Three-Week Unit Of Work
Created by Holly Wilford – 2014
This unit of work has been created to suit a
grade 5 classroom. Some tasks have been
alerted slightly to suit each student’s
individual learning needs. The unit covers
the AusVELS domain of ‘The Humanities –
Geography’. Some of the lessons contained
in this three-week unit of work cover other
AusVELS domains such as ‘Communication’,
‘Design, creativity and technology’, ‘English’, ‘History’,
‘Information and communication’s technology’, ‘Interpersonal
development’, ‘Science’ and ‘Thinking processes’.
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Week 1
Lesson 1
Title: Cyclone Introduction
Time: 45 minutes
Lesson outcomes/what students will understand at conclusion of lesson:
 What cyclones are
 Why cyclones form
 Cyclones can be predicted
 The name of the scientist that studies cyclones
 Where and when cyclones usually occur
Resources:
o I.W.B
o PowerPoint presentation on cyclones
o Text: Cyclone Science
o Enabling prompt text: Cyclone Science
o Writing books
o Pens
Lesson 2
Lesson content:
I. Introduction:
o Class discussion on cyclones
o Discussion on what students already know
II.
Development/practice:
o Students watch the short video on cyclones & discuss the main points.
o Students read the text ‘Cyclone Science’ and answer the questions.
III.
Closure:
o Students share with the class something interesting they learnt today about cyclones.
Assessment:
 Collecting work samples
Title: Cyclones – Multimedia text
Time: 45 minutes
Lesson outcomes/what students will understand at conclusion of lesson:
 Gathering information from the multimedia text about cyclone Larry and Tracy.
Resources:
 IWB
 White board – to display questions
 Cyclone Tracy: YouTube. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJq2fcp_otA
 Cyclone Larry & explanation of what cyclones are: Retrieved from:
http://www.abc.net.au/btn/story/s1594051.htm
2
Lesson 3
Lesson content:
I. Introduction:
o Revisit, and correct answers from ‘Cyclone Science’ questions.
II.
Development/practice:
o Students watch the 2 multimedia texts on the I.W.B about cyclone Larry and Tracy.
o Students think pair and share the main ideas discussed in the text.
III.
Closure:
o Each student must state one fact they had learnt about cyclones that they did not know
before.
Assessment:
 General discussion
Title: Cyclone in a Jar, Science Experiment
Time: 45 minutes
Lesson outcomes/what students will understand at conclusion of lesson:
 Follow the simple steps of creating their own cyclone in a jar.
 Write a procedure of what they did in their science experiment.
Resources:






7 jars with lids.
Dishwashing liquid - teaspoons
Glitter
Water – cups
Pens
Writing books
Lesson content:
I. Introduction:
o Discussion on: What cyclones look like, what causes cyclones and names of historical
cyclones from the previous lesson.
II.
Development/practice
o Students create a cyclone in a jar following these steps:
STEP 1: Make sure you have all ingredients: A jar with a lid, a teaspoon of dishwashing liquid, a
teaspoon of glitter.
STEP 2: Fill your jar so it is almost full/up to the rim.
STEP 3: Add one teaspoon of dishwashing liquid.
STEP 4: Add one tablespoon of glitter
STEP 5: Screw the lid back onto the jar tightly. Shake it so the dishwashing liquid is soapy at the
top.
STEP 6: Holding the top of the jar with one hand, twirl the jar in a circular motion to see your
cyclone.
 Students may need to try a few times at twirling their jar to notice their cyclone.
 Students are to sit at their tables and to work in groups of 4-6.
Students individually write up a re-count of their experiment.
III.
Closure:
o Discuss as a class if the experiment worked, and what students would change if they were
going to do the experiment again, and why.
3
Lesson 4
Title: Cyclone/Hurricane PowerPoints drafts
Time: 60 minutes
Lesson outcomes/what students will understand at conclusion of lesson:
 Students will work in mixed ability pairs to research information about cyclones.
Resources:
 Laptops
 Pens
 Draft books
 Natural disasters book
 Natural disasters question sheet
Lesson content:
I. Introduction:
o Divide students into mixed ability pairs.
o Discuss the content students are to cover about cyclones.
