Understanding Landforms

Overview

Lesson 4 of 16 continues the unit Exploring Landscapes and Landforms by investigating landforms and how they form and change over time. Students focus on identifying key features of different landforms and explaining likely formation processes using geographical thinking.

Learning intentions

Students will:

• identify features or characteristics of common landforms in Australia
• describe how landforms change over time due to environmental processes
• use geographical evidence (photos/maps/short text) to support claims
• demonstrate ways environments can be managed to protect landforms from further degradation

Success criteria

Students can:

• name and correctly describe at least two landforms using observable features (e.g., shape, size, materials, vegetation patterns)
• explain a simple cause-and-effect chain for landform formation (process → landform feature)
• match evidence to their reasoning using at least one geographic term (e.g., erosion, deposition, weathering)
• suggest one management strategy that could reduce impacts on landforms

Curriculum links

• GELS-DFC-02: identify features or characteristics of places and environments
• GELS-PRI-01: describe how places and environments change
• GELS-MAN-01: demonstrate ways to manage and protect a place or environment
• Thinking and working geographically: using evidence to support explanations and communicate findings

Lesson structure (60 minutes)

1. 0–7 min · Retrieval warm-up. Teacher writes: “Landforms we know: ___ / Process we know: ___” and asks students to complete a quick individual recall in notebooks. Students share one example each with a partner, then one is added to a whole-class word bank.

2. 7–16 min · Landform gallery images. Teacher displays four landform photo stations (e.g., river valley/meander, coastal cliff/beach, sand dunes, volcanic/volcanic hills) and briefly models how to observe features without guessing the process. Students rotate in pairs, recording: landform name (if known), visible features, and “I notice…” statements on a provided observation sheet.

3. 16–26 min · Mini-teach: formation processes and change. Teacher explicitly connects common processes to landform features using a simple cause-and-effect structure:

• weathering and erosion (breaking and carrying material)
• deposition (material laid down)
• tectonic activity and volcanism (where relevant) Students highlight which process words match each image station and add one sentence to link process to a feature.

4. 26–42 min · Evidence-based explanation task (small groups). Teacher assigns each group one landform profile card that includes a short description plus an image and/or simplified map sketch (no internet). Students create a “Process–Feature–Change” explanation:

• Process (what likely happened)
• Feature (what we can see now)
• Change over time (how it may keep changing) They must use at least two pieces of evidence from the card and include one geographic term.

5. 42–52 min · Environmental management quick case. Teacher introduces a management scenario related to the chosen landform (e.g., foot traffic causing dune erosion, riverbank clearing increasing erosion, storm damage along coasts). Students complete a “Manage it” table:

• Impact/Problem (what is happening)
• Management strategy (what humans could do)
• How it helps protect features (link back to erosion/deposition or stability) Teacher circulates and prompts “Which feature are you protecting, and how?”

6. 52–60 min · Exit ticket + class debrief. Teacher collects an exit ticket with two prompts:

• “Name one landform feature and describe it.”
• “Explain one process that could form or change that landform (cause → effect).” Students submit before packing away; teacher uses responses to plan next lesson.

Resources

• Landform photo cards (4 stations) printed or displayed
• Landform observation sheet (features + “I notice” prompts)
• Landform profile cards with short text and simplified map/image
• Process–Feature–Change template (one per group)
• “Manage it” table worksheet
• Exit ticket slips
• Whiteboard/markers, timer, student notebooks
• Geographic word bank on the board (weathering, erosion, deposition, sediment, coast, river, dune, cliff, valley)

Assessment

• Formative: teacher observation during the gallery rotation (check use of observable features vs guesses)
• Formative: group explanation task (review templates for process-to-feature links and use of evidence)
• Formative: exit ticket (two-part evidence of identifying features and describing change)
• Feedback: quick oral feed-forward to groups during circulation (e.g., “What evidence shows this?”)

Differentiation

• Support for students needing scaffolding:
• sentence starters for “I notice…”, “This suggests… because…”, and “Over time…”
• word bank with definitions simplified and icons (e.g., erosion = “moving away”)
• reduced workload version of the explanation template (fewer boxes, pre-selected geographic terms)
• Extension for confident students:
• add a “time scale” prompt: “Would this happen quickly (storms) or slowly (long-term weathering)? Explain.”
• challenge: compare two landforms from the gallery and justify which process is strongest for each
• EAL considerations:
• pair students deliberately (mix strengths) and provide bilingual-friendly visual supports (picture cues for process terms)
• allow oral responses to be recorded by the partner before writing
• SEN/support needs:
• provide a checklist for evidence use (“Used 2 facts from the card”, “Used 2 geographic terms”)
• offer a quieter role in groups (evidence reader, feature recorder) to reduce cognitive load