Tiered unit (Differentiated by Readiness)

Name and student number: Ryan Hall 2045296

Unit Overview Climate Change 4 weeks
Curriculum Area
Geography
Year level 10
Content
Climate Change
Descriptor
Learner

Broad range of students, varied levels of literacy from very low

differences/disab

literacy skills to some students with very high levels of literacy.

ilities in your
class
Achievement
standard ACARA

The human-induced environmental changes that

challenge sustainability(ACHGK070)

or SACE
objective
(only put in the

Evaluate sources for their reliability, bias and usefulness and represent multi-

relevant part of

variable data in a range of appropriate forms, for example, scatter plots,

the standard for

tables, field sketches and annotated diagrams with and without the use of

your Learning

digital and spatial technologies (ACHGS074)

objective)

Present findings, arguments and explanations in a range of appropriate

communication forms selected for their effectiveness and to suit audience and
purpose, using relevant geographical terminology and digital technologies as
appropriate (ACHGS079)

Reflect on and evaluate the findings of the inquiry to propose individual and
collective action in response to a contemporary geographical challenge, taking
account of environmental, economic and social considerations; and explain

Learning

the predicted outcomes and consequences of their proposal (ACHGS080)

Students will understand that Humans have an impact on the

objectives

environment they live in; what this impact is and how this

know, understand

contributes to climate change and global warming. Not all opinions

and do

are reliable and the reasons why, and what they as citizens can do
to minimize these impacts for a sustainable future.

Students will know What climate change is and how this directly
relates to global warming. How humans have contributed to this
climate change. Strategies to help manage a sustainable
environment.

Students will be able to Research and Evaluate reliable and non

reliable sources, investigate and research through learning critical
reading skills. Articulate a coherent argument and be able to link
this with reliable evidence.
Essential

How do we as humans effect the environment we live in?

Questions

What are the consequences of this?

open ended - the

What can we do about it?

Big Idea
Pre-Assessment

The pre-assessment will help to differentiate by readiness in two

Readiness Task

ways, firstly gaining an understanding of students prior knowledge

attached as

on the subject. And secondly gauging the reading and

Appendices

comprehension ability of the students.

This will give the teacher the tools to appropriately challenge each
student by understanding the level of difficulty of the text used and
also the students interests and prior knowledge around the subject.
Overview of unit
lesson 1

Introduction/Pre-assessment

(Double Lesson)
lesson 2
What is critical reading?
lesson 3
Differing opinions 1
lesson 4

(Double Lesson)
lesson 5
lesson 6

Differing opinions 2 (Formative assessment)

How am I contributing to this problem? What can I do about it?
Topic assessment/ Summary

Curriculum Area
Learning objective

Lesson Plan- lesson 4

Geography
Year Level 10
Students will understand that not all opinions and sources are

(from Unit

accurate and what it is that makes these opinions/arguments

Overview) for this

valid or not.

particular lesson
Students will know further information about climate change

Students will be able to critically read/view a source, research a

Essential questions

source relevant to the topic

How reliable are some opinions around climate change and

for this lesson

global warming? What is it that makes these opinions/facts

reliable or not reliable?

Lesson number from

Lesson 4 of 6 (FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT)

unit plan sequence

Suggested content

lesson: 100 mins (DOUBLE)

1 whole class: Re-cap on the previous lesson where the
teacher demonstrated how to critically read two differing
opinions in regard to climate change and global warming.

or outline of lesson

Length of

Using the information

2
from your preassessment task
design a lesson based

activity, introduce the tiers:

Tier 1: High readiness. Students in this group will be
prompted to research and find two case studies to critically
read and answer attached questions.
Tier 2: Medium readiness. Students will be prompted to
research and find two newspaper/Journal/magazine articles
to critically read and answer attached questions

on different levels of
readiness.

Tier 3: Low readiness. Students to be prompted to find two

videos to critically analyse and answer attached questions.
(Teacher guided research)
Readiness tasks to be
attached as

WORK CAN BE HANDED IN THE FOLLOWING LESSON

appendices.
3

whole class debrief: Brief summary of what we have

achieved during the last two lessons. Instruction in regard
to the exit card (See below)

Check for

On leaving the class students are to write down one important

understanding

point they took from the lesson and any unanswered questions

Visual, verbal,

they may have around the subject matter.

Smart board or computers to show the visual text for the third

tactile and

tier students. Lesson will be held in the Library.

technological
supports
Instructional

Instruction on critical reading has been given in the previous

approaches

lesson. Firstly guide the students through today's learning

i.e teacher directed,

objectives. Be available to help students with the research of

strategy instruction

the sources they require.

Resources or
supplementary
materials
Classroom
environment

Lesson to be held in the Library

what have you had

to change to meet
student needs
Lesson reflections

What worked? What didnt? Why/Why not? What could I change

(to be done on

next time?

completion of lesson in
professional exp.)

