Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

25 minutes – Part A: How do natural disasters impact people and communities?
35 minutes – Part B: Case study: Floods
35 minutes – Part C: Incoming News
5 minutes – Reflection

Part A: How do natural disasters impact people and communities?

Step 1.

Before presenting a video to the class, explain to students that they will consider the various ways a flood can impact people and the environment and discuss the main reasons floods occur.

Ensure students understand the meaning and differences below:

Flooding is an overflowing of water onto land. Floods can happen during heavy rains, when ocean waves come onshore, when snow melts quickly, or when dams or levees break. Damage caused by flooding may occur with only a few inches of water, or it may cover a house to the rooftop. Floods can occur within minutes or over a long period and may last days, weeks, or longer. Floods are the most common and widespread of all weather-related natural disasters.

Flash floods are the most dangerous kind of floods because they combine the destructive power of a flood with incredible speed. Flash floods occur when heavy rainfall exceeds the ability of the ground to absorb it. They also occur when water fills normally dry creeks or streams or enough water accumulates for streams to overtop their banks, causing rapid rises of water in a short amount of time.

Step 2.

As a class, watch the video on the recent Lismore disaster: How Lismore’s worst ever flood unfolded - https://youtu.be/MSFZziVnUHU

OR

Watch the video ABC video: Incredible tales of survival after WA’s Cyclone Seroja (https://youtu.be/m_EVkEMy50g).

Note: This video may be emotional for some students and difficult to process. Ensure you give students time to process their thoughts before moving on to Step 2.

Step 3.

Ask students to brainstorm the impacts of natural hazards. Run this as a think–pair–share activity if you think students would benefit from talking to a partner before responding to the class. You may wish to ask students to respond on the board so they can add to their table:

Step 4.

Theme/group responses according to the type of impact:

Land	Individual	Community
Explanation of how floods impact the land: Floods are considered a hydrological hazard associated with water occurrence, movement, and distribution, tsunamis, storm surges, floods and flash floods, droughts that occur in the Hydrosphere. Consider the various spheres and how they are impacted by floods.	Explanation of an individual: A single human being as distinct from a group	Explanation of a community: A group of people that are living in the same place (suburb or street), similar interests or having a particular characteristic in common.
How do floods impact the land (flora and fauna)?	How do floods impact a person?	How do floods impact a community?
Geosphere: Floods affect the geosphere by destroying and eroding rocks and minerals. The water breaks down easily dissolving substances in the minerals and rocks. The oil in the geosphere can then leak into the ocean. Biosphere: A flood affects the Biosphere by destroying animals, plants and people. Hydrosphere: The hydrosphere causes and can be impacted by floods. Floods can damage waterways such as rivers, lakes and stream banks. Water can erode the rocks and will eventually go into the ocean either through the sewers or during the process of evaporation and precipitation. Consequently, the hydrosphere can get polluted via plastic, metal and other pollutants from the road and sewage.	Loss of homes and property, injury, psychological distress.	Buildings destroyed, infrastructure, business which leads to decrease in the economy and ability to work.

Note: You may like to group your responses in various ways, and other examples of categories could include: physical, emotional, mental, personal, professional, and collective.

Part B: Case Studies: Floods

Step 1.

Explain to students that they will analyse a recent flood that has occurred in Australia. Explain to the class that sometimes news articles show great graphical representations of hazards and that in this article you will be analysing weather maps and the specific events that lead to floods.

Step 2.

Split your class into groups of three to four students per group and ask them to read through the news article on floods and categories relevant information (in dot points) that shows where, how and why the flood occurred. Then discuss the who, why and how the floods impacted people in the article.

Where did the hazard occur?	How did the hazard occur?	Why did the hazard occur?

Why were these people, animals, plants buildings etc impacted?	Why were these people, animals, plants buildings etc impacted?	How could people and communities be better prepared or resilient to disasters?

Step 3:

Ask a spokesperson from each group to share their response with the class and address any questions or misunderstandings before you move to the next step.

Part C: Incoming News

Step 1.

Divide the class into small groups. Each group will research the causes and impacts of a disaster in one of the following communities. They will present their research as a 2-minute video-recorded news special called: “The community of xx - One year on from the xx”:

Lismore, Gosford, Tenterfield, Byron Bay, Casino and Kyogle, NSW – 2022
Kalbarri, WA – Cyclone Seroja 2021
Mallacoota, Vic – Black Summer bushfires 2019-2020
Cobargo, NSW – Black Summer bushfires 2019-2020.

Note: Keep in mind that video development and recording can be a time-consuming exercise.

Step 2.

Provide students with the following resources to get them started.

Lismore, Gosford, Tenterfield, Byron Bay, Casino and Kyogle, NSW – 2022 https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/mar/25/severe-weather-warning-for-flood-hit-northern-nsw-as-heavy-rain-forecast-for-sydney
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/mar/23/climate-change-spat-splits-lismore-council-in-flood-aftermath

Kalbarri, WA – Cyclone Seroja 2021
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-14/kalbarri-residents-face-long-rebuild-wait-after-cyclone-seroja/100066704
https://www.geraldtonguardian.com.au/news/geraldton-guardian/kalbarri-residents-traumatised-struggling-to-connect-with-mental-health-support-after-cyclone-seroja-ng-b881865907z
https://youtu.be/pKtQ3JCLL70

Mallacoota, Vic – Black Summer bushfires 2019-2020
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-01/stories-of-survival-emerge-from-victorian-bushfires/11835160
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-03/bushfires-victoria-mallacoota-brendan-unesco-australian-fires/11838100
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-50953591

Cobargo, NSW – Black Summer bushfires 2019-2020
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-31/nsw-bushfires-cobargo-fire-destroys-towns-main-street/11834322
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01-03/black-summer-remembered-south-coast-nsw-bushfires/13011334

Step 3.

Instruct each group to include the following information in their news report:

The cause of the disaster – including underlying causes and gaps in the response
The impact of the disaster on individuals and the community
How is the community recovering following the disaster? Consider the social, personal and community elements of the recovery
How the community is becoming more resilient to future disasters.

Step 4.

Explain to students that they will need to think about the following tasks as they plan their recording, and decide who in the team will take responsibility for each task:

Researching the story
Writing the script
Presenting the news story
Sourcing images and creating charts or graphics that show the geographical representation of hazards.
Acting as local community members to provide a statement in the news story
Recording and editing the video.

Step 5.

Encourage students to map out their story on the storyboard template before they convert to film.

Step 6.

Explain to students that they can use the recording software freely available on their phone, tablet or computer to record and edit the story. Reassure students that the message is more important than the production value.

Step 7.

Show each completed news story to the class, either in class or share electronically. Ensure your students are aware of your intention to show their videos before they opt to video record. Some students may be shy and not wish for their work to be shared.

Reflection

Ask your class to consider what they have learned about the hazards in Australia and complete the 3-2-1 activity (3 ideas or thoughts, 2 further questions and 1 piece of information that surprised them).

Differentiated Learning

Extension – Ask students to send a letter or contact their local volunteer fire service or emergency management services to talk to students about responding to disasters and working with local communities in the aftermath of a disaster.

Provisions for Learning Support – You may wish to provide an alternative to the news story for students, such as a video outlining the causes and effects of a specific natural disaster. Although there is ample opportunity for group work in this lesson you may wish to split students up into groups based on capabilities and skill level.

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 is Australia Impacted By Floods?

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