (on the Student Worksheet).

What is the natural hazard you are investigating?
Where is the natural hazard most likely to occur?
How many of these disasters have occurred in Australia in the last 10 - 20 years?
What is the climate of this region/s?
Why is this region more susceptible to this particular hazard?

Each student must label their map and write down their answers as they will need this information for the next steps. Set a time limit to keep the groups on task. Fifteen minutes is suggested, but less or more may be needed depending on your students' capabilities.

Step 6.

Select a volunteer from each group to present to the class what their group noted about the connection between climate and natural hazards and how this information helps us to predict natural hazards.

Part D: Infographic activity

Step 1.

Explain to the class that each student will use their research and maps from Part B of the lesson to create an infographic (or poster) that educates people about the climate of a state or region in Australia, and a natural hazard type that occurs in the state or region, e.g, cyclones in Queensland, floods in Tasmania etc.

Step 2.

Explain to students that the infographics should include:

a brief definition of the natural disaster type
the number of occurrences of the disaster type in Australia in the last 10 - 20 years
where the natural disaster is most likely to occur
the climate and biome of the region/s
the reason/s why this region is more susceptible to this particular hazard.

Students may choose to include a short description of selected examples of the disaster type.

The infographics should aim to:

grab the attention of the viewer with a compelling title or image (which must be related to the topic)
have a clear and informative message about climate/biome and natural hazards in the area
be accessible to a range of community members (e.g. non-English speakers, various disabilities, colour blindness)
use a consistent colour scheme
use consistent, easy-to-read fonts.

Step 3.

Invite students to undertake a ‘gallery walk’ around the classroom to visit each other’s infographics or posters or share them online.

Gallery Walk

A gallery walk enables students to provide feedback on their peers’ work. Display students’ work around the classroom and place a piece of blank paper next to each work to collect votes on. Invite students to move around the room, viewing each other’s work, and then vote for their favourite three posters.

As an extension, students could also record one thing they like about the posters displayed, one thing they wonder about, and one thing that may improve the work.

This infographic can be displayed around the school or on your school's Facebook page to educate people in the community about what they can expect and to prepare for if they live in the chosen area.

Reflection

Ask students if there is anything that surprises them about the frequency of hazards in Australia, or about the data they researched. For example, does a particular state experience a low level of natural hazards, and why might this be the case?

Differentiated learning

Extension

Provide an opportunity for students to research other countries' weather maps and how their climate might cause them to be more susceptible to a disaster.

Provisions for learning support

The group tasks in this lesson allow students to:

Tackle more complex problems than they could on their own
Delegate roles and responsibilities
Share diverse perspectives
Pool knowledge and skills
Hold one another (and be held) accountable during group work.

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 - How Does Climate Impact And Cause Natural Hazards?

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