Girl, 10, used geography lesson to save lives

(Filed: 01/01/2005)

Patong Beach, Thailand

1. Tilly Smith, from Oxshott, Surrey, was holidaying with her parents and seven-year-old sister on Maikhao beach in
Phuket, Thailand, when the tide rushed out.

2. As the other tourists watched in amazement, the water began to bubble and the boats on the horizon started to
violently bob up and down.

3. Tilly, who had studied tsunamis in a geography class two weeks earlier, quickly realised they were in danger.

4. She told her mother they had to get off the beach immediately and warned that it could be a tsunami.

5. She explained she had just completed a school project on the big waves and said they were seeing the warning
signs that a tsunami was minutes away.

6. Her parents alerted the other holidaymakers and staff at their hotel, which was quickly evacuated. The wave
crashed a few minutes later, but no one on the beach was killed or seriously injured.

7. In an interview with the Sun, Tilly gave the credit to her geography teacher, Andrew Kearney, at Oxshott's Danes
Hill Prep School.

8. She said "Last term Mr Kearney taught us about earthquakes and how they can cause tsunamis.

9. "I was on the beach and the water started to go strange. There were bubbles and the tide went out all of a
sudden.

10. "I recognised what was happening and had a feeling there was going to be a tsunami."
http://www.ummah.com/forum/showthread.php?48429-Tsunami-British-Girl-10-used-geography-lesson-to-save-
hundreds-of-lives

Before reading:

T asks sts about the characteristics of the text. “Look at the text. What kind
of text is it? Is it taken from a newspaper, internet, poem or a novel? EA:
“From the internet.” T says: “OK. That’s it. Look at the picture now. Does the
picture help to understand the text information?” EA:”Yes.” “What is the text
about?”EA: “A girl and a tsunami.” T says: “OK. What’s the girl’s name?
Where’s she from? How old is she? Is she on holiday? Where? When?” T
writes on BB the sts’ answers. “Tilly Smith. 10 years old. She’s from the UK.
She’s on holiday in Asia.” T makes a simple diagram on BB.

10 years old from U.K.

Tilly Smith

with family on holiday in Asia

During reading:

T reads the first and second paragraphs and asks “Where is Tilly from?
Where is she now? Is she alone?” EA: “No, está con su flia.”T adds new
information in the diagram (with family): “Now read paragraph 3. Where
did Tilly know about tsunamis? Now read paragraph 4. What did she tell her
mother to do?” EA “Que se vayan” T says: “Yes, she tells them to get off the
beach or evacuate” and shows the picture on BB. Now read paragraph 8.
What did her Geography teacher explain in class? Is there another disaster
related to tsunamis? EA: “Terremotos” T says: “That’s right! Can you
understand the text without reading all the paragraphs?” EA: “Yes.” T says:
“OK. Now we are going to read the whole texts and you are going to identify
and underline all the vocabulary related to tsunamis. Find nouns and verbs”
While sts identify words in the text, T writes them on BB. T draws the
following table.
Tsunami
Nouns Verbs
Beach – tide – big waves – rushed out – bubble – get off –
earthquake – bubbles crashed – went out

After reading:

Sts do the following activities

1) Match the sentences to the pictures

a) The tide rushed out and the water began to bubble.

b) She realised they were in danger and her dad told the security guard
about it.

c) Tilly Smith and her family were on the beach full of tourists

d) The wave crashed a few minutes later, but no one on the beach was killed
or seriously injured.

e) All the tourists started to get off the beach and the hotel.

2) Tick ( ) the correct sentences or Cross (X) the wrong ones.

a) Tilly and her family were holidaying in Africa.

b) The water began to bubble and the boats on the horizon started to bob up
and down.

c) Tilly didn’t realise they were in danger.

d) Her parents alerted the tourists and staff at the hotel, and immediately
evacuated the place.

f) The wave crashed a few minutes later, and there were many people killed
or seriously injured.

g) Her Geography teacher taught her about earthquakes and how they
caused tsunamis.

3) Complete the summary with the following words.

beach – tide – big waves – bubble – earthquakes – get off – crashed

On December 26th, Tilly and her family were on the _________________

She noticed that the _________________ rushed out and the water began

to _________________ She learned about _________________ and

_________________ at school and she knew they were in danger. Her
parents alerted the tourists and they had to _________________ the place
immediately. The wave _________________ a few minutes later, but
nobody was killed or seriously injured.

4) The students will match Telly’s answers to the questions in the following
interview and then they will role play it in pairs.

Tilly: Hi. I’m Tilly Smith.

Reporter: Hi, Tilly. How are you?

Tilly: Fine, thanks

Reporter: Are you from Australia, Tilly?

Tilly: ______________________________________

Reporter: How old are you Tilly?

Tilly: ______________________________________

Reporter: Tell me, Tilly. How did you realise that a tsunami was coming?

Tilly: ______________________________________

Reporter: What was the first thing that called your attention?

Tilly: ______________________________________

Reporter: What did you do after that?

Tilly: ______________________________________

Reporter: Luckily nobody was killed or injured.

Tilly: ______________________________________

Reporter: Right! And you know that you’re called “The Angel of the Beach”.

Tilly: ______________________________________

Reporter: Yes, you’re right!

Telly’s answers

 Well, I told my dad. He told the security guards and they evacuated the
beach and the hotel.
 I learned about tsunamis in my Geography lesson at school.

 I’m ten.

 Yes, but we have to thank my Geography teacher, too.

 The water started to bubble and the sea was really strange!

 No, I’m from The United Kingdom.

 Yes, because they believed me.