Rationale
In a world of increasing global integration and international mobility, it is critical to the wellbeing and sustainability of the environment and society that young Australians develop a holistic understanding of the world.Aims
The Australian Curriculum: Geography aims to ensure that students develop:a sense of wonder, curiosity and respect about places, people, cultures and environments throughout the world
a deep geographical knowledge of their own locality, Australia, the Asia region and the world
Structure
The Australian Curriculum: Geography is organised in two related strands: geographical knowledge and understanding, and geographical inquiry and skills.Geographical knowledge and understanding strand
Geographical knowledge refers to the facts, generalisations, principles, theories and models developed in Geography.
PDF documents
Resources and support materials for the Australian Curriculum: Geography are available as PDF documents.Geography: Sequence of content 7-10
Geography: Sequence of achievement 7-10
Glossary
Year 7
Year 7 Level Description
There are two units of study in the Year 7 curriculum for Geography: ‘Water in the world’ and ‘Place and liveability’.
‘Water in the world’ focuses on water as an example of a renewable environmental resource. This unit examines the many uses of water, the ways it is perceived and valued, its different forms as a resource, the ways it connects places as it moves through the environment, its varying availability in time and across space, and its scarcity. ‘Water in the world’ develops students’ understanding of the concept of environment, including the ideas that the environment is the product of a variety of processes, that it supports and enriches human and other life, that people value the environment in different ways and that the environment has its specific hazards. Water is investigated using studies drawn from Australia, countries of the Asia region, and countries from West Asia and/or North Africa.
‘Place and liveability’ focuses on the concept of place through an investigation of liveability. This unit examines factors that influence liveability and how it is perceived, the idea that places provide us with the services and facilities needed to support and enhance our lives, and that spaces are planned and managed by people. It develops students’ ability to evaluate the liveability of their own place and to investigate whether it can be improved through planning. The liveability of places is investigated using studies drawn from Australia and Europe.
The content of this year level is organised into two strands: geographical knowledge and understanding, and geographical inquiry and skills. These strands are interrelated and have been developed to be taught in an integrated manner, and in ways that are appropriate to specific local contexts. The order and detail in which they are taught are programming decisions.
Key inquiry questions
A framework for developing students’ geographical knowledge, understanding and skills is provided through the inclusion of inquiry questions and specific inquiry skills, including the use and interpretation of maps, photographs and other representations of geographical data.
The key inquiry questions for Year 7 are:
- How do people’s reliance on places and environments influence their perception of them?
- What effect does the uneven distribution of resources and services have on the lives of people?
- What approaches can be used to improve the availability of resources and access to services?