Lesson Plan 1

Topic: Our Earth: responsible use and re-use of natural resources.

A focus on water.

Title of Lesson: Human interactions with water.

KLA (s): Science and technology- main focus, English- listening, oral and visual literacy and HSIE- human and
environment relationships and interactions.

Outcomes & Indicators

Science and technology
Responding to and posing questions,
Describe physical features of a landscape that have been changed by droughts,
Share observations and ideas of ways water is used in peoples daily lives
Identify actions to care for and use water sustainably.
English
Express feelings in response to texts,
Engage in discussions, using active listening, showing interest, and contributing ideas and questions,
Uses comments or questions to expand on ideas,
HSIE
Identifies ways people depend on the environment,
Identifies ways peoples interactions with the environment changes environments,
Showing interest in environmental issues at local and national levels,
Identifies wise and unwise use of resources.

KSK
Drought: A lack of rain for a prolonged period of time (NDMC, 2014) usually in conjunction with dry and hot
climate resulting in less water contained in dams, rivers etc. This dries the land and reduces water supply to
animals and humans (West, 2014).
Causes of drought: lack of rain, the overuse of water from humans (NDMC, 2014) particularly in low rain times, the
contamination of clean water, making it unusable (West, 2014a), very hot dry climate (West, 2014b).
The effects of drought: raises the cost of meat and vegetables (West, 2014a) as crops and animals have less water
to grow (West, 2014b), creates thirst and famine (in extreme cases), causes bushfires due to dry and humid land
with surrounding vegetation, contaminated water may be drank in desperate times leading to diseases, moving to
other parts of a country or a new country for survival (West, 2014b) and causes water restrictions (West, 2014a),
How rain tanks work: Rain falls from the sky onto your roof, it then tinkles into the gutters on the roof and into
pipes which lead to the rain water tank. The water is stored in the tank until needed (Rainwater Tanks Direct,
2013).
What can you use rain water for: rain water can be used to cook, clean and can be used in the garden. Drinking
rain water should only occur if you have installed a filter system (Rainwater Tanks Direct, 2013).
Resources & Equipment:
IWB- Pictures of drought file
Video- using and storing water on a farm: retrieved from http://splash.abc.net.au/media/-/m/30195
Cameras or iPads (5)
Homework sheet.

Lesson development:
5-7 min: show children a picture of Australian drought on IWB. Ask children what they think the picture is about,
how they feel looking at it etc. Explain the picture is of a drought happening presently in Australia. Ask children
what they know about droughts and the causes.
5 mins: Watch video. It shows a child living on a farm, their experiences of drought and how they use and reuse
water (rain tanks, reusing rain water). Briefly discuss childrens understandings from the video and answer their
questions.
Jessica Thomas
42065607
ECH 430 A3

15-20 mins: Discuss places around the school you might find water and take children on a water hunt to find
these places. Take photographs of the taps, basins etc where water supplies were found.
10 mins: Back in class, in pairs children will discuss their ideas about how to save water at school, thinking about
the pictures we took (about 2-3 mins). As a class we will discuss the childrens ideas and write summaries on the
smartboard.
*Children will be given a homework task from this lesson. They will be required to take photographs or draw
pictures of places they use water at home to bring to class for a future discussion.

Differentiation of learning for individual children:

-Homework task: caters to interests and ability to access resources. Children can borrow supplies.
-To support: working in partnerships with knowledgeable students or those who need extending.
- Learning styles: using oral discussion, visual stimulus, hands on experiences, asking their own questions and some
writing caters to different styles.
- Aboriginal or Torre Strait Islander: focus on learning through oral discussions.
- Extending: write class responses on IWB.

Reference list
Rainwater Tanks Direct. (2013). How Do Water Tanks Work? Retrieved from
http://www.rainwatertanksdirect.com.au/blog/water-tanks/how-do-water-tanks-work
The National Drought Mitigation Center. (2014, October 23). What is Drought? Retrieved from
http://drought.unl.edu/DroughtBasics/WhatisDrought.aspx
Using and storing water on a farm. [Video]. Retrieved October 15, 2014 from
http://splash.abc.net.au/media/-/m/30195
West, L. (2014)a. What is drought? Retrieved from
http://environment.about.com/od/environmentalevents/a/whatisdrought.htm
West, L. (2014)b. What are the Effects of Drought? Retrieved from
http://environment.about.com/od/environmentalevents/a/droughteffects.htm

Reference list for the images you see below

Bare tree in Australian drought [image]. (2013). Retrieved from http://theconversation.com/australia-is-notready-for-the-next-big-dry-12819

Cracked ground [image]. (2014). Retrieved from
http://www.rodneydekker.com/index.php#mi=2&pt=1&pi=10000&s=6&p=1&a=0&at=0
Empty water hole [image]. (2012). Retrieved from http://econews.com.au/news-to-sustain-our-world/unsays-follow-australia-on-drought-policy/
Farmer in drought [image]. (2014). Retrieved from http://seeseeeye.csu.edu.au/eastwest-2014/story/therural-message/

Jessica Thomas
42065607
ECH 430 A3

Jessica Thomas
42065607
ECH 430 A3