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Year 6-unit overview — Australian Curriculum: Geography

Source: Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), Australian Curriculum v3.0: History for Foundation–10, <www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/History/Curriculum/F-10>.

School name Unit title Duration of unit

Our School Global Diversity Investigation 10 weeks

Unit outline

The Year 6 curriculum shifts to a global scale with a geographical study of the world’s cultural, economic, demographic and social diversity.

In this unit students learn about the diversity of peoples and cultures around the world including indigenous peoples of other countries, and reflect on cultural differences and similarities. Students explore spatial distributions, patterns and trends in a range of maps, graphs and tables.

Students’ mental maps of the world and their understanding of place are further developed through learning the location of the major countries in the Asia region, and investigating the geographical diversity and variety of connections between people and places.

The students will:

collect and record relevant geographic data and information from sources about the economic, demographic and social diversity of different countries

evaluate the usefulness of collected data and information and represent data in different forms such as maps, plans, graphs, tables, sketches and diagrams

represent the locations and features on maps of major countries of the Asian region in relation to Australia

interpret geographical data and information, to identify distributions, patterns and trends and infer relationships, using digital and spatial technologies where appropriate

present findings and reflect on learning in different texts such as written, oral, graphic, tabular, visuals and maps, using digital and spatial technologies where appropriate.

The inquiry questions for the unit are:

How do places, people and cultures differ across the world?

What are Australia’s global connections between people and places?

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Identify curriculum

Content descriptions to be taught General capabilities and/or

cross-curriculum priorities Knowledge and Understanding Skills

The location of the major countries of the Asia region in relation to Australia and the geographical diversity within the region (ACHGK031)

Differences in the economic, demographic and social characteristics between countries across the world (ACHGK032)

The world’s cultural diversity, including that of its indigenous peoples (ACHGK033)

Collecting, recording, evaluating and representing

Collect and record relevant geographical data and information, using ethical protocols, from primary and secondary sources, for example, people, maps, plans, photographs, satellite images, statistical sources and reports (ACHGS041)

Evaluate sources for their usefulness and represent data in different forms, for example, maps, plans, graphs, tables, sketches and diagrams (ACHGS042)

Represent the location and features of places and different types of geographical information by constructing large-scale and small-scale maps that conform to cartographic conventions including border, source, scale, legend, title and north point, using spatial technologies as appropriate (ACHGS043)

Interpreting, analysing and concluding

Interpret geographical data and other information using digital and spatial technologies as appropriate, and identify spatial distributions, patterns and trends, and infer relationships to draw conclusions (ACHGS044)

Communicating

Present findings and ideas in a range of communication forms, for example, written, oral, graphic, tabular, visual and maps, using geographical terminology and digital technologies as appropriate (ACHGS045)

The application of the general capabilities and cross-curriculum priorities in this include may include:

Literacy

Numeracy

ICT capability

Critical and creative thinking

Personal and social capability

Ethical understanding

Intercultural understanding

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures

Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia

Sustainability

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Understanding

This unit provides opportunities for students to develop understandings particularly focused on the key concepts of:

relationships that Australia has with other countries in the Asian region

the geographical diversity of the Asian region

similarities and differences in official languages and religions across the Asian region including Australia

relationships between the characteristics of places, such as population density, life expectancy and per capita income to describe patterns that are observed in the data and information

Achievement standard

By the end of Year 6, students explain the characteristics of diverse places in different locations at different scales from local to global. They describe the interconnections between people and places, identify factors that influence these interconnections and describe how they change places and affect people. They describe the location of selected countries in absolute and relative terms and identify and compare spatial distributions and patterns among phenomena. They identify and describe alternative views on how to respond to a geographical challenge and propose a response.

Students develop geographical questions to frame an inquiry. They locate relevant information from a range of sources to answer inquiry questions. They represent data and the location of places and their characteristics in different graphic forms, including large-scale and small-scale maps that use cartographic conventions of border, source, scale, legend, title and north point. Students interpret data and other information to identify and compare spatial distributions, patterns and trends, infer relationships and draw conclusions. They present findings and ideas using geographical terminology and graphic representations in a range of communication forms. They propose action in response to a geographical challenge and describe the expected effects of their proposal.

