Geography / Year 10 / Geographical Knowledge and Understanding / Unit 1: Environmental change and management

Curriculum content descriptions

The application of geographical concepts and methods to the management of the environmental change being investigated (ACHGK074)

Elaborations
  • discussing the influence of people’s world views on programs for the management of the environmental change being investigated
  • proposing geographical management strategies for the environmental change being investigated (for example, establishing reserves and corridors to preserve biodiversity (a spatial strategy), ecosystem-based management (an environmental strategy), urban planning to reduce energy consumption (a spatial strategy), and addressing underlying as well as immediate causes of environmental change (holistic thinking))
  • comparing strategies in Australia and another country to manage the environmental change being investigated
  • exploring the variety of solutions to similar environmental changes in different places
  • discussing how land management agencies are increasingly working with traditional owners to manage environmental change and challenges
General capabilities
  • Critical and creative thinking Critical and creative thinking
Cross-curriculum priorities
ScOT terms

Environmental management

Video

Foreign Correspondent: Dams and dolphins on the Mekong?

If the Lao Government's plans are realised, nine hydropower dams will be built across the Mekong River in Laos, and more across its tributaries. The government wants the country to become the 'battery of Asia'. With this dream comes a host of issues. Listen to reasons why the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) suggests hydro-dam ...

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Catalyst: E-waste, recycling, and sustainability

What happens to electronic waste (e-waste)? Watch this clip about the physics of recycling to find out the way that useful materials are captured from waste at a local materials recovery facility. Presenter Tanya Ha investigates e-waste, the products it comes from, and the sustainability challenges it poses.

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Measuring gravity

Did you know you can measure gravity? The more mass an object has, the more gravity it has, so by measuring the mass of something, you can figure out its gravity. Why do you think climate scientists may want these measurements? Watch this NASA animation to find out.

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The Conversation: Biodiversity

This resource contains a series of explanatory articles about biodiversity, its role in ecological conservation, key issues, and new research. It can be used to develop a broad understanding of biodiversity, its importance and impact.

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Budj Bim: an Aboriginal cultural heritage landscape

This resource showcases how the Gunditjmara people shaped the landscape for long-term well-being. In this activity students will investigate the cultural connections of the Budj Bim people to country, their development and use of environmental management strategies over thousands of years, and the modern context of collaborative ...

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Earthshots: satellite images of environmental change - Singapore

This resource is a series of satellite images of Singapore showing changes from 1973 to 2009 accompanied by a text explanation and a brief history of Singapore from British colonisation in 1819. The images and text together chart changes over time such as the destruction of the original tropical rainforest apart from small ...

Video

Landline: Feeding soils to grow hungry crops

How do today's farmers improve their crop yields? One school of thought is to go high-tech and use agricultural technologies designed to improve efficiencies and yields. See the role that soil condition plays in gaining those high yields.

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What Greenland's ice tells us about climate change

Why is it so important to keep our eyes on Greenland's ice and what does it have to do with climate change science? Watch this short animation from NASA to find out!

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Introduction to Food Security

This is a video that defines and explores the concept of food security using animated illustrations, spoken commentary, and pauses for discussion. Identifying the accelerating growth of population and the proportion of people who are chronically hungry, it provides the United Nation's definition of food security and its ...

Video

Catalyst: Why plants are good for liveable cities

Central Park in Sydney was voted the world's best tall building. It is known for the plants in its beautiful vertical gardens which cover its surfaces, but did you know that the garden is not purely decorative? Watch this video to find out what other purpose the vertical garden has.

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Food production in the Murray-Darling Basin

This thirteen and a half minute video highlights the importance of food and fibre production in the Murray Darling Basin. It explores the perspective of the farm families involved in both irrigated and dryland farming and explains how their products are distributed to local, national and global markets. This video also ...

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Climate science analysis from The Conversation

This is a collection of articles about climate science. It includes articles about modelling, explanations about heat trends, predictions about sea level rise, and why the science about climate change is clear. The articles are written in plain language and are authored by experts from universities in Australia and around ...

Video

Foreign Correspondent: Sustainable tourism

The Yucatán Peninsula in south-eastern Mexico is a popular tourist destination. This clip focuses on examples of sustainable tourism - tourism that aims to have a low environmental impact. View Tulum, a town under threat of being developed similarly to Cancún, a major tourist resort destination.

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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.

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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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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?

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Food security and global farming

The expected growth in world population from 6.8 billion in 2010 to over 9 billion by 2050, the demand for food will increase by around 70 per cent. This collection of articles from the CSIRO describes some of the research that is underway to improve the world's agriculture sector to address this growing demand. The web ...

Video

Gaps and opportunities for perennial crops

This is a video about the scientific breeding of perennial crops as described at a 2013 workshop, 'Perennial crops for food security', held by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). After giving the big picture regarding perennial crop research, the 16-minute video focuses on the breeding of perennial wheat and its ...

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Voice of fishers: Panama

This is a video about the rights and fishing practices of the Kuna people of the Comarca, an autonomous region of Kuna Yala, which is a 226-km long strip of Panama's Caribbean coast. Opening with a map of the area, the video consists mostly of interviews with Kuna people who tell how their fishing rights were secured; distinguish ...

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TAR-RU: The story of Lake Victoria

This 46 minute video explores the environmental and cultural impact of a dam on Lake Victoria in south western NSW and current efforts to protect the significant Aboriginal heritage and environmental values of the area. It provides a comprehensive historical case study about the Aboriginal culture at TAR-RU and the effect ...