Year 9 Sustainable Living

TERTIARY & CAREERS PATHWAYS:

water technical officer, environmental engineer, architect, park ranger, botanist, building surveyor, urban and regional planner, landscape architect, groundsman, meteorologist, forest technical officer, landcare worker

In this unit students develop STEM skills and knowledge in the area of sustainable living.   They will consider a range of techniques to analyse environmental factors and explore changes and effects of social practices on our local and global environment. Students will conduct practical investigations including monitoring and analysis of weather changes, water usage and pollution of waterways, test the effects of alternative technologies, explore sustainable food and fibre production. They will gain skills in use of electronic sensors and data logging electronics as well as various analysis techniques, including analysis of atmospheric measures collected through various devices which they learn to operate.  Students will also develop strategies to implement improvements to our living practices and monitor the effectiveness of these improvements. 

Learning Standards: 

Students will be able to:

• Investigate current practices in relation to resource usage. Students calculate their Ecological footprint. They investigate the information on resource usage in the 4 areas of: Water; Waste; Energy and Biodiversity
• Collect scientific evidence on environmental factors by using various methods and equipment
• Analyse and evaluate environmental data collected at MLMC
• Evaluate and implement alternative solutions to environmental practices at school and home
• Monitor performance by documenting and communicating outcomes to report on targets

Assessment: 

There will be a variety of tasks undertaken from the following: 

• Practical Investigations 
• Journal Responses 
• Poster and oral presentations
• Unit Tests  

Contributions to class discussions and completion of class work will also be considered.