Responding to bushfires
Session: Putting a bushfire survival
plan into action
Responding to bushfires
Middle and Upper Primary (levels 4-6)
Time: 50 minutes (approximately)
Curriculum areas:
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English

Critical and Creative Thinking

Personal and Social Capability
Image: CFA Strategic Communications
Learning intention:
Through exploring a bushfire survival plan and a bushfire scenario, students are guided to understand the need to plan
carefully, respond effectively and with flexibly in a bushfire situation in order to keep people safe.
Suggested resources:
 Poster paper
 Appropriate markers to record on the medium used
 Materials as selected for recording student responses. E.g. workbooks and markers, tablets, recording devices etc.
 Pens, pencils or markers
 Linked resources
Activities
Starting
Revise and remind students about the ideas and learning points covered in the Preparing for bushfires theme,
specifically the Investigating the importance of bushfire survival plans session which details fire survival plans.
Discuss to remind students about:
 What it is a bushfire survival plan?
 Why it is important?
For more information, refer to the CFA's Your Bushfire Plan and Fire Ready Kit which identifies the details required for
bushfire survival plans.
Exploring
Give each student a copy of the McIntosh family bushfire survival plan (available in the ‘Videos/Interactives’ section,
Resources/ Bushfires Education website).
Make explicit to students:
 This is the plan that the McIntosh’s would use on Extreme fire danger days.
© Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority 2015
 The plan was devised by the family featured in the earlier Bushfire survival plans role-play.
 It should not be assumed that the plan is a perfect plan. It may have flaws.
In small groups or as a class, develop an initial opinion of the survival plan:
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

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Does it make sense?
Is it easy for the family to follow?
Are the instructions and steps clear?
What are the plan’s strengths and weaknesses?
Does the plan cover all the necessary elements?
Share responses to arrive at a general evaluation of the plan as a response to a bushfire situation. Reiterate that there is
no single plan that is right for everyone, rather each family needs to plan for their particular situation.
Bringing it together
Applying the bushfire survival plan to a bushfire scenario:
Divide the class into groups and give instructions for students to create their own plan to be put into action.
Explain that each group is now going to apply the bushfire survival plan to a scenario to see how it might work or might
not work in response to a bushfire.
Direct each group to:
 Consider each crisis presented
 Briefly discuss what they would do next
 Answer the three questions contained in the crisis box
Once all groups have completed their responses to all five crises, share feedback of these responses including
suggested changes to make the plan more effective.
Extending
How do plants and animals respond to a bushfire?
Generate ideas about how animals in a forest ecosystem would be affected by a bushfire.
Focus questions:
 How do animals immediately respond to fire?
 How do they behave?
 What options do they have to escape?
For information on regional plants and animals, students should refer to the following linked resources:
 Australian Fauna's alphabetical list of Australian animals
 Fact files on wildlife and plants
Use this research to create an informative poster describing the ways in which plants or animals respond to fire OR the
poster may be focused on the fire survival of a particular animal species.
© VCAA 2015
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