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Assessment Make judgments using criteria

Describe the assessment

Collection of work: Written/Multimodal

The purpose of this assessment is to make judgments about students’ responses to a series of focused tasks within a specified context and based on the process of geographical inquiry and skills. The focus of the collection of work is geographical data and information that identifies spatial distributions, patterns and trends of economic, demographic and social characteristics between countries across the world in relation to Australia, including the Asian region.

Students:

on an outline map, locate the selected country in the Asia region. Use a spatial application, such as Google Earth or Google Maps, to compare its location to Australia. Ask students to identify what they already know about the selected country.

look at the relationships between the characteristics of places, such as population density, life expectancy and per capita income to describe patterns that are observed in the data and information

identify and analyse data and information about the economic, demographic and social characteristics of different countries. Discuss patterns, trends and relationships between evidence gathered

present findings about global diversity in a multimodal text, that is suited to graphically displaying data and visual information for interpretation and show the similarities and differences between life in selected countries and in Australia. The findings should include data such as population density, life expectancy, energy consumption and per capita income.

create a multimodal text 200–300 words

Teachers gather evidence to make judgments about the following characteristics of student work:

Understanding

Characteristics of diverse places in different locations at different places at different scale from local to global

Locations of selected countries in absolute and relative terms

Comparisons of spatial distributions and patterns among geographical phenomena

Skills

Interpret data and other information to identify and compare spatial distributions, patterns and trends

Infer relationships and draw conclusions

Present findings and ideas using geographical terminology and graphic representations

Valued features of the Standard Elaborations targeted in this assessment:

Geographical knowledge and understanding

Interpreting and analysing, present findings about global diversity in a multimodal text

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Teaching and learning

Teaching strategies and learning experiences Resources

On an outline map, locate the selected country in the Asia region. Use a spatial application, such as Google Earth or Google Maps, to compare its location to Australia. Ask students to identify what they already know about the selected country.

Use a spatial application to reveal the locations of each of the photographs. Ask students to rank the photographs from most to least representative of that locality or country. These conversations will establish students’ preconceived ideas of the country. Discuss the importance of using a range of sources to develop an understanding of the diversity of people, places and environments.

Develop geographical questions to investigate global diversity: How do we compare differences between people and cultures across the world? How can we measure these differences between countries and across the world? Why is it important to know about differences between countries?

Collaborate to select areas of interest and to collect and record relevant geographic data and information from sources under the headings of: Economic, Demographic and Social Diversity of selected country in comparison to Australia.

Identify and explain geographic terms used to describe the characteristics of places such as population density, life expectancy, energy consumption, per capita income.

Collect and organise information and evidence about selected countries using digital application.

Explore the geographical diversity of the Asian region. Consider use of the Google Earth > View > Historical Imagery to view changes in environmental features over time

Represent demographic characteristics of places in the Asian region in relation to Australia using graphs such as population pyramids

Represent relationships that Australia has with other countries in the Asian region.

Google Maps http://maps.google.com.au/

Google Earth www.google.com/intl/en/earth/index.html

Australian Bureau of Statistics, Migrants and ethnicity www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/c311215.nsf/web/migrant+and+ethnicity

National Geographic www.nationalgeographic.com

World vision www.worldvision.com.au/resources

WWF Living Planet Report http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/all_publications/living_planet_report/

Owl & Mouse Online Asia maps www.yourchildlearns.com/online-atlas-asia.htm

Av media systems Interactive whiteboard resources: Geography, history and civics websites www.avsystems.com.au/default/sose_resources

Asia Education Foundation Curriculum resources Geography www.asiaeducation.edu.au/curriculum_resources/geography/geography_cr.html

Asia Education Foundation: Jakarta faces www.asiaeducation.edu.au/curriculum_resources/geography/year_7-8_jakarta_faces/year_7-8_jakarta_faces.html

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Identify and analyse data and information about the economic, demographic and social characteristics of different countries. Discuss patterns, trends and relationships between evidence gathered

Look at the relationships between the characteristics of places, such as population density, life expectancy and per capita income to describe patterns that are observed in the data and information

Present findings about global diversity in a multimodal text, that is suited to graphically displaying data and visual information for interpretation and show the similarities and differences between life in selected countries and in Australia. The findings should include data such as population density, life expectancy, energy consumption and per capita income.

