Geography / Year 9 / Geographical Knowledge and Understanding / Unit 1: Biomes and food security

Curriculum content descriptions

The capacity of the world’s environments to sustainably feed the projected future global population (ACHGK064)

Elaborations
  • examining the effects of anticipated future population growth on global food production and security, and its implications for agriculture and agricultural innovation
  • researching the potential of agricultural production in northern Australia
  • identifying how poverty, food wastage, government policies or trade barriers could affect future food security
  • applying understanding of the functioning of natural and agricultural ecosystems to investigate ways of making Australian agriculture more sustainable
General capabilities
  • Numeracy Numeracy
  • Critical and creative thinking Critical and creative thinking
  • Ethical understanding Ethical understanding
Cross-curriculum priorities
ScOT terms

Sustainable development,  Food availability

Video

BTN: Food wastage

Do you know how much food industrialised nations, including Australia, throw away every year? Global population is set to reach over nine billion by 2050 which will increase demand for food by 70%. What do you think we can do to consume food more responsibly and sustainably? How might we re-direct food that would otherwise ...

Video

Birds and totems

Yuin, Bunurong and Tasmanian man Bruce Pascoe shares his delight in encountering birds on Country. Bruce explains the significance of Umburra, or black duck, and his obligation to care for the species. Bruce explains that his brothers and sisters look after other animals, such as kangaroos, bream, wallabies, flathead and ...

Video

Walking on Aboriginal land

Benjamin Church works for the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. Watch as Ben welcomes visitors through the Welcome to Country ceremony. Why do people place leaves in the fire? What does that signify? As Ben takes his visitors through the Royal Botanic Gardens, he explains the importance of land to Aboriginal people.

Interactive

What house is that?

This is an interactive streetscape of nine houses, each from a different era and of different styles. They represent the nine main housing styles in Victoria. Information about each of the houses includes: features and style; the Architect; designers; historical observations; house owners; and general social history of ...

Video

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 ...

Video

Magical Land of Oz: Koalas and climate change

The koala population in rural NSW has been declining over the years due to drought and heatwaves. What causes some of the temperature extremes experienced in this region? Dr Mella believes koalas normally get most of the moisture they need to stay hydrated from eucalyptus leaves. What has changed in recent years that means ...

Online

Water for wildlife

With Australia’s changing climate we need to adapt to our altering conditions. This is challenging but also possible for humans through behaviour change and infrastructure change (too advanced?) but not quite so easy for our precious wildlife. While water is considered renewable as it functions as part of a water cycle, ...

Online

Soil – more than just dirt!

Explore different soil textures and discover their various properties. Through simple soil testing, children will learn to appreciate the true value soils have in helping plants grow. The learning outcomes of this activity are for children to: - understand how soil texture influences the amount of water and air it holds - ...

Video

Biomes that produce our food, industrial materials and fibre: producer video

This is a video about the mixed farming operations of Boonderoo Pastoral Company in South Australia. The farm is introduced by owner Lachie Seears who describes its size, family history and how region's Mediterranean climate allows him to diversify across a range of valuable commodities including Angus cattle, cross-breed ...

Text

Biodiversity and farming for a healthy planet

This is a digital resource containing information and resources, such as printable games, that relate to biodiversity and farming, and how food and materials can be produced while protecting the Earth's natural resources. It includes an extensive glossary of important terms, and external links to teacher and student resources ...

Video

Farms have distinctive features: producer video

This is a video about action for sustainability on the Willalooka Pastoral Company's property in South Australia. Owner Thyne McGregor describes the natural characteristics of the extensive property in terms of its rainfall, soil quality and the Marcollat Watercourse. He tells how the property was originally cleared for ...

Online

Waterways: behaviour change

We have the power to help keep our coastlines, rivers, lakes, swamps, creeks, floodplains, billabongs and estuaries clean by diverting rubbish from our waterways. We can all be change makers. By altering our everyday habits such as limiting our use of single-use plastic items, we can also inspire others to do the same. This ...

Online

The Murray-Darling Basin: an introduction

This lesson sequence is designed to introduce students to key aspects of the Murray-Darling Basin including the environment, geography, economy, people, history, water cycle and water management challenges. The lesson sequence includes a teacher PowerPoint presentation, separate teacher notes and a student worksheet. This ...

Video

Out and about on farms: producer video

This is a video about the Willalooka Pastoral Company in South Australia and its annual cycle of cattle and sheep production. Narrated by owner Thyne McGregor, it shows the scale of the company's operations as he describes how its 10,000 ha size came about and how its five staff are deployed. He emphasises the importance ...

Video

Through our eyes: series 1

This series of 18 short videos provides insights into the land management practices and social, spiritual and cultural knowledge of the Ngemba, Kamilaroi and Euahlayi Aboriginal language groups in north-western NSW. The videos are presented by the Aboriginal Elders and knowledge-holders and cover a range of topics including ...

Interactive

NSW ecosystems on show

This resource highlights fifteen natural ecosystems found in New South Wales. Each resource has been designed for students investigating ecosystem types in NSW, providing a greater understanding of their location, function, how they are impacted by human activity and how schools and communities can work to protect them. ...

Video

Researching produce in the local region: producer video

This is a video about the food produce of the Limestone Coast region of South Australia. Presented by Hilary Ellis, Food Ambassador for the region, it shows food being produced and then sold in farmers' markets as she describes how the characteristics of various regions affect what is grown and produced there. She details ...

Online

Digital Stories of the Land

This is website that presents a collection of digital stories about the connection people have with their surroundings, in particular the land. The resource has three sections: Introductory information; Story Objects; and Story Education Resources. There are 11 Story Objects, all videos that present personal stories of ...

Online

Getting started with sustainability in schools

This is a website to help teachers implement an Education for Sustainability (EfS) approach in their professional practice. The multi-layered site is organised into five main sections. The first (Steps) identifies four key EfS contexts and provides support for each, including 11 case studies and five teacher profiles that ...

Video

Farms and people’s connections to them: producer video

This is a video about the operation of the Outback Pride project and the value of the Australian native food produced in conjunction with Aboriginal peoples. To a visual background of the nursery at Reedy Creek in South Australia and some of 25 Aboriginal communities involved in the project in SA and Northern Territory, ...