Lesson Plan 3

Week 2
Date: Monday 6th of April 2015

Duration: 60 minutes

Unit: Dynamic earth

Lesson: 3 of 10

Level: Year level 6

Name: Exploring the impacts of tsunamis.

Curriculum
Science understanding
Earth and space sciences
Sudden geological changes or extreme weather conditions can affect Earths surface (ACSSU096).
o Investigating major geological events such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis in
Australia, the Asia region and throughout the world.
o Recognising that earthquakes can cause tsunamis.
Science as a human endeavour
Nature and development of science
Science involves testing predictions by gathering data and using evidence to develop explanations of
events and phenomena (ACSHE098).
o Investigating how knowledge about the effects of using the Earths resources has changed over
time.
o Describing how understanding of the causes and effects of major natural events has changed as
new evidence has become available.
Use and influence of science
Scientific knowledge is used to inform personal and community decisions (ACSHE220).
Considering how personal and community choices influence our use of sustainable sources of energy.
o Investigating how understanding of catastrophic natural events helps in planning for their early
detection and minimising their impact.
o Recognising that science can inform choices about where people live and how they manage
natural disasters.
Science inquiry skills
Planning and conducting
With guidance, plan appropriate investigation methods to answer questions or solve
problems (ACSIS103).
o Following a procedure to design an experimental or field investigation.
o Discussing methods chosen with other students, and refining methods accordingly.
o Considering which investigation methods are most suited to answer a particular question or
solve a problem.
Communicating
Communicate ideas, explanations and processes in a variety of ways, including multi-modal
texts (ACSIS110).
o Discussing the best way to communicate science ideas and what should be considered when
planning a text.
o Using a variety of communication modes, such as reports, explanations, arguments, debates
and procedural accounts, to communicate science ideas
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o Using labelled diagrams, including cross-sectional representations, to communicate ideas and

processes within multi-modal texts.

General capabilities and cross curriculum

General capabilities
Literacy
o Students will represent the information they have gained throughout the lesson in a variety of
different ways throughout the lesson. They will use a digital story board to record their
experiment results as well as a cause and effects table to record understanding of the cause
and effects of a tsunami.
Numeracy
o Throughout this lesson the students will be using their mathematics still to develop a table to
represent mathematical data in the tsunami wave experiment. Students will make a prediction
on the length the wave will travel up the shoreline and then record their results.
ICT
o A variety of digital devices will be utilised throughout the lesson. Students will view educational
videos and will also have the opportunity to use digital technologies for themselves. The
students will create a digital story using photographs from their experiment and display the
information they have gained throughout the experiment.
Cross curriculum
Asia and Australias engagement with Australia
o Throughout the lesson students will also be exposed to the Sumatra tsunami in the Indian
Ocean and how Indonesia and neighbouring countries may help to provide more information
on tsunamis and their impacts.
Sustainability
o During this lesson students will be exposed to the devastation that can be caused by tsunamis,
discussions will be conducted on how we can protect our environment and reduce the impact
of a tsunami.

Lesson Overview
5Es teaching and learning model: Exploring
Lesson plan three has been designed to explore the impacts that tsunamis have when they hit the
shore. Students will conduct a series of three experiments with different shore mediums consisting of
firstly sand, secondly sand and rocks and thirdly sand, rocks and foliage. Students will predict how far
the water will travel up the shore and then will record their data. To extend their knowledge base
students will be introduced to the cause and effects of tsunamis; they will then be required to
complete a cause and effects chart that will display their understanding of the event. This hand on
experience will ensure that students are connecting with the learning outcomes and will provide
students with the tools for lifelong learning in the field of science.

