Connect back to Lesson 8: sudden geological events reshape the surface. Today extends this to events driven by water and weather — tsunamis and extreme weather.
Model the cause of a tsunami as a chain: "An undersea earthquake suddenly shifts the seafloor → it pushes a huge volume of water → that energy travels as fast, low waves across the ocean → near the coast the waves pile up high and flood the land." Stress it's the energy travelling, not one wave rolling the whole way.
Then introduce extreme weather with local relevance — cyclones, floods, extreme heat — and how each reshapes the surface and affects communities:
Model the human side: people predict (warnings, forecasts), prepare (emergency kits, building codes, evacuation plans) and respond (rescue, rebuild).
In groups, students work through one case-study card (cyclone, flood, tsunami or heatwave) with an attached data table or simple graph. Model the analysis on the first card as a class, then groups complete their own using the same three prompts:
- Cause: what set the event off?
- Effect on the surface and community: what changed, and who was affected?
- Response: how did people predict, prepare for, or respond to it?
Have each group read one value from their data (e.g. peak wind speed, flood height) and say what it tells them. Groups briefly report back so the class sees all four event types.
Each student writes a short structured summary of one event:
- what causes it;
- two effects on Earth's surface and/or the community;
- one way people prepare for it to reduce harm.
For a tsunami specifically, they sketch and label the cause-to-coast energy chain.
Exit ticket: name one preparation that reduces harm, and explain why it works.