TERTIARY & CAREER PATHWAYS:
Cartography , Economic Geographer, Emergency Management, Environmental Planner/Management, Environmental Science, Environmental Management, Geography Teacher, Land Surveyor, Photogrammetry, Outdoor Recreation, Urban Planning/Community Development
UNIT 3 - Changing the Land
This unit focuses on two investigations of geographical change: change to land cover and change to land use. Land cover includes biomes such as forest, grassland, tundra and wetlands, as well as land covered by ice and water. Land cover is the natural state of the biophysical environment developed over time as a result of the interconnection between climate, soils, landforms and flora and fauna and, increasingly, interconnections with human activity. Natural land cover has been altered by many processes such as geomorphological events, plant succession and climate change. People have modified land cover to produce a range of land uses to satisfy needs such as housing, resource provision, communication, recreation and so on.
- Area of Study 1 - At a local scale students investigate land use change using appropriate fieldwork techniques and secondary sources. They investigate the scale of change, the reasons for change and the impacts of change. Students undertake fieldwork and produce a fieldwork report.
- Area of Study 2 - Students investigate three major processes that are changing land cover in many regions of the world: deforestation, desertification, and melting glaciers and ice sheets. Students investigate the distribution and causes of these three processes. They select one location for each of the three processes to develop a greater understanding of the changes to land cover produced by these processes, the impacts of these changes and responses to these changes at different scales.
Key Skills
- analyse maps, data and other geographic information to develop descriptions and explanations
- collect, sort, process and represent data and other information
- interpret and analyse maps and other geographical data and information
- identify and describe the geographic characteristics of the selected area
- identify and describe the change in land use in the selected area at spatial and temporal scales
- explain the processes of change, the reasons for change and the resulting land use change in the selected area
- explain and assess positive and negative impacts on the selected area and the surrounding region resulting from land use changes.
- identify and describe the spatial distribution of the world’s land cover
- compare the spatial distributions of the world’s land cover over time
- describe and explain the processes and causes of deforestation, desertification and melting glaciers and ice
sheets
- describe and explain the changes to land cover that have occurred as a result of deforestation, desertification and melting glaciers and ice sheets, and the impacts of the changes to land cover
- explain the significance of the changes to land cover
- apply appropriate criteria to evaluate the effectiveness or likely effectiveness of responses to the impacts of
these changes.
Assessment:
Structured questions and fieldwork report
UNIT 4 - Human population – trends and issues
In this unit students investigate the geography of human populations. They explore the patterns of population change, movement and distribution, and how governments, organisations and individuals have responded to those changes in different parts of the world.
- Area of Study 1- In this unit, students study population dynamics before undertaking an investigation into two significant population trends arising in different parts of the world. They examine the dynamics of populations and their economic, social, political and environmental impacts on people and places. The growth of the world’s population from 2.5 billion in 1950 to over 7 billion since 2010 has been on a scale without parallel in human history. Much of the current growth is occurring within developing countries while the populations in many developed countries are either growing slowly or are declining.
- Area of Study 2 - Populations change by growth and decline in fertility and mortality, and by people moving to different places. The Demographic Transition Model and population structure diagrams provide frameworks for investigating the key dynamics of population. Population movements such as voluntary and forced movements over long or short terms add further complexity to population structures and to economic, social, political and environmental conditions. Many factors influence population change, including the impact of government policies, economic conditions, wars and revolution, political boundary changes and hazard events.
Key skills
- analyse maps, data and other geographic information to develop descriptions and explanations
- collect, sort, process and represent data and other information
- interpret and analyse maps and other geographical data and information
- identify and describe patterns in world population distribution and characteristics, and trends in world
population growth
- assess the relevance of Malthusian theory
- identify and describe the types and causes of population change
- explain the causes of population change and sustainability
- explain similarities and differences in population dynamics and population structures within and between locations.
- describe and explain the nature and significance of population issues and challenges
- describe and explain the causes and impacts of issues and challenges
- describe and explain the responses to population issues and challenges
- use appropriate criteria to evaluate the effectiveness of strategies developed in response to specific issues
- explain the role and effectiveness of spatial technologies for the development and implementation of strategies developed in response to population issues
- compare the effectiveness of strategies.
Assessment:
Structured questions
VCAA ASSESSMENT – THE OVERALL STUDY SCORE WILL CONSIST OF:
- School Assessed Coursework (50% - 25% for each unit)
- Written examination in November (50%)
Prerequisites:
N/A
Recommendations:
It is recommended that the student have satisfactory completion of Unit 1 and 2 Geography and have an average score of 65% in any English.
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