Lesson Objectives
Students will have the ability to:
Knowledge
o Identify that disturbances in water can travel at a great rate and distance across the ocean.
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Comprehension
o Predict what will occur during an experiment and justify decisions scientifically.
Application
o Identify what would occur if a tsunami such as the one in the experiment would hit Australia.
Analysis
o Display the data recorded from the experiment in table format and compare predictions to the
results.
Synthesis
o Produce a story board displaying the sequences of the experiment and explain what impacts
occurred to the three different shore mediums.
Evaluation
o Outline the destruction caused by tsunamis and what we could do to reduce the risk to people
and the environment.

Students Prior Knowledge

Students have prior knowledge in:
o Students are aware that there are a variety of triggers for a tsunami to form.
o Students have the ability to represent data in a table format and identify the importance of
recording data during experiments (ACSIS090).
o Students can make predictions, justify their decisions and suggest improvements to a problem
(ACSIS091).

Assessment
Formative assessment:
o A series of higher order thinking questions will be asked throughout this lesson; this will ensure
that students are challenged in their thinking processes.
o The two graphic organisers (digital photo story and cause and effect chart) will be collected at
the end of the lesson to ensure that students are connecting with the learning outcomes for the
lesson.
o Observations will be also made to ensure that students are engaging with the lesson and
keeping on task.

Inquiry questions
Key inquiry question:
o How far can tsunami waves travel and what are their impacts?

Lesson Structure
Time

Introduction & Motivation

Teaching
Resources

Orientation Phase
10 minutes
10 mins

Engage
Re-enactment of a seismic wave
o To orientate the students to the lesson the students
will re-enactment of a tsunami wave with their bodies.
o To begin a group of four students will be selected and

Dynamic earth unit plan

Resources
o 10 students.

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they will be asked to stand in a line facing their

neighbours back with their hands on their shoulders
and their elbows locked in a straight position.
o The students at the front of the wave will have their
hands in the air.
o The teacher will then push the last students (the back
of the wave).
o The teacher will ask the class the following questions:
1. How far did the force travel down the wave?
2. Do you think that if we add more people into
the wave the front person (front of the wave)
will still be effected?
3. What do you think will happen when we add
four more people?
How far can waves travel
o After the group discussion the teacher will show the
students the beginning of the Sumatra tsunami video
clip.
o The teacher will ask the students how far they think
this tsunami wave will travel.
o This will be left open for the students to change their
opinions by the end of the lesson.
Time

Resources
o Interactive
whiteboard with
access to the
internet.

Main Content

Teaching
Resources

Explore
Tsunami wave tank experiment
o To explore a tsunami wave the students will build a
wave tank that will simulate a tsunami wave.
o The class will be split into three large experiment
groups.
o A total of three experiments will be conducted
throughout this lesson. The purpose being to measure
the how far the wave moves onto the shore.

Resources (per group)

o Digital camera or
IPad.
o 20L plastic
storage
container.
o A plank of wood
25cm x 25cm.
Per group
o 5 litres of water.
o 1kgs of sand.
o 3 cups of rocks.
o 3 cups of small
plants or foliage.
o A lego house.
o Ruler.
o Science journals.

Enhancing Phase
35 minutes
35 mins

o Independent variables:
1. Experiment 1: The shore will consist of sand.
2. Experiment 2: The shore with be made up of
sand and rocks.
3. Experiment 3: The shore will be a combination
of sand, rocks and foliage.

o To begin the students will predict how far the water

will travel up each shore line and draw this in a table in
their science journals.
o The students will then need to add the first shoreline,
the lego house, the plank of wood and water into the
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wave tank.
o They will conduct the experiment by lifting the plank of
wood and pushing it down into the water to create a
wave.
o To measure this, the students will take a series of
photographs when conducting the experiment and
measure the distance that the water came up the
shore with a ruler.
o Following this experiment a variety of question will be
asked.
1. Did the water touch the house in the
experiment?
2. In which experiment did the water have less of
an impact?
Resources (per group)
3. What could we do to reduce the impact of a
tsunami wave? (Building up the shoreline with
o Digital camera or
rocks and foliage will reduce the impact).
IPad.
4. Were any of your results the same as your
o Digital device
predictions?
with access to
PowerPoint.
Explain
Digital photo map
o During the experiments the students will take a series
of three photographs per experiment.
o With the photographs the students will need to create
a digital photo story on PowerPoint
o They will need to explain what happened throughout
each phase with a couple of sentences.
Time

