Science / Year 8 / Science as a Human Endeavour / Use and influence of science

Curriculum content descriptions

People use science understanding and skills in their occupations and these have influenced the development of practices in areas of human activity (ACSHE136)

Elaborations
  • describing how technologies have been applied to modern farming techniques to improve yields and sustainability
  • investigating how Aboriginal people recognise relationships in ecosystems by burning to promote new growth, attract animals and afford easier hunting and food gathering
  • describing the impact of plant cloning techniques (asexual production) in agriculture such as horticulture, fruit production and vineyards
  • investigating the role of science in the development of technology important to the economies and communities of the Asia–Pacific regions, for example car manufacture, earthquake prediction and electronic optics
  • recognising the role of knowledge of the environment and ecosystems in a number of occupations
  • considering how engineers improve energy efficiency of a range of processes
  • recognising the role of knowledge of cells and cell divisions in the area of disease treatment and control
  • investigating how scientists have created new materials such as synthetic fibres, heat-resistant plastics and pharmaceuticals
General capabilities
  • Ethical understanding Ethical understanding
Cross-curriculum priorities
ScOT terms

Environmental management,  Technology,  Industries

Video

Cloud seeding

This nine and a half minute video segment from Catalyst describes how researchers from Monash University have hard evidence that cloud seeding can produce good amounts of extra rainfall. Data collected over a long period of time has give hope to scientists and environmentalists who are trying to reduce the impacts of droughts ...

Video

Solar Prints

This 6 minute video segment from Catalyst is an excellent introduction to the science behind photovoltaics. A useful comparison of the efficiency of energy conversion. Discussion of other issues considered in producing devices to use renewable energy to make electricity.

Audio

Solar thermal electricity

This program gives an update on research into solar thermal electricity. Liddell Power Station in the Hunter Valley, NSW is a hybrid power station using solar energy to pre-heat water and so reduce the use of coal and the production of carbon dioxide. Some scientists claim that harnessing the solar heat in an area 50km ...

Online

Producing cattle and sheep...beef and lamb

This is a unit of work comprising five sequences of activities in which students investigate cattle and sheep production systems and present a documentary, song, poster or brochure in response. In the first sequence, students engage with the industries, sources of information and possible forms of response. In the second ...

Online

Breeding a sustainable future

This is a unit of work that focuses on improvements in livestock and crop production brought about by agricultural practice, scientific research and technology. The unit is organised around six learning experiences that include investigating how agricultural products have developed over time; identifying the role of technology ...

Interactive

Thermal comfort – sustainability action process (Years 7–10)

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

Online

Creating a wildlife habitat: design

Creating a wildlife habitat can provide a home for a variety of local wildlife from the smallest insects and spiders to birds, reptiles, mammals and frogs. These habitats can provide a sanctuary for species that have been displaced through urbanisation, as built structures replace natural areas. The Vision activity determined ...

Online

Locks, Weirs and Dams

This lesson sequence examines structures that are used by water resource managers in the Murray-Darling Basin including dams, locks, weirs, barrages, fishways, channels and levee banks and explores the positive and negative effects of river regulation. It includes a teacher PowerPoint presentation, separate teacher notes ...

Video

Growing carbon nanotubes

Carbon nanotubes are a very tiny but super strong material used in manufacturing to create strong, lightweight products. Besides sporting equipment, find out what other kinds of products are made using these tiny molecules. What other qualities (besides size and strength) do carbon nanotubes have that makes them even more ...

Online

Game changers and change makers: resource book of ideas for National Science Week 2018

This resource book includes ideas to support students’ involvement in investigating, exploring, experimenting, designing, creating and communicating their understandings about game changers and change makers from the past who have solved some of the seemingly unsolvable problems, to game changers and change makers of today, ...

Text

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 ...

Video

Upholding cassava's potential in Africa

This is a video about the importance of cassava for food security in Africa and how the Regional Cassava Initiative supported small-scale farmers whose crops were affected by viral diseases. Plant virologist James Legg explains the extent of the problem and how the viruses are transmitted, and Burundi farmer Aoron Sebomana ...

Interactive

Oresome world

This interactive resource takes students on a journey of discovery in the energy and mining world. Oresome world contains five games or modules: Coal, Energy, Gas, Low emissions and Mining, and within each of these there are several facilities to explore, such as the Underground mining site, Hydroelectric power station, ...

Video

Where does water go after it rains?

What happens to rainfall in Australia? Water usually flows downhill, and because we know where the hills are, scientists have been able to divide the country into drainage divisions, or catchments. Find out which drainage division you're in, and learn what happens to rainwater that doesn't make it to the sea. |Learn more ...

Video

Engineering clean rivers

Figuring out how to clean up contaminated rivers is a big challenge. It's also tricky to work out where the most contaminated parts of a river system are and whether its fish are safe to eat. Watch this video and learn how engineering has helped to solve these problems. Why do you think engineers looked to the bottom of ...

Video

All about engines

What does 'horsepower' really mean? And how do engines work? Join Luke and Abhi from MIT to find out! As Abhi explains, engines produce power by forcing a mixture of fuel and air into a tight space and then burning it. Piston engines and turbine engines do this in similar, yet different ways. After watching this video, ...

Video

Dam threatens ancient lungfish

Explore the issues around the construction of the Traveston Dam in Queensland with Professor Jean Joss and former Queensland Premier Peter Beattie. In this 2006 news report they outline arguments for and against the construction of the dam and how it would affect one of the few remaining homes of a 150-million- year-old ...

Video

Precision Sheep Management: video

This is a video (4:09 min) about the University of New England’s Kirby Research Station and how its work with sheep has been transformed by technology, particularly the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag. The video is presented by members of the Enhanced sheep wellbeing and productivity research program and includes ...

Video

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 ...

Video

Water reservoirs as climate change adaptation

This is a video about water availability for people living in the Peruvian Andes. It includes vision and information about water scarcity in this region and details of a Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations funded project involving the creation of a sustainable water management program. The program involves ...