Oz-e-science

Earth and Space Comprehensive Year 6
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Teaching resources

Lessons
Teaching Guide
Student Workbook

Extra resources

Classroom posters
Element Club Handbook
Overview
Earth and Space Comprehensive: Year 6 is an Earth and Space Sciences curriculum program for Year 6 students. It aligns to the Australian Curriculum Science Understanding:
  • Sudden geological changes and extreme weather events can affect Earth’s surface (ACSSU096).

Note: This curriculum program is currently being updated to align with the Australian Curriculum 9.0, updated versions will be released in early 2023. 
Learning Objectives
In Lessons 1 to 15, students learn about:
  1. Tectonic plates and their role in changing the Earth’s surface.
  2. How mountain ranges and trenches are formed.
  3. The formation of volcanoes.
  4. The different types of volcanoes.
  5. Earthquakes and where they occur.
  6. Tsunamis and how they affect the Earth’s surface.
  7. How to predict and track volcanic activities that have affected the Earth’s surface.
  8. Examples and causes of extreme weather events and their effects on the Earth’s surface.
  9. Cyclones and how they affect the Earth’s surface.
  10. Floods and how they affect the Earth’s surface.
  11. Bushfires and how they affect the Earth’s surface.
  12. Droughts and how they affect the Earth’s surface.
  13. How extreme weather affects humans.
  14. Conducting research and create a presentation to share findings.
  15. Communicating the findings from their investigation.  
Success Criteria 
  • Describe Earth’s tectonic plates.
  • Explain what happens at plate boundaries.
  • Identify a plat boundary as convergent, divergent or transform.
  • Describe how mountain ranges form at convergent plate boundaries.
  • Explain how tranches form at oceanic plate boundaries.
  • Explain how volcanoes form.
  • Describe the basic structure of a volcano.
  • Explain how volcanoes affect the earth’s surface.
  • Observe how viscosity of a volcano’s lava affects its shape.
  • Classify the different types of volcanoes.
  • Identify signs that a volcano is about to erupt.
  • Explain how volcanoes affect the Earth’s surface.
  • Analyse data to determine volcanic activity.
  • Describe earthquakes form.
  • Explain how earthquakes affect the Earth’s surface.
  • Sequence the progression of an earthquake.
  • Describe how tsunamis form.
  • Explain how tsunamis affect the Earth’s surface.
  • Represent how different natural events result in tsunamis.
  • Predict the activity of a chosen volcano.
  • Record information on a chosen volcano.
  • Identify where weather activities occur in the atmosphere.
  • Explain what extreme weather conditions means.
  • Classify extreme weather conditions.
  • Explain how tropical cyclones are formed.
  • Describe the formation of a tropical cyclone.
  • Classify different types of tropical cyclones.
  • Describe the different types of floods that occur.
  • Explain how floods affect the Earth’s surface.
  • Research how rainfall might affect floods in the local community.
  • Describe how Australian trees affect bushfires.
  • Explain how climate change affect the intensity of bushfires.
  • Report on plant life after bushfires.
  • Describe how droughts occur.
  • Explain how droughts affect the Earth’s surface.
  • Predict how droughts can affect animals in the community.
  • Explain how extreme weather affects humans.
  • Identify ways to play a part.
  • Research information on a chosen volcano.
  • Record findings about the chosen volcano.
  • Plan a presentation.
  • Communicate the findings of the presentation.  
Assessment 
Progress tests
Progress tests are conducted after every second lesson, allowing teachers to monitor student understanding of the concepts taught over the past two lessons and to identify where reteaching is needed.  The Teaching Guide contains the testing questions, and the Student Workbook has a section where students write their answers and score themselves.

Structured Research Activity
The Structured Research Activity (SRA) for this unit is: Students investigate volcano formation and present their findings to the class.  The SRA takes place over two lessons so students can apply the Science Understanding and Science Inquiry Skills covered in the unit.  Teachers use the Guide to Making Judgements, which is included in the Teaching Guide, to mark the SRA.

End-of-unit assessment
The last lesson is the end-of-unit assessment, which has a variety of question formats (e.g. label the diagram, circle the correct answer) to assess student mastery of content from the unit.  The end-of-unit assessment is in the Teaching Guide. Teachers copy the assessment and distribute to students at testing time. 
Explicit Instruction For Science 
Oz-e-science uses a teaching approach and curriculum that uses explicit teaching of content knowledge of science and explicit teaching and practical scientific inquiry using the Scientific Method. Read more about pedagogy here.  

Lesson Objectives

Success Criteria

I Do

We Do

You Do

Edit: Peer Feedback

Effective Feedback

Reflect

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