Year 12 Earth & Environmental Assessment Task 2 Notification

Jurassic
High School
Task Title: Natural Disasters Science Fair

Content: Module 6: Hazards

Weighting: 25%

Research a Natural Disaster (in

Nature:
Science Faculty
Date Notification Issue:
Date Assessment Task 2 due date
class/home)
Construct a working model of chosen
Natural Disaster (home)
Present model and research during
science fair (in class)
Week 1, Term 2
Week 10, Wednesday 4th June 2018

Context
Natural disasters have a significant impact on the Earth’s environment and often affects
thousands of people, causing enormous damage. You are required to extensively research a
natural disaster, focussing on the location and occurrence of the disaster, impacts of the natural
disaster and ways to predict and prevent them from occurring along with a case study. You are
to present this information using any form of media and construct a model to depict the disaster.

Stage 6 Earth & Environmental Outcomes Assessed

EES12-13 describes and evaluates the causes of the Earth’s hazards and the ways in
which they affect, and are affected by, the Earth’s systems

EES11/12-3 conducts investigations to collect valid and reliable primary and secondary
data and information

EES11/12-5 analyses and evaluates primary and secondary data and information

EES11/12-6 solves scientific problems using primary and secondary data, critical thinking
skills and scientific processes

EES11/12-7 communicates scientific understanding using suitable language and

terminology for a specific audience or purpose

Student’s to complete:
Student’s Name:
Earth & Environmental Teacher’s Name:

Components needed to be submitted for this assessment task:

 Working model of natural disaster
 Presentation containing research
 Video blog on USB
 This booklet with the marking criteria

1
Task Description & Requirements
You are a natural disasters expert and have been invited to speak at a United Nations conference
to promote the awareness about a natural disaster that will occur soon to the World leaders.

Part 1: You must select a natural disaster (volcanoes, earthquakes, bush fires, etc..). Using reliable
secondary resources, you are required to describe and evaluate your chosen natural disaster and
create a presentation to be displayed during the science fair. You can present your research in either
PowerPoint, poster, video or animation format. You must also prepare a speech to explain your model
and research. Include a bibliography of at least 5 reliable secondary sources. Presentation should NOT
exceed 10-minutes.

Part 2: You are required to individually construct a working model, using recycled materials, depicting
your chosen disaster.

You are to also submit a video blog reflecting on the design and construction process of your
working model and the research behind your chosen disaster. Video blog to be submitted on a
USB during science fair.

Part 3: You will partake in a United Nations science fair in class where you demonstrate your models
and present research on your natural disaster from part 1 and 2. Each model and presentation will be
peer assessed with feedback provided. You are required to engage with your audience and answer any
questions they may have.

Research information should include;

Geological Natural Disasters
For your chosen natural disaster;
 Describe where it occurs?
 Describe how often does it occur?
 Explain why it occurs?

Impact of Natural Disasters on the Biosphere

For your chosen natural disaster evaluate;
 What factors can alter or affect this disaster?
 What are the hazards associated with the disaster?
 Explain how this disaster impacts the biosphere and/or atmosphere?

Prediction and Prevention of Natural Disasters

For your chosen natural disaster evaluate;
 Whether we predict when this disaster will occur?
 How can we predict this natural disaster will occur?
 How effective and accurate are these technologies in predicting the occurrence of this disaster?

Case study
Choose a recent case of your natural disaster;
 Briefly describe the natural disaster
 Describe the damage caused by this disaster? To what extent did this disaster affect the
surrounding population
 Evaluate whether there was a warning?
Student Confirmation
By submitting this assessment, I acknowledge the following:
1. The work submitted is my own work and references of all sources has been made
2. I am aware that the work may be submitted to detect possible plagiarism.
3. Where the work of others is used and not referenced, a mark of zero awarded and I will have to
resubmit the task.
4. I have a copy of this assessment if the original is lost or stolen.