Conclusion

Teaching
Resources

Summarising Phase
15 minutes
15 mins

Elaborate
Tsunami cause an effects
o Students will be shown the tsunami cause and effects
video.
o The teacher will ask several questions relating to the
video played.
1. What does the name tsunami mean?
2. What is a tsunami caused by?
3. How fast can a tsunami travel?
4. Name what effects can tsunami have on people
and the environment?
5. Explain what happens to the water when there
is an (the water is displaced).
6. What happens to the water when a tsunami
hits the land? (The water slows in speed but
builds in height).

Dynamic earth unit plan

Resources
o History
workbooks.
o Laptops with
access to the
Australian
Bureau of
Statistics
website.

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Evaluate
Cause and effect chart
o With prior knowledge from previous lessons and the
information gained in the video the students will be
required to complete the cause and effect chart.
o Students can use words or pictures to represent their
information.
o This will be handed in at the end of the lesson for
checking.

Resources
o Cause and effect
chart (one per
student).

Resources
How far can waves travel
o Interactive
o To summarise the lesson the teacher will show the end
whiteboard with
of the Sumatra tsunami clip. This will show the
access to the
students exactly how far tsunami waves can travel and
internet.
show the devastation that can be caused miles away
from the epicentre.

Differentiation of learning
Blooms Taxonomy:
Throughout the lesson a variety of higher order thinking questions have been formed to extend
students thinking processes. This will allow the teacher to determine if students re connecting with the
learning outcome and the students are being challenged in their understanding of the concepts
(Whitton, et al. 2010).
Collaborative group work:
During the wave tank experiment the students will be split into mixed ability groups. This will ensure
that students of different abilities are supporting each other during the learning process (Marsh 2010).
Multiple Intelligences:
This learning experience has incorporated multiple intelligences through visual, verbal, inter personal,
intrapersonal, kinaesthetic and logical means. Within many phases of the lesson students had the
opportunity to connect with and display their learning outcomes in a method of their choice.
(Woolfolk and Margetts 2010).

Evaluation
o Could students transfer the knowledge gained in the tsunami wave experiment to a real world
scenario?

o Were the students with learning difficulties effectively supported by their peers?
o Did the students enjoy the experiment and representing their data in a digital story board
format?

o Where the question asked effective in extending students higher order thinking?
o What could be improved to keep the students on task throughout the lesson?

Resources
About education. (n.d.). The Sumatra tsunami. Retrieved from
http://weather.about.com/od/educationalmaterials/qt/tsumani_lesson_plans_curriculum.htm
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. (n.d.). Science, year 6. Retrieved from
http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/science/curriculum/f-10?layout=1#level6
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Marsh, Colin. Becoming a teacher: Knowledge, skills and issues. 5th. Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson
Australia, 2010.
Miller, K. (2012). Demonstrating P and S seismic waves. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjRGIpP-Qfw
Study.com. (2015). The causes and effects of a tsunami. Retrieved from
http://study.com/academy/lesson/the-causes-effects-of-a-tsunami.html
Teacher soup. (2015). Cause and effect chart. Retrieved from http://teachersoup.com/attachments/077_Cause_and_Effects_Chart.pdf
Whitton, Diana, Katrina Barker, Mary Nosworthy, Catherine Sinclair, and Phil Nanlohy. Learning for
teaching: Teaching for learning. 2nd. Melbourne, VIC: Cengage Learning Australia Pty Limited,
2010.
Woolfolk, Anita, and Kay Margetts. Educational psychology. 2nd. Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson
Australia, 2010.

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