Emergency Kit Planning

Overview

Students build on last night’s whānau emergency-kit homework to design a shared “best kit” plan for their community. They focus on tectonic hazard preparedness (especially earthquake scenarios near Taumarunui) and how households communicate, meet, and use emergency mobile alerts.

Learning intentions

• WALT describe key items for a household emergency kit and why they are important during a tectonic hazard.
• WALT explain how and where families keep emergency kits and how that supports safety.
• WALT identify a meeting point and emergency communication plan for when normal routines are disrupted.
• WALT use evidence from our whānau discussions to make a clear, respectful class recommendation.

Success criteria

• I can list at least 6 emergency kit items and give a reason for each.
• I can explain where the kit is stored and how my household would access it quickly.
• I can state our emergency meeting point idea and who to contact first.
• I can justify my group’s decisions using information from our homework task.

Curriculum links

• Geography (Emergency preparedness for tectonic hazards): families and communities use strategies such as a household emergency kit and emergency mobile alerts.
• Geography (Impacts of tectonic hazards): emergency preparation can include alerts and planning for community needs.
• Social Sciences key competencies: thinking (making and justifying choices), using language/symbols (explaining plans clearly), managing self (participating responsibly in group work).

Lesson structure (45 minutes)

1. 0–5 min · Hook (activate thinking). Teacher displays one scenario question: “If an earthquake happened near Taumarunui tonight, what would your family need first, and why?” Students quick-write 3 items they think are essential, then share one with a partner.

2. 5–12 min · Connect to homework (whole-class retrieval). Teacher invites 4–5 students to share items and reasons from their whānau task (keep it brief and respectful). Teacher records themes on the board: food/water, light/power, warmth/comfort, first aid, documents, communication, safety tools. Students match their own choices to the class themes and circle any they had but didn’t share.

3. 12–25 min · Build a class emergency-kit plan (group task). Teacher opens emergency kit planning deck and gives instructions: each group of 3–4 selects the “top 6” items (from students’ whānau ideas) and writes reasons using “because…” statements. Students complete their group plan on emergency kit decision worksheet, including:

• Item list (6+ items)
• Why each item matters during/after an earthquake
• Where the kit is kept and how someone would find it quickly
• A meeting point plan (where to go and how they’d know it)
• One communication method (including emergency mobile alerts)

4. 25–35 min · Gallery share + listening moves. Teacher prompts each group to present for 1 minute using the deck’s sentence frame (e.g., “Our top kit item is __ because __”). Students use a listening routine: after each presentation, they write one question or “I agree because…” on the worksheet’s reflection section.

5. 35–42 min · Improve our plan (class consensus). Teacher returns to emergency kit planning deck for the “choose + refine” prompts:

• “Which two items address the most common whānau needs?”
• “What is one location/storage idea that helps most families?”
• “How should we make the meeting point clear?” Students vote (hands up) on which improvements to add to the class recommendation and update their worksheet neatly.

6. 42–45 min · Plenary closure (commit to one action). Teacher asks: “What is one change you will make at home after today?” Students complete a final quick statement on their worksheet and prepare for a submission/teacher check.

Resources

• emergency kit planning deck
• emergency kit decision worksheet
• Board/marker for recording kit themes
• Timer for group presentations
• Paper scrap for quick-write hook
• Access to last night’s homework responses (students bring notes if possible)
• Optional: class role reminders (gentle speaking, respectful listening)

Assessment

• Formative during retrieval: teacher checks whether students can link items to reasons (not just list items).
• Formative during group work: teacher circulates for evidence of hazard-prepared thinking (kit access, meeting point clarity, communication).
• Worksheet collection: checks completion of 6+ items, reasons, storage location, meeting point, and communication reference.

Differentiation

• Provide sentence starters on the board: “We chose __ because…”, “We will keep it in…”, “Our meeting point is…”.
• For students needing support: allow them to start from their own whānau list and reduce choices to 4 items first, then extend to 6.
• For advanced students: challenge them to add a justification linked to likely impacts (e.g., limited power, blocked routes, communication delays).
• EAL/SEN support: offer visual categories on the board (water/food, light, first aid, warmth, documents, tools) and encourage using keywords rather than full sentences if needed.