Student’s signature: ______________________________________ Date: ______________

2
Marking Criteria

Natural Disaster Model

Outcomes Assessed Criteria Marks Allocated Student Mark

EES12-13  Model adequately depicts phenomena 4-5

EES11/12-6  Creative in the design, use of equipment and construction
 Working model of natural disaster
 Model is basic in depicting phenomena 2-3
 Model is not a working model or creative with minimal effort
 Model is simplistic in depicting phenomena or not present 0-1

Research Information
Outcomes Assessed Criteria Marks allocated Student Mark
EES12-13  Insightful information extracted from a wide range of reliable secondary 4-5
EES11/12-3 resources (websites, newspaper articles, peer reviewed articles, books, etc.)
EES11/12-5  Evaluates trends and patterns in data and research
 Research relevant to concepts covered in this assessment
 Basic information extracted from a limited range of reliable secondary 2-3
resources
 Recounts trends and patterns in data and research
 Research covers limited concepts in the assessment
 Minimal research conducted 0-1
 No research conducted

3
Presentation
Outcomes Assessed Criteria Marks allocated Student Mark
EES12-13  Uses suitable forms of digital, visual, written and oral forms of communication
EES11/12-3  Extensive understanding of natural disaster chosen and how it affects and is
EES11/12-7 affected by Earth’s systems
 Outstanding explanation of mechanisms behind natural disaster model
9-10
 Extensively applies appropriate scientific language
 Insightful, confident and enthusiastic presentation with no reading from notes
 Extensively engages with audience and questions
 Adheres to 10-minute time limit
 Uses good form of digital, visual and oral forms of communication
 Thorough understanding of natural disaster chosen and how it affects and is
affected by Earth’s systems
 Detailed explanation of mechanics behind natural disaster model
 Thoroughly applies appropriate scientific language 6-8
 Coherent, creative and enthusiastic presentation with minimal reading from
notes
 Thoroughly engages with audience and questions
 Over or under time limit by +/- 30 seconds
 Uses digital, visual and oral forms of communication with frequent reading from
notes
 Sound understanding of natural disaster chosen and how it affects and is
affected by Earth’s systems
3-5
 Describes mechanisms behind natural disaster model
 Sufficiently uses appropriate scientific language
 Engages with audience
 Over or under time limit by +/- 1 minute
 Limited use of digital, visual and oral forms of communication
 Basic understanding of natural disaster chosen and how it affects and is
affected by Earth’s systems
 Recounts mechanism of natural disaster model 1-2
 Rarely uses appropriate scientific language
 Limited engagement with audience
 Over or under time limit by +/- 2 minutes
 No presentation included 0
4
Bibliography
Outcomes Assessed Criteria Marks Allocated Student Mark
EES11/12-3  Research information extracted from a wide range of reliable secondary 3
resources
 Resources are acknowledged alphabetically and in Harvard referencing style
with minimal errors
 More than 5 reliable secondary sources used
 Research information extracted from a limited range of reliable secondary 2
resources
 4 reliable secondary resources used or listed in Harvard referencing style with
errors
 3 reliable secondary sources used 1
 No reliable secondary resources used 0

Video Blog
Outcomes Assessed Criteria Marks Allocated Student Mark
EES11/12-7  Video blog entries continuously made throughout the assessment 2
 Thorough reflection of the construction of their model and research of
information

 Limited entries added to the video blog throughout the assessment 1

 Basic reflection of the construction of their model and research of
information

 Video blog not submitted 0

5
Teacher comments:

What aspects of the assessment you did well in? ____________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What aspects of this assessment did you do poorly? _________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Suggestions on how you can improve in the future___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6
 Student Reflection

Based on your assessment:

What aspects did I do well? (Strengths)

What aspects did I perform poorly in? (Weaknesses)

How can I improve on this mark in the future?

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Critical Evaluation

Assessment is an important connection between teaching and learning, especially in Stage

6, as it allows teachers to gather and asses evidence of the student’s understanding of skills and

content knowledge (NSW Education Standards Authority, 2018a). Assessments have multiple

purposes within teaching and learning and can enhance motivation, engagement and interactions

between teachers and students and their peers (George Lucas Educational Foundation, 2008).

The design of an assessment task can impact of the level of achievement that students attain, as

poor instruction can lead to negative results, thus it is important for teachers to focus on the

strengths and interests of the students, through differentiation, to ensure they succeed (Rundle,

2016). Another important aspect of assessment is feedback. Feedback refers to providing

information, by a teacher or peer, “regarding aspects of one’s performance or understanding

(Hattie & Timperley, 2007, p.81). The combination of assessment and feedback facilities self-

regulation amongst students and enhances learning (Butt, 2010). This critical reflection focusses

on the importance of the various types of assessment, the designing process of effective

assessments and the application of constructive feedback in relation to the Stage 6 NSW syllabus.

Assessment refers to the evaluation of the student’s knowledge of content and their ability to

achieve outcomes (NESA, 2018a). Assessments are an important process within education as

they not only inform teachers about the student’s progress but also encourages teachers to reflect

on their own teaching practices (NESA, 2018a). Butt (2010) proposed that assessments support

and can even further student learning, however, Laveault and Allal (2016) stated that assessments

merely evaluate student’s achievement relating to the syllabus outcomes and lacks assessing the

student’s overall learning growth. Teachers must continually evaluate students learning throughout

the unit, to assess their progression to achieving the goals and outcomes (Laveault & Allal, 2016).