Explanatory notes
How have you linked the theory of differentiation to your lesson
unit and plan? Use the readings to support your answer.
I have linked the theory of differentiation to this lesson plan but making
sure that I am catering for different levels of readiness (See below). This
will give all my student the opportunity to reach the same learning
outcomes or show at least some progress in their understandings.
Tomlinson explains that differentiated classrooms provide 'different
avenues to acquiring content, to processing or making sense of ideas, and
to developing products so that each student can learn effectively'1 Jarvis
also states that 'Effective teachers design opportunities for learners to
build on prior knowledge and to advance their skills and competencies. 2

How are you catering for the varying levels of readiness? Attach
your activities as appendices.
I am catering for readiness, by varying the difficulty of the texts used
throughout the lesson. In the end each tier group should achieve the same
learning outcome for the lesson but reach this in different ways according
to the information collected in the pre-assessment at the start of the unit.
The first tier (High readiness) will be asked to research two quiet complex
case studies to critically read and answer questions. This group has quiet
high literacy levels as the main indicator of readiness, hence using a more
challenging text to analyse and the form in which they answer the
questions provided.
The second tier (Medium readiness) will be asked to research two news
articles to critically read and answer the attached questions. These
questions have more scaffolding and structure from the teacher, as well
as more options in regard to the form in which they answer the questions,
but still apply the correct level of challenge for the students.

1 Jarvis, J. M. (2013). Differentiating learning experiences for diverse students. In P. Hudson

(Ed.), Learning to teach in the primary school pg 56 Port Melbourne, Vic.: Cambridge
University Press.

2 Jarvis, J. M. (2013). Differentiating learning experiences for diverse students pg 57

The third tier (Low readiness) will be asked to research two videos to
critically analyse and answer the attached questions. These questions will
have quite a lot of scaffolding and support from the teacher throughout
the lesson. It also has much more flexibility in regard to how the students
respond to the questions, this is due to the lower literacy levels and the
lack of previous knowledge on the topic.

PRE-ASSESMENT

1ANTARCTICA'S ICE SHELVES

ARE THINNING FAST
by Becky Oskin, Senior Writer | March 27, 2015
Antarctica's floating ice collar is quickly disappearing in the west, a new study reports.
In the Bellingshausen and Amundsen seas two of West Antarctica's melting hotspots
some ice shelves lost 18 percent of their thickness in the past decade, researchers said. The
most dramatic shrinkage occurred in the Bellingshausen Sea's Venable Ice Shelf, which lost
ice at an average rate of 118 feet (36 meters) per decade in the past 18 years. At that rate,
the entire ice shelf could disappear within a century, said lead study author Fernando Paolo,
a graduate student at the University of California, San Diego.
"Some of the ice shelves have persisted for thousands of years, but they can potentially
disappear in hundreds of years," Paolo told Live Science.
Ice shelves are large, flat pieces of ice attached to glaciers. They form where glaciers flow
into the ocean and float long, tongue like extensions on the ocean. Ice shelves help anchor
glaciers by holding back the streaming ice.
On their own, the ice shelves don't add to sea level rise when they melt. But the collapse of
an ice shelf allows the glacier that it was holding back to speed up, dropping more ice into
the ocean and accelerating sea level rise.
Previous work in Antarctica has showed that many ice shelves around the continent are
thinning, but the new study is the first to take a comprehensive look at the giant ice patches
over time. Paolo assembled an 18-year record of ice changes from three European Space
Agency satellites that flew from 1991 to 2012.

Overall, the ice shelves lost little thickness, or volume, between 1994 and 2003, the study
found just about 6 cubic miles (25 cubic kilometres) per year. Paolo said thinning in West
Antarctica during that period was offset by ice added in East Antarctica.
But that number jumped sharply between 2003 and 2012, with a 70 percent increase in ice
volume loss in West Antarctica, and a small volume loss in East Antarctica. Between 2003
and 2012, West Antarctica lost 74 cubic miles (310 cubic km) of ice every year, the study
reported.

2ANTARCTICA'S ICE SHELVES

ARE THINNING FAST
1) Firstly what do you currently know about climate change and global
warming?

2) Is there any questions you have about climate change or global

warming?

3) What are ice shelves?

4)What is the consequence of Ice shelves collapsing?

5)Why do you think the thinning of these ice shelves jumped sharply
between 2003 and 2012?

CASE STUDY ACTIVITY (TEIR 1)

CLIMATE CHANGE
1) Firstly Summarise the arguments being put forth in the two separate
case studies you have read. (ESSAY FORM)

2) After reading these arguments, what is your opinion of the validity of

the material? Do you agree or disagree with the case studies?

3)Why do you agree or disagree with the arguments? What evidence can
you use to support this?

PLEASE PROVIDE EITHER COPY OF CASE STUDIES OR LINKS TO

THEM

ARTICLE ACTIVITY (TEIR 2)

CLIMATE CHANGE
1) Firstly Summarise the arguments being put forth in the two separate
articles you have read. (ESSAY, DOT POINT FORM OR POWERPOINT
PRESENTATION)

2) After reading these arguments, what is your opinion of the validity of

the material? Do you agree or disagree with the articles?

3) Why do you agree or disagree with the arguments? What evidence can
you use to support this?

PLEASE PROVIDE COPY OF ARTICLES OR LINKS TO THEM

VIDEO ACTIVITY (TEIR 3)

CLIMATE CHANGE
1) Firstly Summarise the arguments being put forth in the two separate
VIDEOS you have watched. (THIS CAN BE DONE IN DOT POINT FORM,
POWERPOINT PRESENTATION, VIDEO PRESENTATION)

2) After viewing these arguments, what is your opinion of the validity of

the material? Do you agree or disagree with the content?

3) Why do you agree or disagree with the arguments? What evidence can
you use to support this?

PLEASE PROVIDE LINKS TO THE VIDEOS YOU HAVE USED