Geography / Year 8 / Geographical Knowledge and Understanding / Unit 1: Landforms and landscapes

Curriculum content descriptions

Geomorphic processes that produce landforms, including a case study of at least one landform (ACHGK050)

Elaborations
  • describing the influence of folding, faulting or volcanism on a chosen landform
  • researching the effects of rock type, weathering, erosion by water and wind, and transportation and deposition on the chosen landform
General capabilities
  • Numeracy Numeracy
ScOT terms

Environmental management,  Environmental hazards,  Earth movements,  Disaster relief

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What is a volcano?

This is an online resource about volcanoes that provides important information about what a volcano is, describes the three most common volcanoes and explains hazards caused by volcanic eruptions. Links in the right-hand menu provide additional volcano-related resources including publications, a volcano library catalogue ...

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What causes volcanoes?

This is an online resource about the causes of volcanoes, part of a larger resource about volcanoes. It includes sections on the Earth's tectonic plate margins spreading, the Earth's tectonic plate margins subducting, and predicting volcanic eruptions. The image at the top of the screen illustrates the inside workings of ...

Online

Catchment management: what’s in a drop?

Water is a precious resource, yet water is also wasted every day. This activity investigates water consumption and how you can reduce the amount of water wasted. OUTCOMES of this learning activity are for students to: understand the urban water cycle; learn different ways to reduce water usage; discover how much water is ...

Online

Catchment management: water sustainability

Water is an important resource, and is required by all living species to survive. Water is also important for many industries and businesses. This activity investigates the different land uses over time across your local catchment. OUTCOMES are for children to: understand the natural and urban water cycle; learn about the ...

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Geography: Landscapes and Landforms

Join Shona from Geoscience Australia and explore the formation of Australia's coastal, desert and mountain landforms and landscapes.

Interactive

Interactive maps

Interactive Maps is a discovery and exploration view of Geoscience Australia's geospatial services. Maps are organised under the following themes: Australian Marine Spatial Information System (AMSIS); Earth observation and satellite imagery, National location information; Geology and geophysics; Hazards; Marine and coastal; ...

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Where do volcanoes occur?

This is an online resource about where volcanoes occur, part of a larger resource about volcanoes. It provides: important information about the occurrence of volcanoes close to the Earth's tectonic plate boundaries; a map showing the Earth's tectonic plate boundaries; and, near the bottom of the screen, a link to a map ...

Interactive

Sites2See – earthquakes

Resources on the topic of earthquakes to help explore the human and physical dimensions. Links to maps and interactive activities on plate tectonics, with a particular focus on the Caribbean plate, the movement of which caused the devastating earthquake in Haiti in January 2010, and links to news and information about the ...

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Foreign Correspondent: Prehistoric evidence

Beneath the Yucatán Peninsula in south-eastern Mexico exists a karst aquifer, the largest underground river system in the world. Discover its deep caverns, which have been perfectly preserved for thousands of years, complete with prehistoric remains.

Downloadable

Sugar Shake: Erosion experiment

This activity introduces weathering and erosion by investigating why river pebbles are often rounded. The download includes background information for teachers and an activity sheet for students. The activity demonstrates the process of erosion using sugar cubes. Students are asked to predict what might happen (a hypothesis) ...

Downloadable

Weathering, erosion, landforms and regolith - Teacher notes and student activities

This 112 page booklet explores the processes of weathering, erosion and deposition. It highlights the different types of weathering, erosion and transport and provides examples of famous landscapes to enhance the understanding of these processes. It includes case studies about the formation of many Australian landforms ...

Video

Catalyst: Would you eat insects?

A lot of resources go into the production of beef. For example, 20 litres of water is needed to produce just 1 gram of beef. In order to produce food more sustainably to feed an ever-growing population, some alternatives to protein have been suggested. What are some of these alternatives? Do you think they will ever replace meat?

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Catalyst: Growing avocados

Demand for certain kinds of food changes with time as people's tastes change. Avocados were not always popular, but in recent years their popularity has increased so much that supply cannot keep up with demand. Learn how stem cell scientists at the University of Queensland are leading the way in research that could cut ...

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Foreign Correspondent: Power is money on the the Mekong

Discover why the Lao Government plans to build a hydropower dam at Xayaboury (Xayaburi) on the Mekong River and how neighbouring countries might react. The Mekong River Commission is attempting to maintain a balance for all users of the river. Find out why this is a difficult and complex task.

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Catalyst: What is a mega-region?

Population growth is one of the problems facing Australians cities. Dr Julian Bolleter from the Urban Design Research Centre at the University of Western Australia says creating mega-regions could be a potential solution. What is a mega-region? In order to create a mega-region, what must happen first?

Video

Catalyst: What is a megafire?

Join Catalyst reporter Anja Taylor as she visits the Jemez Mountains in New Mexico and discovers the impacts of recent megafires on the landscape there. What is a megafire? And how is a megafire different from a regular wildfire? How have recent fires permanently transformed the landscapes that Anja and Professor Craig ...

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Magical Land of Oz: Join the Numbat Taskforce!

Numbats are native Australian marsupials that can be found in Western Australia and South Australia. Unfortunately, their numbers are declining rapidly. What are the causes? What can we do to combat this and protect these unique Australian animals? Find out what one community group, the Numbat Taskforce, is doing to help ...

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Sustainable table: the coming famine

This is a website about the key issues related to global food insecurity. It contains sections on the scarcity of primary resources; land degradation; land scarcity; waste; climate change; consequences of inaction; and proposed solutions. Photographs, statistics, graphs, maps and figures support the information. This resource ...

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Towards food security in Afghanistan

This is a video about the progress towards food and water security in Afghanistan. It includes images and information about how the global economic crisis has affected the people of Afghanistan; the value of investment in agriculture production to reduce poverty in this region; and a water security project that is jointly ...

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Farmers, their animals and the environment

This is a video about the valuable genetic diversity of Asia's indigenous domesticated animals; the contribution the animals' genes make to local people's food security; and the results of the use of genetic technologies. The video identifies ever-present links between farmers, their animals and the environment by describing ...