II.
Development/practice:
o Students work in pairs to research and gather information to type onto their PowerPoint’s
III.
Closure:
o Class discussion on new information about cyclones/hurricanes.
Week 2
Lesson 5, Title: Cyclone/Hurricane PowerPoint’s drafts/Typing
6, 7
Time: 3 hours
Lesson outcomes/what students will understand at conclusion of lesson:
 Students will work in mixed ability pairs to research information about cyclones.
Resources:
 Laptops
 Pens
 Draft books
 Natural disasters book
 Natural disasters question sheet
Lesson content:
IV. Introduction:
o Students get into their groups.
V. Development/practice:
o Students start typing onto their PowerPoint’s.
VI. Closure:
o Students print off their PowerPoint’s, once being proof read by a teacher.
4
Lesson 8
Title: Cyclone Story – planning
Time: 60 minutes
Lesson outcomes/what students will understand at conclusion of lesson:
o Students will be able to use descriptive words within their sentences.
Resources:
o I.W.B
o White board markers
o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOIvkGpjxD0
o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNApwn5lsUo
o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmIehzo9R4s
Lesson content:
I. Introduction:
o Explain to students that they will be watching a video about cyclones, and people that are
preparing to evacuate.
o Students must think of WOW words that describe how the people may be feeling.
II.
Development/practice:
o After watching the video, students discuss in small groups some of the WOW words that
describe how the people may be feelings, and also describing words for some of the
weather conditions of the cyclone.
III.
Closure:
o Create a WOW word wall and divide it in half.
o One half- display feelings
o Second half – display conditions
o Ask for students to contribute to the word wall, whilst the teacher writes them on the white
board.
Lesson 9, Title: Cyclone Story - draft
10.
Time: 2 hours approximately
Lesson outcomes/what students will understand at conclusion of lesson:
 Students will be able to use descriptive words within their story.
Resources:
 Pens
 Big write books
 Lined paper
Lesson content:
IV. Introduction:
o Students write down the key information they want to include in their stories in the form of
a mind map.
V. Development/practice:
o Students commence writing their draft.
VI. Closure:
o Teacher reads some examples of student work to give students that may be struggling some
ideas.
5
Lesson
11, 12,
13
Title: Cyclone Story - Typing
Time: 2-3 hours approximately
Lesson outcomes/what students will understand at conclusion of lesson:
 Students will be able to use descriptive words within their story.
Resources:
 Writing drafts
 Laptop/computer
 Printer/printing paper
Lesson content:
VII. Introduction:
o After teacher corrects writing draft, students are able to start typing their second draft.
VIII.
Development/practice:
o Students are able to print their second draft and get it proof read by a teacher.
IX. Closure:
o Students change any corrections made by their teacher.
o Students add a heading and a picture and print their final story.
Week 3
Lesson 14
Title: Introduction to Floods
Time: 45 minutes
Lesson outcomes/what students will understand at conclusion of lesson:
 Students will be able to gather the main ideas from the multimedia text.
Resources:
 I.W.B.
 PowerPoint Presentation: Picture Chat.
 Video 1: http://www.abc.net.au/btn/story/s2488875.htm
 Video 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k7ap96CPJk
Lesson content:
X. Introduction:
o Picture Chat discuss:
Pose questions:
1. What do you think is happening?
2. How do you think the people are feeling?
3. Are the people/animals safe?
What country do you think this flood occurred in?
XI. Development/practice:
o Students commence watching the two videos on floods.
o Think-pair-share, then in small groups of 4.
XII.
Closure:
o One student from each group discusses the main points of the text to the class
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Lesson 15,
16
Title: Cyclone/Hurricane Presentations
Time: 2 hours approximately
Lesson outcomes/what students will understand at conclusion of lesson:
 Students will be able to work in pairs to present their PowerPoint’s to the class
Resources:
 I.W.B
 Students PowerPoint’s saved onto the system
Lesson content:
XIII.
Introduction:
o Students introduce their topic
XIV. Development/practice:
o Students commence presenting the information, pictures and maps they had found
together.
XV. Closure:
o The audience (students) are able to ask the presenters 3 questions about the topic they
studied.
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