Resilience during natural disasters

Frightening and worrying images and stories of bushfires shown in the media can have a negative impact on student wellbeing. Students may be impacted even if there has been no direct effect on their family or local community. This activity supports students to explore the concept of ‘community resilience’ and actions they can take to empower those affected by bushfires.

Year Level

7-12

Duration

60 minutes

Type

  • In class activity

SEL Competencies

  • Social awareness
  • Responsible decision-making
  • Self-management
  • Self-awareness

Learning Intention

Students will be able to describe the concept of ‘community resilience’ and identify how individuals can contribute to bushfire recovery efforts.

Key Outcomes

By the end of the lesson, students will be able to:

  • identify examples of community resilience
  • describe why community resilience is important.
Activity 01

Class discussion: What is resilience? 10 min

  1. Write the word ‘resilience’ on the whiteboard.
  2. Discuss with students some terms associated with resilience. They might suggest terms such as ‘bounce back’, ‘challenge’, ‘strength’, overcome’.
  3. Mind map students’ responses on the whiteboard.
  4. Think, pair, share: Ask students if they have faced challenges they have needed to overcome. Examples might include starting high school or doing exams.
  5. Discuss how students overcame these challenges.