Year 8 Geography lesson plans

- Distinguish between landforms and landscapes. - Explain the processes of weathering, erosion and deposition. - Describe how tectonic forces shape landforms. Success criteria: - I can explain the difference between weathering and erosion. - I can describe how a coastal stack forms. - I can explain why Australia has few active volcanoes and large earthquakes compared with its neighbours.

- Sand, soil, small stones and a tray - A watering can or jug - A topographic map or atlas - Notebook

Introduce today's words: - landform: An individual natural feature of the Earth's surface, such as a hill, valley or beach. - landscape: An area made up of a combination of landforms, vegetation and human features. - weathering: The breaking down of rock in place by weather, chemicals or living things. - erosion: The wearing away and removal of rock and soil by water, wind or ice. - deposition: The dropping of material carried by water, wind or ice. - tectonic plate: A huge slab of Earth's crust that moves slowly over the mantle. Ask your child what they already know about how landforms are made.

A landform is an individual feature such as a mountain, valley, cliff or beach. A landscape is a larger area made up of many landforms. Inside Earth, tectonic plates move slowly. Where plates collide, mountains can be pushed up and volcanoes and earthquakes are common. Australia sits near the middle of the Indo-Australian Plate, which is moving north at roughly 7 centimetres a year. Because it is far from plate boundaries, Australia has no currently active volcanoes on the mainland and fewer large earthquakes than neighbours such as Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and New Zealand. Weathering breaks rock down where it is. Physical weathering includes rock cracking from heating and cooling; chemical weathering includes rainwater slowly dissolving limestone; biological weathering includes roots splitting rocks. Erosion removes broken material, carried by rivers, waves, wind or ice. Deposition happens when the water, wind or ice slows down and drops what it carries, building features like beaches, sand dunes and river deltas. Coastlines show these processes clearly. Waves attack weaknesses in a headland, forming a cave. If caves on both sides meet, an arch forms. When the arch collapses, a stack is left standing. The limestone stacks of the Twelve Apostles in Victoria formed this way, and some have collapsed in recent decades. Australia's landscapes are very old and mostly low and flat because of long periods of erosion. The Great Dividing Range runs along the east coast; Mount Kosciuszko (2,228 m) is the highest point on the mainland. Landscapes have cultural and spiritual meaning. Uluru, in Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, is of great significance to the Anangu Traditional Owners, and climbing it was permanently closed in October 2019 out of respect for their wishes.

Weathering or erosion? Classify: (a) tree roots crack a boulder; (b) a river carries sand downstream. Step 1: (a) Rock breaks in place: weathering (biological). Step 2: (b) Material is moved: erosion (and later deposition). Answer: (a) weathering, (b) erosion. Sequencing a coastal landform Put these in order: stack, cave, arch, headland. Step 1: Start with the headland of rock. Step 2: Waves erode a weakness into a cave. Step 3: The cave erodes through to form an arch. Step 4: The arch collapses, leaving a stack. Answer: Headland → cave → arch → stack.

1. What is the difference between weathering and erosion? (a) They are the same (b) Weathering breaks rock in place; erosion moves it away (c) Erosion only happens in deserts (d) Weathering only happens underwater 2. Which landform is formed by deposition? (a) A sea cave (b) A sea arch (c) A beach (d) A canyon 3. Why does Australia have fewer large earthquakes than New Zealand? (a) Australia is far from tectonic plate boundaries (b) Australia is not on a tectonic plate (c) Australia is too hot (d) New Zealand is bigger 4. What forms when a sea arch collapses? (a) A cave (b) A beach (c) A headland (d) A stack

5. Why was climbing Uluru closed in 2019? (a) Out of respect for the wishes of the Anangu Traditional Owners (b) Because it became too hot (c) Because the rock was moving (d) Because of a lack of visitors 6. What is the height of Mount Kosciuszko, in metres? 7. The dropping of material carried by water, wind or ice is called ____. 8. Which mountain range runs along Australia's east coast? The Great ____ Range.

- Can you explain the difference between weathering and erosion? - Can you describe how a coastal stack forms? - Can you explain why Australia has few active volcanoes and large earthquakes compared with its neighbours? - What was the trickiest part today?

1. Weathering breaks rock in place; erosion moves it away — Weathering breaks down; erosion transports. 2. A beach — Beaches form where waves deposit sand. 3. Australia is far from tectonic plate boundaries — Australia sits near the middle of a plate; New Zealand is on a plate boundary. 4. A stack — The remaining pillar of rock is a stack. 5. Out of respect for the wishes of the Anangu Traditional Owners — The closure respected Anangu wishes and Uluru's cultural significance. 6. 2228 — Kosciuszko is 2,228 m high. 7. deposition — Deposition builds beaches, dunes and deltas. 8. Dividing — The Great Dividing Range is Australia's largest mountain range.

Recap the success criteria together. Watch for these common misconceptions: - Many people use 'weathering' and 'erosion' interchangeably; the key difference is movement. - Some think landforms are permanent. They are constantly changing, though often too slowly to notice in a lifetime.

- Model river erosion in a tray of sand and record how channels and deltas form. - Create an annotated diagram of the Twelve Apostles' formation. - Research a volcanic landform in Australia's past, such as the volcanic plains of western Victoria.

- Revisit how landforms are made tomorrow with two or three quick questions from memory. - Try the online practice check for this topic and look at any questions that need another go.

- Visit a local beach, creek or road cutting and look for evidence of weathering, erosion and deposition. - Many landscapes, including well-known landmarks, are culturally significant to First Nations peoples. Follow visitor guidelines set by Traditional Owners, and learn about landscapes from information that communities share publicly. - A simple sand tray and watering can demonstrate erosion and deposition very effectively.