Pacific Climate Responses

Overview

In lesson 12 of 24 in Auckland: Sustainable New Home, students compare how communities in Niue, Samoa, and Tonga experience and respond to climate-related challenges. They use three short, accessible case studies to identify similarities and differences, then support a comparison with evidence in a matrix and paragraph.

Learning intentions

• WALT compare climate-related challenges and responses across Pacific communities.
• WALT use information from case studies as evidence.
• WALT communicate a comparison clearly in speaking and writing.
• WALT consider how geography, culture, economy, and governance shape responses.

Success criteria

• I can identify at least one climate-related challenge and response for each community.
• I can identify similarities and differences between the communities.
• I can record evidence from the case studies in a comparison matrix.
• I can explain a comparison using a clear paragraph frame.

Curriculum links

• Social Sciences Years 9–10: understanding how societies function and change, including New Zealand’s place in a globalised world.
• Social Sciences Years 9–10: analysing data and sources, making decisions, and evaluating significant challenges.
• Social Sciences Years 9–10: engaging with concepts such as inequality, ethics, power, and human rights.
• English language learning through the ELLPs reading, writing, listening, speaking, and visual strands.

Lesson structure (70 minutes)

1. 0–7 min · Hook and prior knowledge. Teacher displays contrasting images of a flooded coastline and a raised coastal home using the opening image and inquiry question and asks, “Why might communities facing similar climate risks choose different responses?” Students use think-pair-share, then contribute ideas; the teacher records key words such as cyclone, flooding, erosion, relocation, and adaptation.

2. 7–17 min · Build background and vocabulary. Teacher uses the Pacific map, vocabulary visuals, and learning intentions to locate Niue, Samoa, and Tonga and briefly clarify that climate impacts vary according to geography, resources, history, culture, and decision-making. Students repeat and explain key terms with a partner, match terms to icons on the worksheet, and predict one challenge each community might face. Check understanding through gestures, quick sketches, or an either/or question.

3. 17–32 min · Collaborative case-study reading. Teacher places students in mixed groups of five and assigns each group member a role: reader, vocabulary helper, evidence finder, recorder, and reporter. Using the three case studies and evidence organiser, students read the short texts collaboratively, highlighting challenge, response, and evidence. Provide the reduced-text version with icons to students who need it; groups pause after each paragraph to paraphrase the meaning in their own words.

Case studies should communicate:

• Niue: a small raised coral island where coastal erosion, drought, and intense storms affect homes, roads, water, and food production; responses include strengthening infrastructure, protecting water supplies, coastal planting, preparedness, and community-led planning.
• Samoa: villages face cyclones, coastal flooding, erosion, and changing rainfall; responses include restoring mangroves and coastal vegetation, improving buildings and warning systems, planning safer infrastructure, and drawing on village decision-making.
• Tonga: low-lying islands face sea-level rise, storm surge, cyclones, saltwater affecting soil and water, and damage to crops and homes; responses include seawalls or raised structures in some places, water storage, disaster planning, and climate-resilient crops and infrastructure.

4. 32–47 min · Construct the comparison matrix. Teacher models one row on the worked comparison-matrix example and evidence prompt without completing the whole task. Students complete the matrix on the comparison matrix for geography, key challenge, effects, community response, and factors shaping the response. They must record a phrase or detail from each case study as evidence, rather than relying on general opinions. Teacher circulates, checks that students distinguish a challenge from a response, and conferences with groups using prompts: “What is your evidence?” and “Is this a similarity or a difference?”

5. 47–59 min · Compare and discuss. Teacher displays the discussion prompts and comparison sentence stems. Pairs compare their matrices and orally rehearse two statements: one similarity and one difference. Students use stems such as “All three communities…”, “Niue is similar to Samoa because…”, and “Unlike Tonga, Samoa…”. Invite several pairs to share; classmates show agreement, add evidence, or respectfully challenge an unsupported claim.

6. 59–67 min · Individual evidence paragraph. Teacher models how to turn matrix notes into a paragraph: claim, evidence from two communities, explanation, and concluding comparison. Students write one paragraph on the paragraph frame and self-check. Encourage students to explain how geography, culture, economy, or governance influences a response, rather than simply listing facts.

7. 67–70 min · Exit check and link forward. Teacher revisits the WALT and displays the plenary and exit questions. Students complete a brief exit response: “One similarity is…, one difference is…, and my evidence is…”. Collect the worksheet and exit responses to plan the next lesson on applying Pacific learning to Auckland’s sustainable future.

Resources

• the Pacific climate responses lesson deck
• the case-study, matrix, and paragraph worksheet
• Three case-study texts in standard and reduced-text formats
• Pacific map and photographs of climate impacts and responses
• Highlighters, coloured pencils, and pens
• Board or digital display
• Optional bilingual dictionaries or translation tools
• Word bank with icons and sentence stems

Assessment

• Listen for accurate use of climate and response vocabulary during partner talk and collaborative reading.
• Check matrices for three communities, relevant evidence, and accurate similarities and differences.
• Use the paragraph and exit response to assess whether students support a comparison with evidence and can explain at least one shaping factor.

Differentiation

• Support: provide reduced-text case studies, icons, bolded key information, a bilingual word bank, audio reading where available, and chunked instructions. Pair readers strategically and allow students to draw or orally rehearse before writing.
• ELLPs: explicitly model pronunciation and meaning for key vocabulary; use repeated listening, visual mapping, partner retelling, sentence stems, paragraph frames, and a checklist for capitals, full stops, comparison language, and evidence.
• SEN and diverse learners: offer enlarged print, coloured overlays, role choice, additional processing time, and teacher or peer scribing. Accept labelled diagrams or an oral recording as an interim demonstration of understanding.
• Extension: students explain how two or more factors—culture, economy, geography, and governance—shape different responses, and evaluate which response appears most sustainable, using evidence and acknowledging possible limitations.