LESSON PLANNING

Date: Lesson Title: KLA(s)/Subjects: Year Level(s): Duration of Lesson:

19th October 2017 Natural Disasters: Cyclones Geography Year 5 40 Minutes

Curriculum content and learning context

ACARA Content Descriptors Learning goals for the lesson

Geographical Knowledge and Understanding:
The impact of bushfires or floods on environments and communities, and
how people can respond (ACHGK030)
Elaboration/s:
Researching how the application of principles of prevention, mitigation and
preparedness minimises the harmful effects of bushfires or flooding
During this lesson students will have the opportunity to
demonstrate their ability to:
1. Develop an understanding of the causes of a cyclone
2. Understand how cyclones occur
3. Develop an understanding of the impact of cyclones on people and the
environment
4. Develop an understanding of how best to prepare for a cyclone event

Resources Safe and Supportive Learning Environment

 Kahoot Quiz Students will be exposed to a safe and supportive learning environment by
 Cyclone PowerPoint incorporating activities where students feel comfortable to express their ideas,
 A3 Paper thoughts and opinions, and their views and respected and valued. Students
 Pens/Pencils/Texta’s will be reminded of the classroom rules, and if not obeyed the consequences
 Laptops of these actions. The classroom rules include:
 Cyclone Tracey Clip  Students must keep their hands to themselves at all times
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJq2fcp_otA  Students must always speak appropriately to their teachers and peer
 Cyclone Debbie
http://www.abc.net.au/btn/story/s4645345.htm  Students must not disrupt the classroom or peers with distractive
behaviour at any time
By implementing these dynamics into the classroom, it ensures students feel
safe and supported, and allows them to express themselves in a classroom
where their input is valued.

Time Indicators What the teacher will do
11:40 – 11:50 Lesson Introduction and Engagement
(Whole Class)
Tune In:
T: Okay class, today we are going to be
following on from last week’s lesson about
Tsunami’s, and focus on the natural disaster
of Cyclones. We are going to
 explore the causes of cyclones
 understand how cyclones occur
 develop an understanding of the impact
of a cyclone on people and the
environment
 lastly understand how people prepare
for them
(Establishing curriculum – What we are
learning)
T: Do you know how last week we had a little
class quiz to see what you knew about
Tsunami’s? Well today we’re going to do it a
little bit different, and do a Kahoot to see what
you know about cyclones.
T: Get students to set up the Kahoot
T: Go through answers to the Kahoot quiz with
the students
T: Explain how a cyclone is formed, the
conditions it is formed under and how
cyclones are classified (background
knowledge)
11:50 – 12:10 Lesson Content
T: So, in this lesson we are actually going to
be looking at two cyclones – Cyclone Tracy in
1974 and a more recent cyclone – Cyclone
Debbie this year.
Differentiation Required for
What the students will do
(insert student/s initials)
Lesson Introduction and Engagement Lesson Introduction and Engagement
(Whole Class)
Tune In: Cater to all diverse learners needs by
presenting information in auditory and visual
ways (discussion, questioning and YouTube
clip/s)
Lesson Content
Peer Mentoring Groups
 Group students that are at a low
achieving level, with students who are
achieving highly. This allows for peer
mentoring amongst the groups and
furthers both students learning
Lesson Conclusion
Give students the option to speak when
presenting their information. This allows
students who don’t have much confidence
speaking in class the option to do so or not.
Accommodating Early Finishers:
S: Organise Kahoot  Students can explore the Geoscience
website
S: Complete Kahoot quiz  Students complete one of the two below
a) Create a comic strip of the effects of
a cyclone (must have at least 6
frames)
b) The answer is ‘Cyclone’. Write 8
questions that have this answer
Lesson Content
T: We’re going to be doing something similar
to what we did last week, which was have
some expert groups. But this week, three
groups will be looking at Cyclone Tracy and
the other three will be looking at Cyclone
Debbie. Then we are going to compare them,
and look at the different outcomes of each.

T: Firstly, I am going to show you two clips,

one about Cyclone Tracy and one about
Cyclone Debbie, to give you a little bit of
knowledge.

(Show Clips) S: Watch clips

Cyclone Tracey
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U
Jq2fcp_otA

Cyclone Debbie
http://www.abc.net.au/btn/story/s4645345.htm

T: Alright, so that has got you thinking a little

bit about the different cyclones, now you guys
can have a research for yourself and teach
me, and each other about the different
cyclones.

