Education for Hazards Scheme of Work and Lessons Plans

Age Range: 11-14 (although these plans can be adapted by teachers of younger children!)

Overall Aims: For children and youth to know and understand that they can prepare themselves for hazards and that this knowledge can also be used to help other children and youth prepare.

Curriculum Links: Strong links with geography, science and citizenship.

This short scheme of work is intended to be carried out over three to five one hour lessons, and the timings in the lesson plans reflect this. However these are flexible and will be adapted easily by a confident teacher.

Lesson One – How to survive hazards on holiday

Lesson Aims:

  1. To know what hazards may occur
  2. To know how to respond in the event of a hazard
  3. To know what makes up an emergency kit

Resources:

Computerslinked to the Internet or a copy of the site ( on the local school network.

One pc or apple mac to be linked to a whiteboard or projector for teacher led activities.

Activities:

  1. Log onto school network or laptops and type in the browser. Let children explore the site and examine the materials for themselves for 15 minutes. (20 min task)
  2. Stop the computer activity and replace lap-tops and log off leaving only teacher laptop or computer linked to projector or whiteboard. (It is important that these are not left out because of a later activity) (5 mins)
  3. Ask the children for feedback.:
    What was the website for?
    How did you know what to do?
    Why were suitcase labels chosen?
    Explain that as more and more children travel abroad on holday or to visit family they are visiting places that are at a much higher risk of hazards such as earthquakes(Pakistan, India, S. America, LA, etc), hurricanes (Florida) or tornadoes (worldwide including the UK) and so knowing how to survive and prepare for these is more important. (5 mins)
  4. Choose one or two pages to look at in detail. The most effective page to examine is the earthquake page – click on the earthquake label from the frontpage of the site. Slowly go through the instructions and get children to act out duck, cover and hold advice. You could also throw in an “Earthquake!” warning at some point later in the lesson – It will keep them on their toes and concentrating while you go through the advice while also acting as a practical exercise. (15 mins)
  5. PLENARY: Click on the travel kit link and ask the students why each item might be needed. If you can have your own one made up this will help children to visualize what they need. At this point set homework task: (15 mins)
    HOMEWORK: To make up your own emergency kit and bring to school. Take a photograph of the kit and put on USB memory stick to share with class.

(IMPORTANT: Many of the items to be included in a kit are found around the house but strongly encourage students to talk to their parents about this before removing items to bring into class!)

Lesson Two: Emergency Travel Kits

Lesson Aims:

1. To be prepared for a hazard event

2. To know how to protect yourselves and others.

3. To develop planning skills.

Resources:

Computerslinked to the to a whiteboard or projector for teacher led activities.

A2 Blank pieces of sugar paper and colour pens for thinking exercises.

Activities:

  1. Review what the students learned last lesson. Students to use sugar paper and colour pens to mind map what they learned in the previous lesson. Try and encourage input from all in the groups of two-six students. (10 mins)
  2. Emergency Kits. You will probably have a range of kits which will vary in quality and content. The idea is for students to explain what they have and why they chose them to go in their kits. It is also important to discuss what NOT to put in kits…a PSP for example or lots of heavy items – REMEMBER the idea is for a travel kit! (30 mins)
  3. Returning to the website ( assign a hazard to a group of students (5 max) that they need to research further using the website outside of the classroom. Explain that they are going to help other children and youth around the world by making short films based n the advice from the website. If there are fluent speakers of another language, they could be encouraged to write a script based on the advice on the web pages and their film could be narrated in this language, but this needs to be decided at this point! The homework task is to complete a storyboard for their next lesson when they will be filming. A blank A4 story board has been added to this pack. (15 mins)
  4. Films can be sent to me: and added to the youtube, teacher tube sites as well as being made available as part of the edu4hazard video podcast (vodcast) and thereby available for the world to access. It is important for students to understand that they can make a difference with their films, but that this means that they must be of a high standard. To inspire them click on this link from one of the videos added to teacher tube. It is in French, but is easily understandable!

Lesson Three: Filming – How to survive a geo-hazard

Lesson Aims:

1. To know how to respond in the event of a hazard.

2. To share your knowledge with others.

3. To develop a range of media skills, such as film-making and sound recording.

Resources:

DV video cameras with a tape or Hard Disc Drives.

PC’s or Apple Macs to use software to extract the film onto a hard-drive so that it is digitized and can be edited using available software.

NB: It is best if student films are pre loaded onto a mac or pc before the next lesson lesson,

Activities:

  1. Students to write name of their group onto blank video cassette label so it can be transferred onto a mac or pc hard-drive after the lesson in preparation for editing next lesson (5 mins)
  2. Briefly examine each groups story board and script when giving out video-camera, to ensure that they have a reasonable shooting schedule and know what they are shooting where. Reiterate that only the best films will make it onto websites such as teacher tube and that their video’s can make a real difference! (15 mins)
  3. Students go and shoot films around school. While they are doing this check on progress and help with suggestions if you think they need practical help! (35 mins)
  4. Students return DV-cameras to you! (5mins)

Lesson Four: Editing and compressing- How to survive a geo-hazard films

Lesson Aims:

  1. To share your knowledge with others.
  2. To develop a range of media skills, such as film-editing and compression for web streaming!

Resources:

Apple mac or PC’s with video-editing software.

Demonstration computer linked to a projector/whiteboard.

NB: It is best if student films are pre loaded onto a mac or pc before this lesson!

Activities:

  1. Pupils assigned to computers or laptops where their films have been uploaded onto. (3 mins)
  2. The demo computer linked to a projector or whiteboard is used to show how to edit the movies. You could show how to do this yourself or ask a media or ICT technician to show the class – Remember: They will listen to an ‘expert’ and are likely to be very engaged in the media and technical side of this project! (10 mins)
  3. Pupils to edit by dragging clips into timeline, using Apple T (command and T) to split at play heads (spliiting scenes) and deleting scenes that are not usable or of a high quality). When this has bee completed save and then add transiaitions between scenes – a simple fade as well as titles. NB These instructions are for using i-movie on an apple mac computer(40 mins)
  4. Save films. Then export for web streaming – This may be best left to a technician if you are unsure!
  5. Send films to me to put on teacher tube etc.