Year 5 · Geography · Geographical knowledge and understanding
Bushfires and floods
Learners investigate the causes and effects of bushfires and floods in Australia and how communities prepare, respond and recover.
Awaiting educator review. This material was drafted by our content team with AI assistance and is waiting for review by a qualified educator. Please check it suits your child before using it. Created 10 October 2026.
Learning goals
Learners will
- Explain the natural and human causes of bushfires and floods.
- Describe the effects of these hazards on people and environments.
- Describe how communities prepare for, respond to and recover from them.
Success looks like
- I can explain the conditions that make bushfires more likely.
- I can describe two effects of a flood on a community.
- I can explain what a fire danger rating tells people.
- I can describe what goes into a household emergency plan.
The big idea
A natural hazard becomes a natural disaster when it seriously harms people and communities. Australia's most common hazards include bushfires, floods, droughts, storms, heatwaves and cyclones.
Bushfires need fuel, oxygen and heat. They are more likely in hot, dry, windy weather after a dry period, when the fuel load of dry grass, leaves and bark is high. Fires can be started by lightning, or by people, accidentally or deliberately.
The 2019–20 'Black Summer' fires burned millions of hectares across south-eastern Australia, destroyed thousands of homes and killed or displaced vast numbers of animals.
Floods happen when water overflows onto land that is usually dry. Heavy rain from storms, cyclones or long wet periods can cause rivers to flood their floodplains. Towns built on floodplains, such as Lismore in New South Wales (severely flooded in 2022), face higher flood risk. Brisbane was badly flooded in 2011 and 2022.
Communities practise mitigation: hazard reduction burns, clearing gutters, building levees, planning where houses can be built and improving warnings. Fire danger ratings (Moderate, High, Extreme and Catastrophic) tell people how dangerous a fire would be on a given day and what action to take.
Every household can make an emergency plan: know your local warnings, have an emergency kit, plan where to go and decide early when to leave. Communities show resilience by helping each other recover.
First Nations peoples have used fire to care for Country for many thousands of years. Cultural burning, using cool, patchy fires at the right time, is now increasingly being used with First Nations rangers and fire agencies to reduce fuel and support healthy land.
Worked examples
Assessing bushfire risk
Which day has a higher bushfire risk: (a) 18 °C, light rain, calm; or (b) 41 °C, strong hot northerly wind, no rain for weeks?
- Fire spreads faster in high temperatures.
- Strong winds push fire and carry embers.
- Dry conditions mean more dry fuel.
Answer: Day (b) has a much higher bushfire risk.
Making an emergency kit
List six items for a household emergency kit.
- Think about water, food, light, communication, health and documents.
- Choose items that would help for at least three days.
Answer: Water, non-perishable food, torch with batteries, battery-powered radio, first aid kit, copies of important documents (also medicines and pet supplies).
Practice check
Have a go, then check your answers. Each answer comes with an explanation.
Answer guide for parents
Which weather conditions make bushfires most likely?
Hot, dry and windy — Heat, dryness and wind increase fire danger.
What is a floodplain?
Flat land beside a river that floods — Floodplains are covered by water during floods.
Which is an example of mitigation?
Building a levee — Levees reduce flood damage.
What is the highest fire danger rating in Australia?
Catastrophic — Catastrophic is the highest rating.
How have First Nations peoples used fire to care for Country?
By using cool, patchy burns at the right time — Cultural burning uses cool, patchy fires timed carefully.
The amount of dry vegetation available to burn is called the fuel ____.
load — A high fuel load increases fire risk.
Which New South Wales town was severely flooded in 2022?
Lismore — Lismore experienced record flooding in 2022.
A community's ability to cope with and recover from a disaster is called ____.
resilience — Resilience helps communities bounce back.
Watch out for
- Some think floods only happen near the coast. Inland rivers can flood huge areas.
- Many think all bushfires are caused by people. Lightning starts many fires, though human causes are also common.
- Children may think a hazard and a disaster are the same. A hazard becomes a disaster when it seriously harms a community.
Tips for parents
- Be sensitive if your family or community has experienced a disaster. Focus on preparation and recovery rather than frightening detail.
- Make a real household emergency plan together using your state emergency service's guidance.
- Learn about cultural burning from First Nations ranger groups or land councils in your region, which may share information publicly about their programs.
Go further
- Create a household emergency plan and kit checklist and share it with the family.
- Map places in your state affected by a major flood or fire and research how they recovered.
- Interview a volunteer from a local fire or emergency service about their work.