Activity Introduction
Quick summary: Students explore what elements need to be present in the environment in order for a fire to start and keep burning: oxygen, fuel, and heat. They use these elements in combination with maps of Australia as a way of predicting where bushfires are likely to occur. They think creatively to design ways to predict and detect bushfires.
Subjects: HASS Geography.
Year Level: 6.
Teaching Time: 60 minutes.
This lesson is part of the wider unit of work Resilient Australia: Building Resilience To Natural Disasters – Primary.
Related Professional Development: We encourage you to undertake the free PD Course How to teach a unit on fire and flood resilience for tips on how to best deliver this lesson.
If you’re concerned about the challenging nature of these topics, consider the free PD Course How to approach trauma in the classroom for information on how best to support your students.
21st-century skills:
Australian Curriculum Mapping
Content descriptions:
Year 6 HASS Geography:
- Sudden geological changes and extreme weather events can affect Earth’s surface (ACSSU096)
Relevant parts of Year 6 HASS Geography achievement standards: Students propose action in response to a geographical challenge and describe the probable effects of their proposal.
General capabilities: Literacy, Critical and Creative Thinking.
Cross-curriculum priority: Sustainability.
Level of teacher scaffolding: Medium – Facilitate class discussion and explicit learning, support students in independent tasks.
Resources required:
- Blank maps of Australia – one per student
- Coloured pencils or textas
- Device capable of presenting a video to the class
- Individual devices capable of accessing the internet – one per student
- Maps – PowerPoint
- White paper – A4 in size – one per student.
Cool Australia’s curriculum team continually reviews and refines our resources to be in line with changes to the Australian Curriculum.