Monitoring student’s performance and progression during teaching and learning activities can

benefit student’s as assessments identify areas that need improvement and teachers can reflect

on and modify their teaching practice to focus on these areas that require improvement (Butt,

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2010; Laveault & Allal, 2016). In Stage 6 there are two main types of assessments, school-based

assessments and the HSC external exam, which is a form of standardised testing (NESA, 2018a).

There are three main types of assessment, formative, summative and diagnostic and all

three are as equally important in evaluating the academic achievement of the students. According

to Butt (2010), formative assessments are used to form relationships between teaching and

learning by evaluating content and skills being taught to students in the classroom. Formative

assessments can either be formal or informal and are conducted by the teacher continuously

throughout the unit to monitor student growth and progress (NESA, 2018b). Formative

assessments can inform the teacher about the teaching and learning strategies that are effective

and ineffective, thus, improving the achievement of students (Butt, 2010). Formative assessments

can be in the form of quizzes, homework or peer and self-reflections. Summative assessments

occur at the completion of a unit, typically through exams, to evaluate the depth of understanding

and skills acquired by the student’s (NESA, 2018b). Summative assessments are generally ‘high-

stake’ assessments which cause significant anxiety amongst students which can result in poor

marks, as students understanding is not being accurately displayed (Butt, 2010). Thus, NESA

(2018a) proposed that schools offer school-based assessments, which are ‘low-stake’, to ensure

that all students had opportunities to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding (Butt, 2010).

The third type of assessment is diagnostic assessment, which falls into the formative

assessment category, as it is conducted at the beginning of the unit to assess prior knowledge to

inform the teacher how to proceed with the unit (NESA, 2018b). Diagnostic, formative and

summative assessments work collaboratively to monitor student growth and progression and

assist students in achieving their learning (Rundle, 2016). The assessment above is a form of

summative assessment with elements of formative assessment, as feedback will be provided to

students after the completion of the task and student’s will conduct their own reflections.

Assessment design is an important process when constructing assessments, as it can

influence whether students excel and achieve the outcomes, especially in Stage 6 where students

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are highly stressed. According to Rundle (2016) and Butt (2010), effective assessment design

should not only promote student learning but also provide opportunities for students to

demonstrate their knowledge and skills relating to Stage 6 outcomes. Assessment tasks should be

unbiased, reliable, authentic, flexible, inclusive and allow students to demonstrate their depth of

understanding through their strengths and interests (NESA, 2018d; Race, 2014). When

constructing an effective assessment, it is important to include the task weighting, submission

date, Stage 6 syllabus outcomes being assessed, a detailed task description, clear marking

criteria and constructive feedback (NESA, 2018d). An effectively designed assessment should

increase engagement and motivation amongst students while also evaluating the depth of

understanding and skills to the stage 6 outcomes (Race, 2014). Effective assessment can also

influence learning growth and achievement by integrating constructive feedback with the

supporting teaching and learning strategies implemented within the classroom (Race, 2014;

Rundle, 2016). Race (2014) stated that poorly designed assessments can have a negative impact

on student progression and achievement as they are denied depicting their understanding of

knowledge and skills accurately.

Another valuable aspect of effective assessment design is differentiation. Bartlett (2015) and

Morgan (2014) both stated that differentiation allows students to demonstrate the depth of their

knowledge, understanding and skills through their strengths and interests. Flexibility is an

important component of an effective assessment as it enables the accommodation of the student’s

learning needs, interests and strengths, which in turn, improves the student’s progression and

learning success (NESA, 2018d; Morgan, 2014). The assessment task above allows students to

focus on their strengths and interests by providing flexibility, as they can choose a natural disaster

that interests them, and they can present their research in a form that reflects their strengths and

scaffolding on the type of information to research was provided. This task also allows students to

reflect on the learning process throughout the assessment through a video blog and provides

constructive feedback on aspects of the assessment task that they performed well and poorly in

and suggestions on how they can improve in the future.