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Justification of Geography Unit Overview

The Geography Unit was developed for Year Six students incorporating a cross curricular priority of Asia Literacy from the

Australian Curriculum and Reporting Authority. Embedding diversity into the curriculum is of importance as Australia is a

multicultural society with a close neighbouring continent being Asia. Students’ knowledge of the world’s cultural, economic,

demographic and social diversity is vital in today’s society, along with their understanding of maps, graphs and tables. This has

been considered when developing the Year Six Geography Unit: Global Diversity Investigation to ensure students are meeting year

level and curriculum expectations. The justification will outline key learning activities to engage students with Asia Literacy

incorporating the use of ICTs, curriculum links and assessment items to demonstrate students’ understanding of Asia Literacy.

The Unit was developed for the Key Learning Area (KLA), Geography, with a focus on the cross curricular priority of Asia Literacy.

The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) has three cross curricular priorities; Asia and

Australia’s Engagement with Asia, Sustainability and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Histories and Cultures. This unit incorporates

Asia and Australia’s Engagement with Asia. The Asia region is one of the most populated areas in the world and is one of the

largest producers and consumer of goods and services in the world. Asia makes up 71% per of exports and that means Australia’s

engagement with Asia is extremely important for economic growth (ACARA, 2016). Now in the 21st century, teachers and students

are required to be active and informed citizens who appreciate Australia’s diversity. This includes linguistic and cultural

backgrounds and histories and being able to communicate and relate across cultures, especially the Asian region (MCEETYA,

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2008). Incorporating Asia Literacy into the curriculum allows students to extend their knowledge and understanding of Asia and

gives students long life skills, opportunities and capabilities to be engaged with the economic giants of Asia (AEF, 2016)

(MCEETYA, 2016) (ACARA, 2016).

Activity One: On an outlined map of the world, students locate the selected country in the Asia region. Use a spatial application

such as Google Earth or Google Maps, to compare the selected country’s location to Australia (ACARA, 2016). Ask students to

identify any prior knowledge they have of the selected country through a brainstorming activity and have students discuss this with

the class. The activity will help educator’s identify students’ prior knowledge of Asian countries on a world map in comparison to

Australia and allow students to gain further knowledge from their peers. Technology and ICTs has evolved in the current world

allowing students to view such places through Google Maps and Google Earth to retrieve a detailed information with ease. Students

can view in-depth areas that are being investigated and researched while sitting in their classroom. This directly links with the Year

Six ACARA Geography, geographical knowledge and understanding. Therefore, the teacher accessing or assessing the formative

assessment can evaluate and identify students’ prior knowledge of the selected Asian country and provide valuable feedback for

students. The summative information gathered by the educator will also provide valuable information of how to successfully

implement the unit to effectively achieve student learning outcomes and priorities expected from the curriculum.

Activity Two: Students will identify the relationships and characteristics between places, such as population density, life expectancy

and per capita income. Students will use this information to identify patterns of a region in Asia that are identified from information

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collected in Activity One. Students research comparative data of statistics to investigate population totals, life expectancy and

describe patterns in their findings. Students would be using inquiry based learning to identify possible reasoning’s behind these

statistics. This will involve research of Asian regions to better understand the difference in cultures, lifestyles and economics. This

activity’s learning experience relates to Asia Literacy as it involves researching a region in Asia and exploring culture, people and

economics allowing students to gain vital knowledge and understanding of Asia. While incorporating Asia Literacy, it is critical

the teacher only does so when it is relevant to that KLA (Salter & Maxwell, 2015).

Activity Three: Students present their findings about global diversity in a multimodal text. Students are required to identify and

describe the similarities and differences of life in the selected Asian region with Australia and be presented using an appropriate

display. This display would include data, graphs and written information to identify the similarities and differences. The display

should include data such as population density, life expectancy and per capita income. Students use their knowledge and

understanding gained by Activity One and Two along with teacher feedback to present their research findings and critically reflect

the diversity between Australia and the Asia region. Activity Three links with ACARA cross curricular priority Asia and Australia’s

Engagement with Asia by allowing students to research and critically evaluate relationships, cultures and economic factors of

selected Asia region and Australia. As students need to be ‘Asia Literate’, engaging in this activity is a step to students recognising

the vital influence Asia has on Australia and the world (MCEETYA, 2008).

