Geography Term4 2021

Term 4 has been a productive term for all grades. Year 7 have been learning about place and liveability, particularly the factors that can improve the liveability of a place, but can also worsen it. The specific factors students studied were the environment, healthcare, culture and safety. They also looked at specific places such as Rio Di Janeiro, Dhaka and Sydney and the reasons why they are at different ranks on the liveability index. The PBL task this term was a combination of Maths and Geography. Students had the opportunity to take a walk around their suburbs, identify the most liveable features and use these to create their own 2D plan of their ideal liveable suburb.

Year 8 studied interconnections in which they looked at the various connections people have to other people and places and how their perceptions can be changed through personal experiences. Students also looked at cultural diffusion and adaptation specifically studying how various cultures came together in one community, they went on to look at how religion can impact their connection to a place. Through their assessment task, students were able to choose between the impacts of fast fashion, the impacts of e-waste and the impacts of our coffee and chocolate addiction to create a campaign to promote fair trade / social justice / environmental sustainability.

Year 9 went into depth with changing places. We looked at urbanisation and the major reason people move from rural to urban areas. Students were particularly interested to learn about megacities and the reasons behind the differences between each one. Students read and interpreted population graphs of different countries, specifically comparing Australia’s and USA’s population. Their assessment task this term consisted of the research of a city of their choosing, focusing on location, population, wealth, education and the geographical challenges and issues faced by the city, as well as how different organisations have responded to these challenges.

Year 10 studied Human wellbeing, looking at MEDC’s and LEDC’s and the characteristic that differentiate the two. Students studied indigenous wellbeing in Australia, and they compared it to non-indigenous wellbeing and the reasons behind the discrepancy between the two. Their assessment task required students to create a promotional campaign to promote information about an international issue which impacts negatively on Human Wellbeing. Topics students chose included gender inequality, world hunger, poverty etc. As a part of this topic, we also looked at sanitation and the islamic history of soap. Students also had the opportunity to make soaps.

Year 12 Modern History started off the term with their core topic: Power and Authority in the Modern World. Through a study of Germany as a key example, students developed an understanding of how a democracy can collapse, the impact of dictatorship on a society, the elimination of individual freedoms, and the threats that dictatorships can pose to peace and security. This provided students with insights that contributed to a critical perspective on power and authority in the contemporary world.

I will be starting my maternity leave from January next year. Everyone will be dearly missed. I wish all students the best of luck with everything!