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Landslides Lesson Plan
The Landslides Lesson Plan provides teachers and students with an opportunity to investigate the elements that contribute to shaping landforms and the effects of landslides.
This lesson challenges students to learn more about landslides by asking them to:
An Assessment Guide for teachers is also included within this lesson plan.
Key Learning Areas
The Key Learning Areas (KLAs) for this lesson plan include:
- Literacy
- Numeracy
- SOSE
- The Arts
- Science
Objectives
The objectives of this lesson plan are to ensure that students are able to:
- understand why landslides occur
- understand how they happen
- understand the impact they can have on people living in the area and the environment
- identify several cases of landslides and its effects.
Please note: This lesson can be modified to incorporate other KLAs and to meet the needs of the students and specific content taught.
Get the Facts
Students should revisit the Landslides – Get the Facts page and the Landslides – In My Backyard? page and pay particular attention to:
- the effects landslides can have on life and the environment
- how they occur and the damages it causes
- the format and tone of articles, focusing on those written about disasters.
Take Time to Investigate!
The following activity will allow students to try and replicate a landslide and analyse it. This activity is best performed in groups.
Activity:
Students will attempt to replicate a landslide using a model. This will be demonstrated to the class and various questions can be answered and discussions generated. This may be difficult for young children to replicate, therefore, they could create the aftermath of the disaster, discussing the causes of this type of landslide, what could be buried under the rubble and a range of other considerations.
You will need to:
- divide the class into groups
- encourage students to brainstorm about their landslide – what will be the cause of their landslide (storms, landfill, erosion) what will be the effects of the disaster if there were homes/buildings involved and environmental impacts
- allow students time to create their models and test them
- ask students to create a series of questions to ask their peers before/after their demonstration (similar to a visual comprehension exercise).
Some materials students will require:
- an open box with the front missing (so the class can see the landslide happening); or a clear box
- dirt
- model homes (made of cardboard or wood), trees (made of toothpicks and cellophane) and other objects that add to the surrounding or that is suitable for the model.
Tip: You may want to line the floor with newspaper or a tarpaulin in case any dirt or water spills on to the floor.
Assessment Guide
Teachers can assess by questioning the class and groups on their models by observing:
- the group working together
- the generation of ideas for the assignment and their creativity
- the quality of the group’s questions and responses to others’ questions
- the participation level and enthusiasm on an individual level.