Rationale
In a world that is increasingly culturally diverse and dynamically interconnected, it is important that students come to understand their world, past and present, and develop a capacity to respond to challenges, now and in the future, in innovative, informed, personal and collective ways.Aims
The F–6/7 Australian Curriculum for Humanities and Social Sciences aims to ensure that students develop:a sense of wonder, curiosity and respect about places, people, cultures and systems throughout the world, past and present, and an interest in and enjoyment of the study of these phenomena
Structure
The Australian Curriculum: Humanities and Social Sciences may be implemented as a combined F–6 program or as an F–7 program. The F–6/7 curriculum is organised into two interrelated strands: knowledge and understanding and inquiry and skills.PDF documents
Resources and support materials for the Australian Curriculum: Humanities and Social Sciences F-6/7 are available as PDF documents.F-6/7 HASS - Combined Sequence of Content
F-6/7 HASS - Combined Sequence of Achievement
Glossary
Year 2
Year 2 Level Description
Our past and present connections to people and places
The Year 2 curriculum extends contexts for study beyond the personal to the community and to near and distant places that students are familiar with or aware of, exploring connections between the past and present and between people and places. Students examine remains of the past in their local area, coming to understand how connections have changed the lives of people over time and space and how their community values and preserves connections to the past. They study where they are located in the world and how the world is represented on maps and through place names that reveal the history and value of these places. Students explore other cultures’ connections to their local place and their own connections to distant places. Through a study of technological change, students see how they are both similar and different to people in the past and how they are connected to places near and far. The idea of citizenship is introduced as students think about how people are connected.
The content provides opportunities for students to develop humanities and social sciences understanding through key concepts including significance, continuity and change, cause and effect, place and space, interconnections and perspectives and action. These concepts may provide a focus for inquiries and be investigated across sub-strands or within a particular sub-strand context.
The content at this year level is organised into two strands: knowledge and understanding, and inquiry and skills. The knowledge and understanding strand draws from two sub-strands: history and geography. These strands (knowledge and understanding, and inquiry and skills) are interrelated and have been developed to be taught in an integrated way, which may include integrating with content from the sub-strands and from other learning areas, and in ways that are appropriate to specific local contexts. The order and detail in which they are taught are programming decisions.
Inquiry Questions
A framework for developing students’ knowledge, understanding and skills is provided by inquiry questions. The following inquiry questions allow for connections to be made across the sub-strands and may be used or adapted to suit local contexts: inquiry questions are also provided for each sub-strand that may enable connections within the humanities and social sciences learning area or across other learning areas.
- What does my place tell me about the past and present?
- How are people connected to their place and other places, past or present?
- How has technology affected daily life over time and the connections between people in different places?
Year 2 Content Descriptions
Questioning
Researching
Analysing
Evaluating and reflecting
Communicating
History
Concepts for developing understanding
The content in the history sub-strand provides opportunities for students to develop historical understanding through key concepts including continuity and change, cause and effect, perspectives, empathy and significance. Through studies of their local area, students explore, recognise and appreciate the history of their community. Students examine remains of the past and consider why they should be preserved (significance, cause and effect, perspectives). They examine the impact of technology of people’s lives (continuity and change, cause and effect), and speculate about people’s lives in the past to further develop their understanding that people lived differently in the past (continuity and change, perspectives, empathy).
Inquiry Questions
- What aspects of the past can you see today? What do they tell us?
- What remains of the past are important to the local community? Why?
- How have changes in technology shaped our daily life?
Geography
Concepts for developing understanding
The content in the geography sub-strand provides opportunities to develop students’ understanding of place, space, environment and interconnection. Students develop a mental map of the world by learning the major geographical divisions on Earth (place, space, environment) and where they are located in relation to Australia (space). Students learn about the hierarchy of scale by which places are defined – from the personal scale of their home to the national scale of their country (scale). Students explore how distance and accessibility influence how often they visit places, and for what purpose (space, interconnection) and investigate their links with places locally and throughout the world (interconnection). They see how places have meaning to people and the connection Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples have with Country/Place (place, environment, interconnection).
Inquiry Questions
- What is a place?
- How are people connected to their place and other places?
- What factors affect my connection to places?
Year 2 Achievement Standards
By the end of Year 2, students describe a person, site and/or event of significance in the local community and explain why places are important to people. They identify how and why the lives of people have changed over time while others have remained the same. They recognise that the world is divided into geographic divisions and that places can be described at different scales. Students describe how people in different places are connected to each other and identify factors that influence these connections. They recognise that places have different meaning for different people and why the significant features of places should be preserved.
