TOPIC: AFTER A FLOOD This topic can be used to highlight: - what to do after a flood - the effects of flooding on families / communities - the aftermath of a flood on the environment - coping with the aftermath of a flood This sheet can be used to bring together issues from other topic sheets about flooding EXAMPLE CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES: Ask pupils to present a news report about a flood—either one that has happened locally or ask pupils to imagine they are in Bangladesh. First of all, make a ‘TV’ by cutting a hole into the front of a cardboard box (to act as the ‘screen’). Decorate the rest of the box to look like a television. They then ‘wear’ the box on their heads to present a news report on a flood that has taken place in their area, reporting on the impact of the flood and giving emergency advice to citizens. Ask pupils to put the box on their heads with their faces peering out of the ’screen’ when they are presenting. Pupils can work in teams to write the report and all be involved in presenting it - by acting as, for example, an in-studio presenter / a roving reporter / ‘experts’ from the environmental agency / members of the public being interviewed. Pupils should incorporate what they have learned about flooding—the reasons floods occur, the impact on peoples’ lives and the management of flooded areas after floods have occurred—into the report. What are the long-term and short-term problems associated with flooding and how do these problems differ depending on where/who is affected? In groups, ask pupils to research the after-effects of flooding on, for example, animals / people / farmland / cities / coastal towns both in the UK and in, for example, Bangladesh. Pupils can feedback their findings and ideas to the rest of the class about the area they have researched (e.g. by producing a poster). Effects can include sewers overflowing, water polluted / lack of clean drinking water, animals with nowhere to graze, belongings / people swept away, temporary homelessness etc. Ask each pupil to write a list of the 3 things they would want to take from their homes in the event of a flood. Ask pupils to write why they have chosen these three items above everything else. Ask pupils to read out these lists to the rest of the class. Compare them by making a tally chart of items—did pupils choose the same items? Split the class into teams and give each team exactly the same materials with which to make a model raft (materials can include twigs, tubes, straws etc) within a set time. Have some small Lego-men or plastic animals on hand to see which raft can hold the most amount of ‘people’ and safely transport them across water (use a large sink or a deep tray filled with water). Using this experience & the images ask pupils to imagine their home had been flooded and they had to live in a tent or on a floating raft with their family for two weeks until the water went away. Write a story about this or, as a group, perform a play in a school assembly to highlight the problem of flooding and how the impact of flooding affects people in developing countries. FURTHER HELPFUL WEB RESOURCES: http://publications.environment-agency.gov.uk/pdf/FLHO0803BGIV-e-e.pdf?lang=_e Environment Agency advice on what to do after a flood in the UK http://floodsandyou.org/?page_id=22 Floods and You was a community awareness project in Tasmania to assist people to prepare for flooding. This page has links to educational resources for children
