Weather and Rock Change

Overview

This lesson builds students’ understanding of how landscapes change over time by identifying features of environments and describing change. Students will compare weathering and erosion processes using Australian and Peruvian examples, linking causes to visible landscape outcomes.

Learning intentions

Students will:

• identify key features of weathering and erosion in real landscapes
• describe how and why landscapes change due to different environmental conditions
• propose practical ways to manage land where erosion risk is high
• use geographical terms and evidence from sources to justify their explanations

Success criteria

Students can:

• explain the difference between weathering and erosion using correct terms
• describe one Australian and one Peruvian example, including cause and effect
• label a simple process diagram (inputs → processes → outputs)
• justify a land management idea that reduces erosion impacts

Curriculum links

• GELS-DFC-02: Students identify features or characteristics of places and environments (landform clues that show weathering/erosion)
• GELS-PRI-01: Students describe how places and environments change (linking processes to landscape outcomes)
• GELS-MAN-01: Students demonstrate ways to manage and protect a place or environment (erosion mitigation ideas)
• Investigating environments: students use evidence from guided sources to make geographic claims

Lesson structure (60 minutes)

1. 0–5 min · Retrieval starter. Teacher displays two quick images: a cracked rock surface and a riverbank with exposed soil. Students write one sentence each: “This shows weathering/erosion because…”

2. 5–12 min · Direct teach: processes and vocabulary. Teacher models a short “cause → process → effect” explanation for one local-style example (e.g., rainfall and runoff affecting a slope) and another for a different climate context (e.g., freeze–thaw or fast-flowing water). Students copy a two-column organizer: “Weathering” and “Erosion,” then add 2–3 examples to each.

3. 12–25 min · Guided comparison: Australia vs Peru. Teacher groups students and provides short, teacher-read source sheets with images and captions for one Australian example (e.g., coastal cliffs, dryland cracking, or river erosion) and one Peruvian example (e.g., Andes slopes, heavy rainfall, landslides, or glacier melt impacts). Students complete a compare table:

• Location/climate hint (what environmental feature is most likely?)
• Main process (weathering or erosion)
• Evidence (what you can see that proves it?)
• Likely cause (rain, temperature change, wind, water flow)

4. 25–35 min · Process diagram build (thinking geographically). Teacher draws a generic flow diagram on the board: “Inputs (water/ice/wind/temperature) → Weathering → Movement (transport) → Deposition.” Students in pairs create a labelled diagram for their combined Australian/Peruvian case, using arrows and at least two specific terms (e.g., abrasion, freeze–thaw, runoff, deposition).

5. 35–50 min · Land management challenge. Teacher frames: “If this landscape is changing quickly, what can people do to reduce damage and protect the environment?” Students choose one scenario (school hillside, farmland near a river, or a tourism track on a slope). They complete a brief plan including:

• Identify the risk (type of erosion)
• Explain the process briefly
• Suggest one management action (e.g., revegetation, barriers, drainage control, limiting foot traffic, terracing)
• Explain how the action reduces impacts using cause-and-effect language

6. 50–57 min · Share-out and feedback. Teacher calls for 3–4 groups to share one key claim using a “because” justification. Students give one “glow” (what’s strong) and one “grow” (what needs clearer evidence).

7. 57–60 min · Exit ticket (quick check). Students answer:

• “One difference between weathering and erosion is…”
• “In my example from Australia/Peru, the cause likely was…, and the landscape effect was…”

Resources

• Image set showing weathering and erosion (Australia-style and Peru-style examples)
• Short printed source sheets (captions, simple text, images)
• Compare table worksheet (blank template)
• Process diagram template with arrows and labels
• Scenario cards for land management challenge
• Coloured pencils or markers for diagram annotation
• Board/projector for modelling examples

Assessment

• Formative during retrieval starter: checking correct use of “weathering vs erosion”
• Observe compare table and diagram accuracy: correct cause–process–effect links and geographic terms
• Exit ticket: distinguishes definitions and demonstrates evidence-based explanation

Differentiation

• Provide sentence starters for students needing support:
• “Weathering is when…” “This causes…” “I know because I can see…”
• Offer a word bank (weathering, freeze–thaw, abrasion, runoff, transport, deposition, slope, rainfall, wind) and allow students to highlight terms used correctly.
• For EAL learners: use paired work and bilingual support where available (teacher modelling plus pictorial cues).
• For students needing extension within the lesson: require an additional “feedback loop” idea (e.g., vegetation loss increases runoff, which increases erosion).
• For advanced learners (optional during the management challenge): include a mini “trade-off” question: “What might be an unintended consequence of your management action, and how could it be reduced?”