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**Welcome to the Year 11 SACE Geography Wikipage.**
This site is designed to assist students with the successful study of the SACE Stage 1 Geography course. Use the navigation bar to choose the topics that you wish to learn about and I hope you find this site of use.

====**This Home Page gives information about the structure of the course and is taken from the SACE Board's [|Geography Subject Outline] for Stage 1**====

The learning requirements summarise the knowledge, skills, and understanding that students are expected to develop and demonstrate through their learning. In this subject, students are expected to: 1. demonstrate knowledge and understanding of geographical concepts 2. demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the economic, social, natural, and built characteristics of the place(s) in which they live and other places with which they are linked 3. apply a range of geographical and inquiry skills, including the use of spatial technologies to identify and examine geographical features and issues 4. investigate spatial patterns and processes that operate in physical and human environments 5. analyse the interactions and interdependence of people and environments at local, national, and global levels 6. analyse information to determine a range of outcomes and make justifiable recommendations for improvements to human and physical environments 7. reflect on social justice, sustainability, and economic perspectives of geographical issues 8. communicate geographical information appropriately.
 * Learning Requirements**

Stage 1 Geography may be undertaken as a 10-credit subject or a 20-credit subject. For both a 10-credit subject and a 20-credit subject, teachers design a program of topics that: 1. Location and distribution 2. Natural environments at risk 3. People, resources, and development 4. Issues for geographers.
 * Content**
 * engages students and builds on their knowledge, cultural backgrounds, and educational experiences and interests
 * reflects the selection and application of geographical skills (as identified below)
 * develops students’ capabilities
 * uses local fieldwork opportunities
 * takes into account the availability of primary and secondary sources of information and a range of technologies
 * explores geographical concepts and contemporary geographical issues
 * includes the following four key themes:

To develop a teaching and learning program that is appropriate to the needs of the students and to the educational setting, teachers choose from and adapt the skills described below.
 * Skills**

Skills involved in the acquisition of geographical data and information include:
 * Acquiring Geographical Data and Information**
 * collecting data and information in the field (planning, organising, observing, recording, measuring, selecting, sketching, photographing, interviewing, and mapping)
 * obtaining data and information from secondary sources (e.g. the Internet, atlases, texts, and population censuses)
 * obtaining data and information, using a range of techniques and technologies (e.g. spatial information systems, including GIS and GPS).

Skills involved in the use and interpretation of a wide variety of geographical data and information include:
 * Using and Interpreting Geographical Data and Information**
 * analysing, representing, and tabulating data from primary sources
 * analysing, manipulating, interpreting, and representing data from primary and secondary sources
 * analysing, interpreting, and using a range of maps
 * interpreting images (e.g. aerial, oblique, and ground photographs, and satellite images)
 * applying spatial information systems, including GIS and GPS
 * interpreting, manipulating, analysing, and presenting tables, graphs, and diagrams
 * interpreting and analysing information from a range of sources and in a variety of forms.

Skills involved in the investigation of geographical issues include:
 * Inquiring and Communicating Geographical Data and Information**
 * planning
 * researching
 * identifying patterns, trends, and associations
 * evaluating
 * solving problems
 * making decisions
 * making recommendations
 * extrapolating and predicting
 * developing hypotheses and forming conclusions
 * communicating in a variety of forms (oral, written, and visual — e.g. reports, essays, reviews, debates, letters, articles, presentations, and web pages)
 * creating products, ideas, and solutions
 * appropriately acknowledging the sources of data and information.

To guide the choice of topics and ensure a balanced approach, four key themes have been identified; all four should be included in teaching and learning programs. Although some topics may focus on one or two of the key themes, an integrated approach in which all four key themes are encompassed in each topic is preferable.
 * Key Themes**

This theme involves the spatial concepts of location and distribution. It develops students’ geographical abilities for understanding, analysis, explanation, and reflection in relation to local, national, and global interdependencies. These abilities depend on a clear understanding of the geographical concepts of:
 * Key Theme 1: Location and Distribution**
 * the relative location of significant natural and human features
 * associations between spatial patterns over relevant areas of the Earth’s surface
 * regions and the movement of people, products, and information
 * characteristics of the place(s) in which students live and other places with which they are linked.

This theme develops an understanding of the four spheres of the natural environment (atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere) and how each of these is at risk from human activities. The investigation of this theme may include the identification and explanation of:
 * Key Theme 2: Natural Environments at Risk**
 * physical processes in the natural environment
 * the scale of human-induced changes in the four spheres of the natural environment
 * the interactions among and interdependence of the four spheres of the natural environment
 * the sensitivity of the natural environment to natural and human-induced change
 * the need for the careful conservation and sustainable management of natural environments.

This theme, which develops an understanding of population and resources, focuses on human or built environments in those parts of the world where the survival of people is either at risk or continually challenged. The interplay of culture, economics, politics, and other social considerations is critical to this theme. Investigation of this theme may include the identification and explanation of the:
 * Key Theme 3: People, Resources, and Developmen**t
 * changing distribution, nature, patterns, and rates of growth of populations
 * nature of development
 * various ways of illustrating spatial variations in global, national, and local development
 * spatial patterns of development and the issues that result from unequal access to education, food, health services, housing, natural resources, and social support
 * equity issues associated with class, ethnicity, gender, and sustainable development.

This theme involves an exploration of the geographical nature of some of the issues facing societies. Geographical concepts and skills are used to identify, organise, and analyse these issues; students clarify their value positions and are encouraged to make informed decisions to develop preferred outcomes. Underpinning the identification of preferred outcomes are values associated with democratic processes, social justice, and ecological sustainability. This theme may include the exploration of issues such as:
 * Key Theme 4: Issues for Geographers**
 * biophysical processes involved in the sustainable management of the natural environment (e.g. acid rain, forest and bushland clearing, urban run-off, the control and regulation of rivers, soil contamination, and/or the mass movement of soil)
 * environmental issues associated with the use of natural resources (e.g. mining, irrigation, and/or tourism)
 * the maintenance of nature reserves, recreation parks, and/or coastal buffer zones by local government
 * the adoption and diffusion of mass consumer culture (e.g. brands, fashions, music, sport, leisure activities, and/or media)
 * the causes of economic instability, political tensions, religious and ethnic conflict, migration, and/or the mobility of people
 * the characteristics and outcomes of, and responses to, globalisation (e.g. global cultural integration, transnational corporations, global media and information technology networks, cultural sustainability, cultural imperialism, economic dominance, and/or the ‘shrinking’ of time and space)
 * community participation in environmental planning and management
 * the movement towards an environmentally sustainable future.

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