Landscapes in Drylands

Overview

In this lesson, students compare two dry environments: the Australian Outback and Peru’s Atacama Desert. Using a simple geographic framework, students identify how climate, soils, landforms and human use shape place characteristics, building towards future lessons on environmental change and management.

Learning intentions

• Students will recognise and describe places and environments in the Outback and the Atacama Desert using geographic features.
• Students will explain how climate and physical conditions influence land cover and human activities.
• Students will compare similarities and differences between two drylands at a basic scale.
• Students will use geographic vocabulary (e.g. biome, aridity, precipitation, landform) to communicate findings clearly.

Success criteria

• I can locate and describe the Outback and Atacama Desert as places with distinct environments.
• I can list key environmental characteristics for each (e.g. temperature and precipitation patterns, vegetation/land cover).
• I can compare and justify similarities and differences using evidence from provided data/maps.
• I can communicate my findings in a clear paragraph or table using correct geographic terms.

Curriculum links

• GELS-DFC-01 — Students recognise places and environments (drylands in Australia and Peru).
• Thinking and working geographically — using maps/data and geographic language to describe and compare places.
• Biomes and productivity — recognising how climate affects vegetation and productivity.
• Factors influencing food production and towards food security — linking environmental conditions to how people use land (intro level in this lesson).

Lesson structure (60 minutes)

1. 0–5 min · Hook (image + question). Teacher shows two images (Australian Outback and Atacama Desert) and asks: “What clues tell you these places are dry?” Students write 3 observations in silence, then share one with a partner.

2. 5–15 min · Mini direct teach (drylands as biomes). Teacher explains that a biome is shaped by climate (especially precipitation) and influences land cover and human activity; briefly defines aridity. Students complete a quick class “spot the clue” task: match terms (aridity, precipitation, land cover, temperature range) to an example.

3. 15–25 min · Locate and introduce key features. Teacher distributes a set of blank outline maps and a data summary sheet for each region (rainfall/temperature ranges, typical vegetation/land cover, major landforms). Students: label locations (Australia/Peru), shade the Outback and Atacama areas, and highlight one physical feature and one climate feature for each.

4. 25–40 min · Investigation: compare using a framework. Teacher models a “Compare & Justify” scaffold:

• Similar in: (e.g. low precipitation) → Why: climate link
• Different in: (e.g. vegetation type/degree) → Why: local conditions Students work in pairs to complete a table with at least 4 comparisons total (2 similarities, 2 differences). They must include one sentence that uses the word “because”.

5. 40–52 min · Human-environment link (mini case). Teacher prompts: “How do people adapt and use land in dry places?” and shares two short prompts (no web links):

• Australia: grazing/limited water infrastructure in arid areas
• Atacama: settlement/industry patterns shaped by water availability and remoteness Students add one “Human use” note for each region and explain one adaptation (e.g. water management/appropriate land use).

6. 52–60 min · Exit ticket (accountable summary). Teacher collects an individual response: “In 6–8 lines, compare the Outback and Atacama Desert and explain one reason for a difference you identified.” Students submit and receive a quick self-check against the success criteria.

Resources

• Outline maps of Australia and Peru (or atlases for locating)
• Data summary cards for Outback and Atacama (temperature/precipitation, vegetation/land cover, key landforms)
• Compare & Justify table worksheet with sentence starters
• Highlighters/colour pencils
• Geographic vocabulary word bank (biome, arid/aridity, precipitation, temperature range, land cover, landform)
• Exit ticket slips or digital form (teacher choice)

Assessment

• Formative during hook and mini teach: observation sharing and term matching accuracy.
• Formative during investigation: teacher circulates to check that comparisons use “because” and at least 4 total comparisons with evidence from the data cards.
• Summative-for-now exit ticket: 6–8 line comparison judged against success criteria (location, characteristics, comparison with justification).

Differentiation

• Support: provide sentence starters for the comparison table (e.g. “Both places are dry because…”, “The Outback has … while the Atacama has … due to…”).
• Support: offer a word bank with brief definitions and allow highlighting the relevant data fields before writing.
• EAL/SEN: reduce writing load by allowing one comparison to be completed as a labelled diagram or bullet points, then require one justified sentence only.
• Extension for students ready to go further: require a “scale” comment (e.g. “At this scale, the main difference we notice is…”) and include a second reason for one difference (e.g. local factors like coastal influences for Atacama vs inland patterns for Outback).
• Challenge: for advanced learners, ask them to predict how a change in rainfall would most likely affect vegetation and human use in each place, and justify with evidence.

Extension (optional)

• Advanced learners add a short “risk and opportunity” statement: identify one challenge (e.g. limited water) and one possible opportunity (e.g. specific land uses suited to arid conditions) for each region, then compare how both could support or threaten food production.