Stage 2 Science Unit 3 – Shaping Earth: Landscapes, Landforms and Change

Looking for a complete Stage 2 Science unit that is engaging, easy to teach and aligned to the new NSW Science and Technology syllabus? This Stage 2 Science Unit 3: Shaping Earth – Landscapes, Landforms and Change pack has everything you need to teach students about landscapes, landforms, weathering, erosion, Earth’s internal structure, earthquakes, landslides and volcanoes.

This ready-to-use Earth science unit includes detailed lesson slides, worksheets, answer pages and unit planning documents to support a full teaching and learning sequence. Students explore how Earth’s surface is shaped by natural processes, including wind, water, living things, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. They also investigate cultural stories connected to landforms and landscapes, conduct fair tests, create models and use scientific diagrams, annotations and explanations.

Perfect for Stage 2 Science, Year 3 Science, Year 4 Science, Australian Curriculum Science, and NSW Science and Technology K–6 classrooms.

What’s Included?

This resource pack includes:

• 16 detailed Science lessons
• PowerPoint slides for each lesson
• Student worksheets
• Answer sheets
• Unit overview
• Lesson overview
• Scope and sequence
• Assessment opportunities
• Vocabulary support
• Hands-on investigation tasks
• Research and note-taking activities
• Scientific diagrams and annotations
• Fair test planning and reflection tasks

Unit Focus

Students will learn about:

• Landscapes and landforms
• Earth’s surface
• Aboriginal Dreaming Stories and Torres Strait Islander Legends connected to landforms and Place
• Weathering by wind, water and living things
• Erosion caused by moving water
• Fair testing and scientific investigations
• Earth’s internal structure
• Crust, mantle, outer core and inner core
• Earthquakes and fault lines
• Landslides
• Volcanic eruptions
• Lava flows and pyroclastic flows
• How natural processes create, change and destroy landscapes

Lesson Sequence

Lesson 1: Landscapes and Landforms

Lesson 2: Torres Strait Islander Legends

Lesson 3: Aboriginal Dreaming Stories

Lesson 4: What Is Weathering?

Lesson 5: Weathering by Wind and Water

Lesson 6: Weathering by Living Things

Lesson 7: Erosion Caused by Water

Lesson 8: Planning an Erosion Fair Test

Lesson 9: Conducting an Erosion Fair Test

Lesson 10: Explaining Fair Test Results

Lesson 11: Earth’s Internal Structure

Lesson 12: Modelling Earth’s Internal Structure

Lesson 13: Researching Earthquakes

Lesson 14: Modelling Landslides

Lesson 15: Researching Volcanic Eruptions

Lesson 16: Volcanoes Change Landscapes

Students Will

By the end of this unit, students will be able to:

• identify and describe landforms and landscapes
• explain the difference between weathering and erosion
• describe how wind, water and living things weather rocks
• explain how moving water causes erosion
• plan and conduct a fair test
• record observations and measurements
• use diagrams, labels and annotations to explain scientific processes
• name and describe the layers inside Earth
• create a model of Earth’s internal structure
• describe how earthquakes change landscapes
• model how earthquakes can cause landslides
• explain how volcanic eruptions can create and destroy landscapes
• compare lava flows and pyroclastic flows

Why Teachers Love This Resource

This complete Stage 2 Science unit is designed to save you hours of planning while still giving your students rich, hands-on learning experiences. The lessons are structured, explicit and easy to follow, with clear learning intentions, success criteria, vocabulary, discussion prompts, modelling tasks and assessment opportunities.

Students are supported through:

• visual examples
• scaffolded worksheets
• vocabulary instruction
• sentence starters
• diagrams and flow charts
• research tables
• note-taking tasks
• hands-on science investigations
• group and partner discussions
• modelled scientific explanations

This unit is ideal for teachers wanting a polished, curriculum-aligned Earth and space science / Earth science resource that is classroom-ready.

Perfect For

• Stage 2 Science
• Year 3 Science
• Year 4 Science
• NSW Science and Technology
• Earth science units
• Landscapes and landforms lessons
• Weathering and erosion lessons
• Natural disasters and Earth changes
• Volcano and earthquake lessons
• Relief teacher packs
• Science rotations
• Whole-class explicit teaching
• Printable worksheet activities
• Interactive whiteboard lessons

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