Australian CurriculumGeography is a seven-book series linked to the requirements of the Australian National Curriculum for each stage of primary school from Foundation to Year 6. The aim of the series is to use the Geographical Knowledge and Understanding strand of the Australian Curriculum as a vehicle for practising the skills laid down by the Geographical and Inquiry Skills strand to answer the key inquiry questions.
Each book is organised into sections dependent on the number of content descriptions in the Geographical Knowledge and Understanding strand for that year. Within each section is a number of 4-page units which explore different aspects of the content description linked to the key inquiry questions. The activities in each unit give students the opportunity to practise geographical skills while addressing concepts which aid geographical understanding.
Where appropriate, links between the content of each unit and the general capabilities and cross-curriculum priorities have been recognised.
The 4-page units in Australian Curriculum Geography are laid out in a similar way.
Features include:
A supporting Teachers page which provides:
- the content description being addressed
- an elaboration of the specific aspects of the content description being addressed
- the key inquiry questions being addressed
- the geographical skills practised while completing the activities
- the geographical concepts addressed within the activities
- geographicalvocabularyused within the unit
- teaching notes to assist in classroom organisation or to highlight specific activities
- background information to support that given in the student pages
- additional activities to extend the topic and develop geographical skill – resources to supplement information/activities for teachers/students
Three student activity pages:
- a stimulus text to inform students about the theme and to promote discussion
- an activity page related directly to the text but requiringresearch, evaluativecomprehensionand application of geographical skills
- an additional activity page which may be either a continuation of the previous pages or an extension activity related to the topic but not directly related to the text
- an extension question or research task on each of the two activity pages provides further opportunity for research on the topic
Related to each section is:
- a series ofquizzes– for each 4-page unit, a multiple choice quiz with answers is provided
- an answer page – for each 4-page unit, specific or possible answers are provided for activities unless they are open-ended
The front pages of each book include:
- an explanation of the layout of the book
- a general note on the importance of geographical skills and an overview and explanation of the skills specific to the year level
- a geographical skills class record for teachers to record each student’s progress
- an overview of geographical skills, key inquiry questions, general capabilities and cross-curriculum priorities
- a list of additional R.I.C. resources that would support the teaching of geography at each year level
Australian Curriculum Geography is a resource designed to supplement the teaching of geography in the primary school, acting as a springboard for further investigation into our world and how we connect with it.