Go through groups with students:

CYCLONE TRACY vs CYCLONE DEBBIE
Group A: General Information/Effects
 Where/when was it?
 How many kms were the winds?
 What category was it?
 Were there any fatalities?
 What damage was done?
 How many houses were lost?
 Etc.
Group B: Impact on location
 What impact the cyclone have on
people?
 What impact did it have on the
environment?
 How long was the rebuilding process?
 What could have been done to prevent
 this?
Group C: What has been done?
 What prevention measures have been
put in place since this cyclone?
 Were there any prevention measures
before the cyclone?
 How can the town/state be prepared if
this happen again?
 What building standards were in place?

T: So, I’m going to put you in groups now, and S: Get in groups
you can sit wherever you like and all research
your topic.

T: We are going to present our information a

little different to last week. This week, you are
going to be given an A3 piece of paper for
each group, and write a number of dot points
that answer the questions for your group. One
person can be the scribe for each of the
groups, or you can read a dot point each

T: Can you tell me what I’m looking for today S: Outline expectations for themselves
in your group work?

(Establish Expectations)

T: Okay, you guys have 10-15 minutes to do

some research and we are going to come
together at the end. I’ll give you time warnings
as we go.

(Students complete activity) S: Complete research activity

12:10 – 12:20 Lesson Conclusion Lesson Conclusion

(Bring students together)

T: Okay guys, now just sit in your groups at a

table. It doesn’t matter what table

T: Group A, tell us what you found out. S: Share their findings

Group B...
Group C...

T: Go through Cyclone Tracy and Cyclone

Debbie

(Create a class discussion based on the

students’ findings)

T: Compare the two cyclones, and see what

differences we can find

T: Discuss what changed between the two S: Class discussion relating it back to the
cyclones Sunshine Coast
a) Were the building standards higher?
b) Were they better prepared?

(Depending on time left)

T: Pose questions about the Sunshine Coast
being hit with a Cyclone
a) If a cyclone hit the Sunshine Coast
would we be prepared for the
damages?
b) What are our building standards?
c) What emergency procedures do we
have in place?
d) Does your family have an emergency
action plan?

T: Get students to research this and have a

class discussion on the importance of being
prepared etc.

Evidence Gathering and Assessment
 Observations of student participation
and discussion
 Questioning
 Individual and class discussion
 Students findings
 Students work samples – A3 poster
Evidence gathering and Assessment
 Observations of student participation
and discussion
 Questioning
 Individual and class discussion
 Students findings
 Students work samples – A3 poster
Evidence gathering and Assessment
 Observations of student participation
and discussion
 Questioning
 Individual and class discussion
 Students findings
 Students work samples – A3 poster
 Feedback
Evaluation of Learning Goals for the lesson
1. Develop an understanding of the causes of a cyclone
I unfortunately, do not think this learning goal was achieved. I didn’t feel
confident teaching this (which was due to preparation), and therefore
chose to not explain this concept in depth.
2. Understand how cyclones occur
This is the same as the above learning goal.
3. Develop an understanding of the impact of cyclones on people
and the environment
I believe this learning goal was achieved and the students have a
sound understanding of the impacts of cyclones on people and the
environment. They showed their understanding of this when students
presented their findings, and explained the differences in the two
cyclones.
4. Develop an understanding of how best to prepare for a cyclone
event
Unfortunately, I do not believe I achieved this learning goal either – As
we didn’t look much into how to prepare. This would have been an
implementation at the end of the lesson, just as a part of a discussion.
Reflective comment on the lesson
When I first looked back on this lesson, I thought it was an effective lesson that the
students enjoyed and a lot of learning happened. But as I was reflecting on the
learning goals to the left, I realised that although the students enjoyed the lesson and
I managed the class well, I definitely didn’t achieve the learning I set out to in the
beginning. I employed effective classroom management strategies, and think I was
explicit in my instructions but fell short in the actual content. This I believe is due to
planning and organisation. I also forgot to provide my expectations in relation to
students group work, and didn’t give them times to work with. These are just some
areas of improvement. I think the students tried to get away with a lot more this
lesson, as they are getting used to me being a teacher. But I responded well and
employed further classroom management strategies to ensure on-task behaviour.
The Kahoot quiz at the beginning of the lesson was effective as the kids loved it, but
it was little hard to manage their behaviour at this time. I feel like I did considerably
well though. Overall, it was a fun lesson to teach but I just need to make sure I know
my content well enough.

Considerations for future lessons

 Outline expectations for group work
 Clear instructions on how they are going to present their findings
 Dive deeper into how cyclones are formed, and the conditions they are formed in (time management)
 Wrap up the lesson in a little more detail, and go into the Sunshine Coast Region – This all has to do with time management, as I didn’t plan my lesson very well in
relation to time.
Mentor Feedback

Written feedback on original lesson plan