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 Feedback is another valuable aspect of student learning in Stage 6. Feedback often refers to

providing information, by a teacher or peer, “regarding aspects of one’s performance or

understanding. Teachers can provide corrective information while students can provide alternative

strategy.” (Hattie & Timperley, 2007, p.81). There are various forms of feedback which include

verbal, written and peer and self-assessments (NESA, 2018c). Feedback can be used to clarify

student understanding and skills, relating to the Stage 6 syllabus outcomes and address how

students can improve on these components (NESA, 2018c). Both teachers and students can

approach feedback in many ways. Feedback provided to students can be formal, as given on

assessment task or exams, or informal, through discussions or observations in class (NESA,

2018c). Students can approach feedback through self and peer reflections, where they evaluate

their own learning as well as their peers (Wiggins, 2011). Self-reflections enable students to

become self-regulators and promote ownership of their work (Wiggins, 2011, Nicol, 2010).

Feedback can be utilised by the teacher to inform their teaching practice, to identify the areas that

require more attention and what teaching and learning strategies can further support student

learning (Wiggins, 2011).

Feedback is designed to assist students with improving their learning and skills and

motivating them to further their learning, however, feedback can also demotivate students if the

feedback is not constructive (Butt, 2010). For feedback to be considered effective, it needs to

provide specific information relating to the individual student, in order for them to benefit from

feedback (Hattie & Timperley, 2007). Feedback should identify the student’s strengths, areas

needing development and provide suggestions on how they can improve on their weaknesses in

the future (Nicol, 2010). Effective feedback should reflect the Stage 6 syllabus outcomes, as they

are the basis for the assessment (NESA, 2018c; Butt, 2010). Feedback was implemented in the

assessment above through a video blog, which was used as a self-reflection of the designing and

construction process of the student’s natural disaster model and a feedback form after students

have received their marks and feedback from the teacher to allow students to conduct further

reflection and evaluation of the quality of their work. In addition to the detailed marking rubric
11
provided by the teacher, students are also provided with individualised teacher feedback

comments based on their assessment.

In conclusion, all forms of assessments build connections between the teaching and learning

within the classroom and evaluates the depth of knowledge and skills that the students have

attained in relation to the Stage 6 syllabus outcomes. Effective assessment design can improve

student achievement as students have a clear understanding of the requirements and

expectations. Feedback is an important aspect of assessment as it supports learning by identifying

the strengths, weaknesses and provides suggestions on improvements for the student’s and can

inform the teaching practice as teachers reflect on their own teaching and learning improvements.

Together, assessment, assessment design and constructive feedback can benefit and improve

student overall achievement.

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Reference List

AITSL (2018). Spotlight: Reframing feedback to improve teaching and learning. Retrieved

https://www.aitsl.edu.au/docs/default-source/research-evidence/spotlight/spotlight-

feedback.pdf?sfvrsn=cb2eec3c_12

Bartlett, J. (2015). Outstanding Differentiation for Learning in the Classroom. Florence: Taylor and

Francis

Butt, G. (2010). Making assessment matter. London; New York, NY: Continuum International Pub.

Group.

George Lucas Educational Foundation (July 15, 2008). Why is Assessment Important? Edutopia.

Retrieved https://www.edutopia.org/assessment-guide-importance

Hattie, J., & Timperley, H. (2007). The Power of Feedback. Review of Educational Research,

77(1), 81-112.

Laveault, D., & Allal, L. (Eds.). (2016). Assessment for learning: meeting the challenge of

implementation. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com

Morgan, H. (2014). Maximizing Student Success with Differentiated Learning. The Clearing

House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas, 87(1), 34-38.

NESA (2018a). Stage 6 Assessment. Retrieved

http://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/nesa/11-12/Understanding-the-

curriculum/curriculum-development/st6-assessment

NESA, (2018b). Assessment for, as and of learning. Retrieved

https://syllabus.nesa.nsw.edu.au/support-materials/assessment-for-as-and-of-learning/

NESA (2018c). Effective Feedback. Retrieved https://syllabus.nesa.nsw.edu.au/support-

materials/effective-feedback/

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NESA (2018d). Principles of effective assessment. Retrieved from
http://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/nesa/11-12/Understanding-the-
curriculum/assessment/principles-of-assessment

Nicol, D. (2010). From monologue to dialogue: improving written feedback processes in mass

higher education. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 35(5), 501-517.

Race, P. (2014). The lecturer's toolkit: a practical guide to assessment, learning and teaching.
Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com

Rundle, N. (2016). Guidelines for good assessment practice (3rd ed.). Hobart, Tasmania,

Australia: Tasmanian Institute of Learning and Teaching, University of Tasmania.

Wiggins, G. (2011). Giving Students A Voice: The Power of Feedback To Improve Teaching.

Educational Horizons, 89(3), 23-26.

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