Students pose questions about the past and familiar and unfamiliar objects and places. They locate information from observations and from sources provided. They compare objects from the past and present and interpret information and data to identify a point of view and draw simple conclusions. They sequence familiar objects and events in order and sort and record data in tables, plans and on labelled maps. They reflect on their learning to suggest ways to care for places and sites of significance. Students develop narratives about the past and communicate findings in a range of texts using language to describe direction, location and the passing of time.
By the end of Year 2, students describe a person, site and/or event of significance in the local community. They identify how and why the lives of people have changed over time while others have remained the same.
Students sequence events in order, using a range of terms related to time. They pose questions about the past and use sources provided to answer these questions and to identify a point of view. They compare objects from the past and present. Students develop a narrative about the past using a range of texts.
By the end of Year 2, students identify the features that define places and recognise that places can be described at different scales. Students recognise that the world can be divided into major geographical divisions. They describe how people in different places are connected to each other and identify factors that influence these connections. They explain why places are important to people, recognising that places have meaning.
Students pose questions about familiar and unfamiliar places and answer them by locating information from observations and from sources provided. They represent data and the location of places and their features in tables, plans and on labelled maps. They interpret geographical information to draw conclusions. Students present findings in a range of texts and use simple geographical terms to describe the direction and location of places. They suggest action in response to the findings of their inquiry.
Year 2 Work Sample Portfolios
Year 3
Year 3 Level Description
Diverse communities and places and the contribution people make
The Year 3 curriculum focuses on the diversity of people and places in their local community and beyond, and how people participate in their communities. Students study how places are represented geographically and how communities express themselves culturally and through civic participation. Opportunities are provided to learn about diversity within their community, including the Country/Place of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, and about other communities in Australia and neighbouring countries. Students compare the climates, settlement patterns and population characteristics of places, and how these affect communities, past and present. Students examine how individuals and groups celebrate and contribute to communities in the past and present, through establishing and following rules, decision-making, participation and commemoration.
The content provides opportunities for students to develop humanities and social sciences understanding through key concepts including significance; continuity and change; cause and effect; place and space; interconnections; roles, rights and responsibilities; and perspectives and action. These concepts may provide a focus for inquiries and be investigated across sub-strands or within a particular sub-strand context.
The content at this year level is organised into two strands: knowledge and understanding, and inquiry and skills. The knowledge and understanding strand draws from three sub-strands: history, geography and civics and citizenship. These strands (knowledge and understanding, and inquiry and skills) are interrelated and have been developed to be taught in an integrated way, which may include integrating with content from the sub-strands and from other learning areas, and in ways that are appropriate to specific local contexts. The order and detail in which they are taught are programming decisions.
Inquiry Questions
A framework for developing students’ knowledge, understanding and skills is provided by inquiry questions. The following inquiry questions allow for connections to be made across the sub-strands and may be used or adapted to suit local contexts: inquiry questions are also provided for each sub-strand that may enable connections within the humanities and social sciences learning area or across other learning areas.
- How do symbols, events, individuals and places in my community make it unique?
- How do people contribute to their communities, past and present?
- What events do different people and groups celebrate and commemorate and what does this tell us about our communities?
Year 3 Content Descriptions
Researching
Analysing
Evaluating and reflecting
Communicating
History
Concepts for developing understanding
The content in the history sub-strand provides opportunities for students to develop historical understanding through key concepts including sources, continuity and change, cause and effect, perspectives, empathy and significance. The Year 3 curriculum provides a study of identity and diversity in their local community and beyond, past and present. Students develop understandings about the heritage of their local area (sources, continuity and change), including the importance of Country/Place to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Peoples (significance, perspectives, empathy), and how and why their community has changed (continuity and change, cause and effect). Students explore the historical features and diversity of their community as represented in individuals and their contributions, symbols and emblems of significance (significance) and the different celebrations and commemorations, locally and in other places around the world (significance, perspectives, empathy).
Inquiry Questions
- Who lived here first and how do we know?
- How has our community changed? What features have been lost and what features have been retained?
- What is the nature of the contribution made by different groups and individuals in the community?
- How and why do people choose to remember significant events of the past?
Geography
Concepts for developing understanding
The content in the geography sub-strand provides opportunities to develop students’ understanding of place, space, environment and interconnection. Students develop an understanding of the similarities and differences between places within and outside Australia through a study of their environmental and human characteristics (place). They examine climate (environment) and the types of settlements (space) in Australia, the Country/Place of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, and Australia's neighbouring countries (place). Students come to understand how people feel about and care for places (place, environment, interconnection). Students’ mental maps further develop through learning about the representation of Australia and the location of Australia’s neighbouring countries (place).
Inquiry Questions
- What are the main natural and human features of Australia?
- How and why are places similar and different?
- What would it be like to live in a neighbouring country?