Geography

Geography students learn all about change - what causes change, how people adapt to change and what are the consequences of change. We often read stories in the paper of "doom and gloom", of drought, famine, nuclear testing and endangered species.

The world has undergone some dramatic changes since the beginning of time and it is up to us as "caretakers" of our planet to be able to preserve and plan further strategies that will enable us to continue this caretaker role well into the new millennium.

Geography is enlightening, but when we look at the world as a whole it can also be disheartening. The study of Geography in Years I I and 12 attempts to give us a balanced Global Perspective of issues that relate to you as individuals and to the world as a whole.

The Senior Geography course examines how humans depend upon each other and how they interact with the environment, and looks at change over time from a geographical viewpoint.

The course is designed to develop skills in understanding, observation, interpretation, recording and analysis. Students develop attitudes and values towards issues such as environmental change, the contribution of ethnic and national culture identities in multicultural Australia, and the significance of global economic development with respect to differences in standards of living and opportunities worldwide.

Students of this course use a variety of inquiry methods, practise a wide range of skills, carry out fieldwork and plan, investigate and present a Senior Geography project.

Course Content

The Preliminary course consists of 2 compulsory topics:

• The Biophysical Environment
• Population, Settlement and Work

The Senior Geography Project, which is an assessable task, must also be completed.

The HSC course, 3 topics are chosen from the following:

• Fragile Ecosystems
• Large Cities
• Natural Resources
• Productive Activity

Geographic skills, contemporary geographic issues and fieldwork are integrated into the study of all topics.

Students are not required to have studied Geography in Years 9 and 10.

Some degree of specialisation is possible within the course and individual students can develop their particular interests while completing course requirements.