Right Under Your Nose: FOUNDATION - HASS - Explore

When the power goes off, Big Cuz, Nanna, Little J and Old Dog go to the beach. They use bread to catch hermit crabs, which in turn are used to catch a ‘bluebone’ fish. Big Cuz learns how to fish, Nanna makes a fire to cook the fish, and Little J finds a large clam shell to take to school the next day.

Explore - Sort and record information and data, including location, in tables and on plans and labelled maps

Theme - TERRAIN

Revisit Little J & Big Cuz, Episode 4 ‘Right Under Your Nose’, and concentrate students’ attention on the beach environment. Ask students if they have holidayed at a beach and if so, where did they go. Read a selection of books and discuss the activities people do at the beach.

  • Graham, B.  (1990). Greetings from Sandy Beach.  Melbourne : Lothian
  • Lester, A. (1992). Magic beach. Allen & Unwin, North Sydney
  • Richardson, T. & Houston, B.  (2012). My home Broome.  Broome, WA: Magabala Books
  • Russell, E.  (2004). The shack that dad built.  Surry Hills, NSW :  Little Hare Books
  • Saxby, C. & Dawson, J.  (2015). Christmas at grandma's beach house. Scoresby, Victoria :  The Five Mile Press Pty Ltd

Explain to students that Australian tourism uses the various beach environments of Australia to entice tourists to visit. Display a map of Australia a number of famous beaches marked on the map, Major Beaches in Australia, Maps of World.

Ask students if the names of these famous beaches are familiar to them. Explain that these beaches are special because of where they are located, and because of their location their marine ecosystems, the terrain that surrounds the beach and the sea plateaus are unique. Using Google maps, have students work in groups to explore the following beaches.

       State/Territory                                  Beach

  • Queesland                                      Fraser Island
  • New South Wales                           Bondi Beach
  • Victoria                                          Twelve Apostles
  • Tasmania                                        Wineglass Bay
  • South Australia                               Victor Harbour
  • Western Australia                            Cable Beach
  • Northern Territory                             Yirrikala

Give individual students a blank map of Australia, and working in pairs/groups, have students mark on their own map

  1. the name of the state where the beach is located
  2. the name of the beach and where it is located.

Have students pose and respond to questions about the various beaches, and discuss and explain the different types of beaches. Prepare a multiple-choice question sheet for students to respond to, including questions of the following points for identification.

From their observations on Google maps, students can collaborate with their group to respond to these three questions:

  1. Type of beach?, either
    1. Barrier beach (usual beach – long sandy break between the vegetation and the water)
    2. Mainland beach (short beach where the land meets the sea)
    3. Spit beach (a beach separated from the mainland by a strip of land)
    4. Pocket beach (exposed bedrock nestled between rocky coastal outcrops)
  2. Type of sand?
    1. Fine sand
    2. pebble/rocky sand
    3. coral/shell sand
  3. Type of sea shelf (underwater)? – this is visible from the colour of the sea off the shore
    1. Gentle slope
    2. Deep drop

Give students a cross-section diagram of a beach and have them label the four main sections:

  • Sea
  • Shore
  • Dune (berm)
  • Vegetation

Beach information resources include:

Have students pose and respond to questions about where the main human activity on the beach takes place and list these activities. Have students compare and share their maps with the class.

Additional support resources