HASS

develop your understanding that bushfires and floods are relatively common occurrences in Australia, varying in frequency, severity, duration and location and that they impact on the environment, people, communities and wildlife.

Success Criteria

You will demonstrate your learning when you…

map and explain the location, frequency, duration and severity of bushfires and flooding in Australia
investigate the impact of bushfires and floods on environments and communities, and how people can respond
explain the impacts of fire on Australian vegetation and the significance of fire damage on communities
research how the application of principles of prevention, mitigation and preparedness minimises the harmful effects of bushfires and flooding.

Evidence of Learning

Your learning will be evidenced by the following:

Completion of a multiple choice ‘Quiz’
Information reports on the 2010/11 Queensland floods and the Black Friday Bushfire.
Development of a bushfire plan.
Development of a scripted News Report, recorded in iMovie (TBC)

General Capabilities and Cross Curriculum Priorities:

Literacy
Numeracy
Information and communication technology
Critical and creative thinking
Personal and social capability
Intercultural understanding
Ethical understanding

Lesson sequence

Lesson 1: Bushfires in Australia

Australia is a continent. It generally has a hot, dry climate and, because of this, it is prone to drought and bushfires. Bushfires occur frequently and are often severe. Firefighters respond to approximately 55 000 bushfires each summer.

Have you seen or heard anything about bushfires over the past few weeks?

A bushfire is ‘an uncontrollable burn that can destroy vast areas of forest, scrub, or grassland’. It can often be very difficult to find out the exact cause of a bushfire. It can be caused by natural events (e.g. lightning strikes or spot fires) or human intervention (e.g. burning off, arson, sparks from a power line or accidents).

Watch this episode of Behind The News. It was on TV in September 2019, around the beginning of our Term 4 last year.

https://www.abc.net.au › btn › classroom › bushfire-season

Here are some questions to think about as you watch the video for a second time. Use your notepad to write down your answers.

1.In which part of Australia were there bushfires burning in this video?

How would you describe the bushfires?
Approximately how many bushfires were burning at that time?
What is different about this year’s bushfires?
Much of NSW and QLD has had an above average amount of rain this year. True or false?
How does climate change affect events like bushfires?
Which typically cold countries have had bushfires this year?
What is the name of the bushfires that devastated Strathewen in 2009?
What is a ‘Bushfire Plan?’

Lesson 2: the high cost of bushfires

Huge impact on the environment and local community
Bushland, grassland, livestock killed or injured, native fauna destroyed, house and buildings, humans suffer injury or lose their lives.
Between 1851 and 2009 approx 800 deaths and injuries to 10000
Fires affected over 1million people, cost to economy approx. $1.6 billion.
Flow on effects to environment, water supplies, loss of local businesses, insurance etc
Composite satellite map showing areas burnt>
http://home.iprimus.com.au/foo7/fireall.html>
Reach conclusions about location and frequency of areas burnt
Explain why you think people still choose to live in bushfire-prone regions of Australia.

Lesson 3: Floods in Australia

Floods occur when normally-dry land is covered by a large overflow of water
Excess water from heavy rain can’t be contained by natural watercourses (lakes, rivers, creeks) or constructed water storages (reservoirs, canals, dams)
Most common cause is heavy rainfall
Also natural blockages at river mouths cause flooding of estuaries and coastal lake systems
Also caused by tropical cyclones, high tides, tsunamis, dam failure triggered by earthquakes (rare)
Slow onset floods
Rapid onset floods
Flash floods
Can damage property
Can provide drought relief, can have some positive benefits

Lesson 4: The high cost of floods

Floods have a huge impact on the environment and local community in which they occur.

Floods cost the Aust economy between $300-400 million every year in damages to buildings, infrastructure eg railway lines, roads, agriculture, crops, business disruptions.

Monetary costs 1852 – 2011 $4.5 billion
Deaths around 950, injured over 1300
http://www.bom.gov.au/australia/flood/> to find rainfall and river levels in Australia
Write the type of flooding conditions that are prevalent at the current time, write the type of flood conditions expected for your closest river.
Look for regions that may be expecting major or moderate flooding.

Lesson 5: Guest speaker/ volunteer firefighter/ Nick Watson

Content TBC

Lesson 6: The worst bushfires and floods

Use a map of Australia to locate and date five of the worst bushfires and five of the worst floods in Australia’s history.
Make comparisons / draw parallels between environmental impacts and human/financial costs
Combating bushfires and floods
Combating bushfires, prevention, mitigation, hazard reduction, preparation
Combating floods, prevention, regulating urban development, mitigation, preparation.
Assessment part 1: Completion of a multiple choice ‘Quiz’

Lesson 7 / Assessment

Prepare short information reports about the 2010/2011 Qld Floods and the 2009 Black Saturday Bushfire in Victoria.

Work with a partner to research the topics and gather information
use dot points to organise your information
develop sentences and paragraphs.
include the causes (weather events /human eg arson/ accidental/ lightning strikes etc) and impacts (fatalities/ environmental/economic/financial/social, etc) of bushfires and floods in Australia.

Use kids.kiddle.co. >>>>>>>>>>> 2010-2011 Queensland floods facts for kids,

and

kids.kiddle.co. >>>>>> 2009 Victorian bushfires facts for kids

(these are often called The Black Saturday Bushfires)

This btn video is also useful:

https://www.abc.net.au/btn/classroom/bushfire-disaster/10539788

Remember the following headings when you are organising your information……

Causes

Impacts