This short unit is based on the Year 5 Australian National Curriculum for science. It is designed to build on students' prior knowledge of the geology to understand how the Earth’s surface changes over time, both slowly or quickly through weathering and erosions, and how we influence those changes.
Students get hands-on experience of how natural forces shape the landscape with a series of exciting in-class activities
Each of the lessons has an accompanying worksheet for students to complete and a final quiz which can be used as a summative assessment task.
Describe how weathering, erosion, transportation and deposition cause slow or rapid change to Earth’s surface
Investigate how scientific knowledge is used by individuals and communities to identify problems, consider responses and make decisions
Pose investigable questions to identify patterns and test relationships and make reasoned predictions
Plan and conduct repeatable investigations to answer questions, including, as appropriate, deciding the variables to be changed, measured and controlled in fair tests; describing potential risks; planning for the safe use of equipment and materials; and identifying required permissions to conduct investigations on Country/Place
Construct and use appropriate representations, including tables, graphs and visual or physical models, to organise and process data and information and describe patterns, trends and relationships
Compare methods and findings with those of others, recognise possible sources of error, pose questions for further investigation and select evidence to draw reasoned conclusions
Write and create texts to communicate ideas and findings for specific purposes and audiences, including selection of language features, using digital tools as appropriate
The key concepts in this unit include:
Lesson 1
Introduction and Geology Refresher
Describe the different layers of the Earth and understand how they affect the landscape that we see.
Lesson 2
Slow, Natural Change
Understand the effect of weather on the surface of the Earth.
Lesson 3
Erosion Experiment
Create a demonstration of erosion.
Lesson 4
Human Caused Change
Understand the difference between natural and human caused erosion.
Lesson 5
Extreme Events
Understand the sudden change that can happen because of extreme weather and natural disasters.
Lesson 6
Assessment
In this lesson, students have the opportunity to show off what you have learned during the unit.
This Earth and Space Sciences presentation has been created to support Lesson 1 of the Surface Change unit. It allows the teacher to walk st...
Understand the process that forms rocks over time and the different names given to rocks at various stages of The Rock Cycle.
This Earth and Space Sciences presentation has been created to support Lesson 2 of the Surface Change unit. It allows the teacher to walk st...
This Earth and Space Sciences presentation has been created to support Lesson 4 of the Surface Change unit. It allows the teacher to walk st...
This Earth and Space Sciences presentation has been created to support Lesson 5 of the Surface Change unit. It allows the teacher to walk st...
This presentation was created to be used as part of an assessment tool for the Surface Change unit. Students use a quiz answer sheet provide...
In this worksheet, students complete a few general geology question after having watched the presentation ‘Geology Refresher’. This should a...
This is a handy title page for the Surface Change unit that works great as a fast finisher activity. This worksheet was created as part o...
This handy worksheet not only reinforces many of the important terms of the Year 5 Earth and Space science curriculum, it is the perfect fas...
Students use Google Earth to explore landmarks created through weathering and erosion This activity allows students to investigate the ma...
Students watch erosion happen, in a model of a landscape that they’ve created. This investigation allows students to observe and describe...
In this worksheet, students look at the impact that humans have on the Earth’s surface through adding and taking away. Not only do they do s...
Students research a natural disaster, and use that knowledge to create a before and after image of the change to the earth’s surface. ...
This worksheet is part of an assessment for the Year 5 ACARA Earth and Space science curriculum unit called Soil, Rocks and Minerals. You wi...
