Year 7 Exemplars: Overview

Curriculum overview

The themes for Year 7 are: Water in the world and Place and liveability.

We all depend on the vital life-giving force of water and we all live in a place, whether that be a large urban centre (which is increasingly likely in the 21st century), a smaller settlement or an isolated area.

The ideas associated with these themes provide a focus for the investigation of major issues in Australia and many other countries.

The concept of 'sustainability' is a central one – it is becoming increasingly important in the 21st century, particularly as it applies to the management of environmental resources.

About the illustrations

In the illustrations, the diversity of the world is broadened as students are encouraged to work with more abstract concepts and complex ideas. The debating of alternative answers and interpretations is made possible by the nature and extent of the inquiry questions – both those provided in the illustrations and in the Australian Curriculum: Geography (and its various HASS-based iterations).

The illustrations use contrasting resources, methods and depths of investigation.

Illustration 1: Droughts and flooding rains focuses on Australian meteorological data which indicates the pattern, variability and effectiveness of rainfall.

Illustration 2: Murray-Darling Basin Plan: Alternative perspectives provides students with an opportunity to explore a range of perspectives related to the management of water resources in the Murray-Darling Basin. It is divided into a series of sequential learning experiences, each dependent on the knowledge, understandings and skills developed in the preceding activity.

Illustration 3: Places are for living in looks at the factors that have led to the global growth and decline of places where people live, and makes use of Google Earth.

Illustration 4: Flooding in south-east Queensland supports students to investigate the nature and causes of flooding. They apply this information to the extreme hazard event that occurred in south-east Queensland in late 2010 and early 2011. Students extend their thinking to consider the impacts of this hazard event on people, and the responses of individuals and governments. A range of information resources is provided.

Illustration 5: Assessing the liveability of places supports students to be able to identify and assess the elements of liveability that inform peoples' decisions about where to live. Fieldwork and in-class activities are described and a range of resources to support this work is provided.