Unit

Planner Bushfire Awareness

Stages of Learning in this Planned Learning Experiences Assessment
Unit
Tuning In Card Cluster Lesson One Bushfire awareness Diagnostic assessment
Throughout this lesson,
Learning intention: Introduction 10 mins educators are able to
Link to Australia To introduce the issue of bushfires, children will review a two-minute video about discover students current
Curriculum: Students the devastating fires that occurred on Black Saturday in 2009. knowledge and
will able to recall o Inside the firestorm (ABC TV, 2010). understanding of bushfires
fundamental knowledge From this dramatic footage, educators can pose questions such as: before new learning begins
about bushfires and (Reynolds, 2014).
o Why do bushfires occur?
how they occur (ACARA,
o How do bushfires burn?
2015b).
Students will be able to Development 15 mins
reflect independently Groups of 3 or 4: each group will choose a different question.
and contribute their o What conditions influence the causes and the spread of a bushfire?
ideas with others. o How do bushfires start?
o What does a fire need to continue burning?
Each student will be given three pieces of paper to individually write down three

different ideas about their question.


Students will place their responses on the table and through discussion students
will cluster those that have similarities.
From here, students will come together with the educator and share their ideas.

Consolidation, practice, extension 20 mins
Working individually, children will create a mind map or bar graph to represent the
information they had collated. Through the use of mind maps and bar graphs
children can show similarities between the new ideas.



Closure 5 mins

Adapted from the teaching and To conclude the lesson, educators will assimilate childrens current understanding
learning strategies (n.d). on bushfires awareness by posing questions such as:
 o What did you learn today?
o Why do bushfires occur?
Finding Out Brainstorm Lesson Two Understanding bushfires Summative assessment
students will be able to
Learning intention: Introduction 10 mins provide a summary within a
Links to Australian As a class, students determine their knowledge on bushfires and why they occur. whole class discussion of
Curriculum: student will Students will facilitate their discussion around questions such as: what they learnt about 'Fire
able to interpret the fire o How do bushfires start? Danger Rating scale and
danger rating scale and o When season are bushfires likely to occur? how different types of
draw conclusions to o How does the weather affect the risk of bushfires occurring? weather play a major factor
how the weather can (Reynolds, 2014).
increase the risk of a Development 25 mins
bushfires occurring Children will be introduced to Fire Danger Ratings scale (Country Fire Authority,
(ACARA, 2015b) 2012a) to emphasise that weather conditions plays a major factor.
Groups of 3 or 4: children will evaluate the rating scale and brainstorm the

different types of weather conditions such as; low, medium, high, extreme and


code red.
o To help facilitate discussions, educators can pose questions such as:
When are fire danger ratings most active?
What do you think the weather conditions would be like on an
extreme fire danger day compared to a low-moderate day?
Can the Fire Danger Rating vary in different areas of Victoria on the
same day?
Children can make connections to how vegetation types,
landforms, temperature and winds can vary across Victoria.



Consolidation, practice, extension 20 mins

In the same groups, children will study a weather forecast and determine the
bushfire danger ratings from Monday to Friday (appendix two).
o Using their new knowledge, children will be able distinguish the differences
between a low to moderate fire danger day and a code red fire danger day.

Closure 10 mins
 Within a whole-class discussion, students will explain and justify their fire danger
rating for the five days.
To find out what children learn, educators can pose questions such as:

o What did you learn today?
Adapted from the teaching and
o What is the difference between a low to moderate rating scale compared to
learning strategies (n.d).
a code red rating scale?
Sorting Out Mind map Lesson Three Impact of bushfires on individuals families/communities Summative assessment
students will be able to
Learning intention: Introduction 10 mins share their written
Students will be able to As a class, children will evaluate and determine the environmental and social response with the
identify the impact of effects of bushfires. educator. Within these
bushfires on individuals, o What impact does bushfires have on families? responses children will
families and o What impact does bushfires have on the environment? show an understanding of
communities. the impacts of traumatic
Development 15 mins events on individuals,
Children will review two different scripts that describe the impact of bushfires on families and their

these families. communities (Reynolds,
2014).
o James Norman Cowdery (Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission, 2009).

o Vicki Jane Ruhr (Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission, 2009).
After reviewing these two materials with the whole class, children will work
together to create a mind map that identifies the impact of bushfires.
o As children suggest their ideas, educators will form the mind-map on the
whiteboard/interactive whiteboard.
o To facilitate ideas, educators can pose questions such as:
What were the impacts of bushfires on these two people?
Did it affect their livelihood?
How does bushfires affect people emotionally?


Consolidation, practice, extension 35 mins


Working individually, students will create a written response from the ideas that
they collated in their class mind map.
o Within this task, children will act as bushfire victims, to explain how a
devastating event can impact on their lives.
 o Children can use their ideas and opinions in genres such as; recount, report,
or poster.

