Stage 5 Focus Areas

The Stage 5 Australian Geography section of the Mandatory course comprises four focus areas:

5A1 Investigating Australia’s Identity

Time allocation - 20% of course time

Principal focus

To describe the location, size and other unique characteristics of Australia that influence Australian identity at local, national and global scales.

Stage 5 outcomes

In this focus area a student will work towards the following Stage 5 outcomes:

5.1	identifies, gathers and evaluates geographical information
5.2	analyses, organises and synthesises geographical information
5.3	selects and uses appropriate written, oral and graphic forms to communicate geographical information
5.4	demonstrates a sense of place about Australian environments
5.5	explains the geographical processes that form and transform Australian environments
5.7	explains Australia’s links with other countries and its role in the global community
5.8	accounts for differences within and between Australian communities.

Content

In working towards Stage 5 outcomes, students will learn about:

Australia’s location in the Asia-Pacific region and the world

• Australia, near neighbours and their territorial boundaries

• major oceans, seas, river systems and mountain ranges of the world

• major cities of the world

Australia’s geographical dimensions

• relative size and shape

• latitude and longitude

Characteristics that make Australia unique

• Australia and its Aboriginal heritage including concepts of the origins of the continent

• Australia’s diverse physical environments

– geological processes which have shaped the continent

– major topographical features: drainage basins, distinctive landforms

– climatic diversity, rainfall and temperature patterns

– flora and fauna

– soils

– natural resources and world heritage

• Australia’s diverse human environments

– built: major cities and towns, specialised urban centres, agricultural land uses, major industrial centres, mining landscapes

– social/cultural: political divisions; population size, distribution and composition; patterns of work; lifestyle; cultural identity

Australian communities and the factors contributing to a sense of identity

• the diversity of Australian communities based on shared space and social organisation

• factors contributing to a sense of community, such as: