Geography / Year 8 / Geographical Inquiry and Skills / Interpreting, analysing and concluding

Curriculum content descriptions

Interpret geographical data and other information using qualitative and quantitative methods, and digital and spatial technologies as appropriate, to identify and propose explanations for spatial distributions, patterns and trends, and infer relationships  (ACHGS059)

Elaborations
  • analysing spatial distributions to infer relationships and suggest possible causes and effects
  • using digital mapping tools to map the cultural and demographic diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples
  • interpreting topographic maps and digital terrain models, cross-sections or block diagrams to investigate landforms and their features
  • analysing trends in internal migration in Australia and China
General capabilities
  • Literacy Literacy
  • Numeracy Numeracy
  • Critical and creative thinking Critical and creative thinking
  • ICT capability Information and Communication Technology (ICT) capability
ScOT terms

Data analysis,  Reasoning,  Explanations (Scientific inquiry),  Human settlements,  Geographic location,  Spatial technologies

Interactive

IEA Key World Energy Statistics - Google Play app

Explore global energy statistics including data on the production, supply, consumption and prices of the major energy sources. Select specific countries, energy sources and indicators, and view data in tables and graphs. Includes also energy forecast data and historical comparison, and a comprehensive glossary. Free when ...

Interactive

IEA Key World Energy Statistics - iTunes app

Explore global energy statistics including data on the production, supply, consumption and prices of the major energy sources. Select specific countries, energy sources and indicators, and view data in tables and graphs. Includes also energy forecast data and historical comparison, and a comprehensive glossary. Free when ...

Video

Battling erosion on the Gold Coast

Queensland's iconic Gold Coast beaches experienced severe erosion as a result of wild weather in early 2013. The liveability of beachside homes in the area is under threat. See the local council's attempts to shore up the coastline and hear some questions being asked about the best way to protect the landscape. Where does ...

Interactive

LocationSA map viewer

This is an interactive website providing a detailed source of geographic information about the state of South Australia in text and map form, and an interactive tool enabling the user to generate resources and to apply geographic conceptual thinking. It contains a directory of maps at both state and regional levels depicting ...

Interactive

ACTmapi: significant species, vegetation communities and registered trees

This is an one of several interactive web-based mapping resources available from this web page. This map focuses on the distribution of significant plants and animals within the Australian Capital Territory. It is a GIS (Geographic Information Systems) resource that allows users to present information about plants and animals ...

Interactive

Water use and efficiency – sustainability action process (Years 7–10)

This resource guides students through an extended school-based or local investigation focussed on water use and efficiency using the five step sustainability action process. The resource supports the investigation of a real-world issue or problem. Students develop and implement a chosen sustainability action and then evaluate ...

Online

Tsunami lesson plan resources

The tsunami lesson plan provides teachers and students, especially in remote coastal areas, with an opportunity to investigate how tsunami happen and how to stay safe if a tsunami occurs. The downloadable PDF includes lesson plans. student assignments based on case studies, as well as background information on tsunamis, ...

Interactive

ACTmapi Land custodians

This is an one of several interactive web-based mapping resources available from this web page. Land Custodians focuses on the custodianship of land within the Australian Capital Territory. It is a GIS (Geographic Information Systems) resource that allows users to assemble information about land usage as spatially mapped ...

Interactive

Tsunami: the ultimate guide

This comprehensive web resource provides a series of six interactive slide shows (chapters) that introduce the cause and impacts of tsunami with a focus on Australia, Asia and Pacific regions. Produced by experts in the field, this information is clearly and simply described. The engaging presentation is enriched with photography, ...

Interactive

Biodiversity – sustainability action process (Years 7–10)

This biodiversity learning resource guides students through an extended school based investigation. Students develop and implement a chosen sustainability action and then evaluate and reflect on their success and their learning.

Interactive

Waste and materials – sustainability action process (Years 7–10)

This resource guides students through an extended school-based or local investigation focussed on waste and materials using the five-step sustainability action process. The resource supports the investigation of a real-world issue or problem. Students develop and implement a chosen sustainability action and then evaluate ...

Text

Work sample Year 8 Geography: Landscapes and landforms

This work sample demonstrates evidence of student learning in relation to aspects of the achievement standards for Year 8 Geography. The primary purpose for the work sample is to demonstrate the standard, so the focus is on what is evident in the sample not how it was created. The sample is an authentic representation of ...

Downloadable

Mapping the ocean floor

This activity builds understanding of sonar technique and applications through processing and plotting data to discover a seafloor feature and by bouncing balls on different surfaces and analysing rebound, relating this to ground hardness then extend understanding to 'backscatter' in bathymetry surveys. It is suitable for ...

Video

Catalyst: How will fire change the climate?

Considering the impact of a changing climate on the severity and frequency of fires is one thing, but how about the impact of fires on climate? Why does Professor David Bowman describe this scenario as a 'fire spiral'? What are the consequences of a world with fewer forests? As Professor Craig Allen explains, drought and ...

Video

Foreign Correspondent: Spawning dams, not fish, on the Mekong?

The Mekong is the largest freshwater fishery in the world; however, this may be about to change. Discover in this 2010 clip how migration of fish species along the lower Mekong may be impeded by the proposed construction of dams along this mighty river. Do the economic benefits of the dam outweigh the potential loss of ...

Video

The Traditional Owners of Perth: Whadjuk country

Ever wondered what life was like for the traditional owners of Perth before the British arrived in 1829? Whadjuk [pronounced wod-JUK] Noongar Elder and ambassador Dr Noel Nannup talks about traditional Whadjuk ways of life and key cultural places in Perth, and he teaches us the Noongar words for some Perth suburbs (such ...

Video

This Place: Birian Balunah - the birthing of the rivers

Paula Nihot shares a story told to her by Yugambeh Elder Patricia O’Connor. It's the story of Wanungara, queen of the mountains, and her daughters Princess Toolona and Princess Caningera, and how their complicated relationships and choices explain the geography of the region.

Video

Foreign Correspondent: The Mekong: A damming example

The government of Laos has plans for many revenue-raising dams along the Mekong River. Find out about a dam, the Nam Theun 2, which was completed in 2010 and lies across the Nam Theun river in the Nakai Plateau. This clip from the same year asks if the dam could be the flagship for others to be built along the Mekong. Discover ...

Video

BTN: China's internal migration

For decades China has experienced a mass migration of people from rural to urban areas. This large-scale movement of people is putting pressure on the resources and facilities of cities such as Shanghai. Watch this clip, first broadcast in 1993, to find out the reasons for China's internal migration and the challenges it ...

Video

Catalyst: Planning future cities

Could your mobile phone help town planners design better cities? Data collected from our day-to-day interactions can now be collated and used to make our cities both more efficient and better places to live. See how it all works.