Closure 5 mins

To conclude, children will hand-in their pieces and an educators will assess their
Adapted from the teaching and
learning strategies (n.d).
quality of work. From here, educators will gain an insight to how well the children
grasped the activity that they were provided with.
Going Further Role-play Lesson Four Bushfire preparedness and prevention Summative assessment at
the end of this lesson,
Learning intentions: Introduction 10 mins students will able to share
Links to Australian Prior to this lesson, students will bring in photographs of their house and property. their role-plays to the
curriculum: students will Whole class discussion: children will determine the risk of their house during fire whole class. Within these
be able to describe the role-plays, children will be
season. The discussion will be facilitated on the following ideas:
steps individuals; marked on their detailed
o What is your house made of?
families and plans, presentation, voice,
For example, brick or wood.
communities can take to and use of technology
o What is surrounding your house?
prepare for bushfires (appendix one).
For example, bushland or suburban areas.
(ACARA, 2015b). o Are you at risk?

Development 20 mins

Using an interactive whiteboard, evaluate the following tools with the class.


o Tips on how to prepare your property (2012b).
Interactive illustration that allows you to find out what you can do
to prepare your property for bushfire seasons.
o Am I at risk? (2012c).
Interactive illustration that allows children to understand different
types of fire risk environments.
Groups 2 or 3: using these tools, children will create bushfire survival plan. To help
facilitate their planning, educators can pose questions:
o What is a bushfire survival plan?

o How can we plan effectively?

o How do we reduce our bushfire risk?


 Consolidation, practice, extension 30 mins
Groups of 2 or 3: Children will use their survival plan and put it into action in a role-
play.

o In this hypothetical situation, children will acts as a family living in a high

fire prone area.



Closure 15 mins
To conclude this lesson, children will present their role-play to the class.
o Within this role-play, children must show their understanding of how to
prepare for bushfires (appendix one).
o To follow up with the role-plays, educators can pose a question such as:
What did you learn today?
Adapted from the teaching and Did the role-play help you to understand how to implement a
learning strategies (n.d) bushfire survival plan?
Making Connections Lesson Five Recovering from bushfires Formative assessment
educators can observe how
Learning Intention: Introduction 15 mins children hold the interview
Students will be able to As a class, students will review a clip about a bushfire survivor. and the questions they
assert how individuals, o Jo Crockett My CFA Story (Country Fire Authority, 2015). pose to the bushfire
families and Post to watching this clip, educators will pose questions such as: survivor (Reynolds, 2014).
communities deal with Additionally, educators will
o How did Jo recover from bushfires?
the traumatic event of a be able to observe the
o Did she implement a bushfire survival plan before the traumatic event
bushfire and how they responses children give
occurred?
recover from it (ACARA, after holding the interview.
2015b) Development 30 mins
Links to Australian Groups of 2 or 3: students will interview a bushfire survivor and pose questions to
Curriculum: Through deepen their understanding of how their individuals, families and communities
this lesson, children will dealt with and recover from a traumatic event.
be able to identify the o Students could pose questions such as:
roles and actions that Did you have a fire survival plan?
individuals and families Was it easy to implement the fire survival plan?
take in the community Post the bushfire raging through your community, how did you and
after a traumatic event your family/community recover from this event?
 (ACARA, 2015a). Did you lose anything from this traumatic event?

Consolidation, practice, extension 20 mins
Post to students interviewing the bushfire survivor, students can present their

interview on a poster, PowerPoint, or written response.

o Within this, students can use photographs, or objects (primary resources)


as well as maps to indicate where the fires ravaged through.

Closure 15 mins
To conclude, students will come together to present what they had found out from
their interview.
o To facilitate the discussion educators can pose questions such as:
What did you find was the most interesting part of interviewing a
bushfire survivor?
Adapted from the teaching and How did they recover from the traumatic event?
learning strategies (n.d).
Does the impact of bushfires still affect them now?
Taking Action Think-pair- Lesson Six Rebuilding communities affected by major bushfires Summative assessment
share At the end of this unit,
Introduction 5 mins children will be able to
Learning intention: Prior to this lesson, children will brainstorm on how communities can work provide a summary in a
Links the Australian together to recover from the impact of bushfires. whole class discussion on
curriculum: students will o Educators will direct the discussion around this question: how they can prepare for,
be able to identify why How do people come to terms with their experiences after a respond to and recover
people work together to traumatic event? from bushfires (Reynolds,
rebuild their community 2014).
(ACARA, 2015a). Development 15 mins

To explore the importance of rebuilding, educators will pose children a question
and ask them to think about their response.
o What do people need to rebuild their lives and restore hope?
After giving students thinking time, students are to form pairs with another

student and share their ideas (think-pair-share).


Whilst children share their ideas with others, educators can facilitate questions
such as:
 o How could we help communities to rebuild their lives?
o What supplies can we provide for those who have been impacted by
bushfires?
For example, food or building materials.



Consolidation, practice, extension 35 mins

Groups of 5: children will work together to create and plan a fundraising campaign
to help raise funds for communities that have been affected by bushfires.
o Working collaboratively, children can create a blog, poster, or brochure to
promote their campaign.
o Children will also need to provide ways that individual, families and
communities can work together to prepare for, respond to and recover
from bushfires (ACARA, 2015b).


Closure 10 mins

To conclude, students will share their blog, poster or brochure to the class. To help

assimilate their presentation, educators can pose questions such as:
o How can individuals, families and communities prepare for bushfires?
o How can they recover from them?
Adapted from the teaching and o Within your campaign, how can you assist with rebuilding communities that
learning strategies (n.d). have been impacted by bushfires?