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Assessment: Activity One is a formative diagnostic assessment to assess what students already know and where they need to be

heading. The activity provides the teacher with students’ prior knowledge and allows them to plan future teaching and learning

experiences. Activity Two provides deeper learning of the content as students begin to research Asia’s diversity, life density,

population and identifies relationships and characteristics of their selected region. This part of the formative assessment stage

enables the teacher to provide written and verbal feedback to the students. This leads into Activity Three and also provides formative

assessment opportunities as students’ present their findings about global diversity through a multimodal text that is suited to

graphically displaying data and visual information for interpretation and show the similarities and differences between life in

selected countries and in Australia. The assessment findings should include data such as population density, life expectancy, energy

consumption and per capita income. The cross curricular priority, Asia and Australia’s Engagement with Asia, is embedded in the

formative assessment pieces (Activity One, Two and Three) to provide a deeper learning opportunity to enhance students’

knowledge and understanding of Asia and diversity.

This unit of work is heavily dependent on the use of ICTs, technology is an interest and expectation of everyday life to 21st century

learners. Since we are in a digital age, technology and ICTs engage and motivate students through visual stimulation and real views

of the world while in the comfort of the classroom (MCEETYA, 2008). Incorporating ICT resources into the classroom is highly

valued as nearly all students in the 21st century own some form of technology, whether it be phone, laptop or tablet, (Krause,

Bochner, Duchesne & McMaugh, 2010). By incorporating ICTs into this unit, more engaging, flexible and effective teaching

opportunities can be provided to engage students with Asia Literate rather than to old method of chalk and talk (Jung, 2005).

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Therefore, by allowing students to access ICTs will allow them to broaden their knowledge and understanding of a region in Asia

through engaging learning experiences.

Defining Asia literacy is difficult and how would it be assessed, researched showed that pre service teachers’ had to do

specialised courses through universities or do it as part of professional learning once becoming a qualified teacher (Grainger &

Christie, 2015). However, Halse, Cloonan, Dyer, Kostogriz, Toe, & Weinmann, (2013) state that to be an Asia literate teacher

you need to possess expert knowledge of content and seamlessly integrate Asia into the curriculum. Whilst ACARA defines Asia

literacy as ‘skills to communicate’ but not language learning (Grainger & Christie, 2015). Overall this unit will allow students to

develop and broaden their knowledge and understanding of Asia literacy.

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References

Asia and Australia’s Engagement with Asia - The Australian Curriculum v8.1. (2016). Retrieved from

http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/crosscurriculumpriorities/asia-and-australia-s-engagement-with-asia/overview

Asia and Australia’s Engagement with Asia - The Australian Curriculum v8.1. (2016). Retrieved from

http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/crosscurriculumpriorities/asia-and-australia-s-engagement-with-asia/key-ideas

Asia and Australia’s Engagement with Asia - The Australian Curriculum v8.1. (2016). Retrieved from

http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/crosscurriculumpriorities/asia-and-australia-s-engagement-with-asia/in-the-learning-

areas

F-10 overview - Learning 3-6 - The Australian Curriculum v8.1. (2016). Retrieved from

http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/overview/3-6

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Geography Foundation to Year 10 Curriculum by rows - The Australian Curriculum v7.5. (2016). Retrieved from http://v7-

5.australiancurriculum.edu.au/humanities-and-social-sciences/geography/curriculum/f-10?layout=1#level6

Grainger, P., & Christie, M. (2015). Measuring pre-service teachers’ Asia literacy and their preparedness to teach Asia. Teaching

Education, 1-19. doi:10.1080/10476210.2015.1077803

Halse, C., Cloonan, A., Dyer, J., Kostogriz, A., Toe, D., & Weinmann, M. (2013). Asia literacy and the Australian teaching

workforce. Melbourne: Commissioned by The Australian Institute for Teaching and School leadership (AITSL), Education

Services Australia.

Jung, I. (2005). ICT-pedagogy integration in teacher training: Application cases worldwide. Educational Technology &

Society, 8(2), 94-101. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.usc.edu.au:2048/docview/61868983?accountid=28745

Krause, K., Bochner, S., Duchesne, S., & McMaugh, A. (2010). Educational Psychology for learning & teaching. Melbourne,

Australia. Cengage Learning.

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National Statement on Asia Literacy | Asia Education Foundation. (2016). Retrieved from

http://www.asiaeducation.edu.au/research-and-policy/policy/national-statement-on-asia-literacy

Salter, P., & Maxwell, J. (2015). The inherent vulnerability of the Australian Curriculum’s cross-curriculum priorities. Critical

Studies in Education, 1-17. doi:10.1080/17508487.2015.1070363