Unit 1: People live in places

Content focus:

Students explore the places they live in and belong to. They develop an understanding of what makes a place special and how this may differ for different people. Students learn about the importance of looking after places. Students explore how the location of places can be represented.

Content:

Important places

Students investigate the importance of places they live in and belong to.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander places

Students investigate the Countries/Places important to Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Peoples.

Looking after places

Students investigate how places can be looked after and improved.

Locating places

Students investigate how places can be shown using picture maps.

Key inquiry questions:

• What are different places like?
• What makes a place special?
• How can we look after the places we live in?
• How do we find places using maps and directions?

Geographical concepts:

• Place: the significance of places and what they are like. For example: places students live in and belong to and why they are important.
• Space: the significance of location and spatial distribution, and ways people organise and manage the spaces that we live in. For example: location of a place in relation to other familiar places.
• Environment: the significance of the environment in human life, and the important interrelationships between humans and the environment. For example, how and why places should be looked after.

Outcomes:
A student:

• identifies places and develops an understanding of the importance of places to people
• communicates geographical information and uses geographical tools.

Inquiry skills:

Acquiring geographical information

• pose geographical questions
• record geographical data and information

Processing geographical information

• represent data by constructing maps
• draw conclusions based on discussions of observations

Communicating geographical information

• present information
• listen to others
• draws picture maps

Geographical tools:

Maps

• pictorial maps

Fieldwork

• observing and recording data

Spatial technologies

• digital maps and aerial photographs

Visual representations

• photographs, illustrations, story books, multimedia

Lessons and worksheets included in the download file:

Lesson 1: Features of my place
Lesson 2: Making a model of a place
Lesson 3: Places we know
Lesson 4: Special places :: Worksheet 1
Lesson 5: Places in story books :: Worksheet 1
Lesson 6: My special place :: Worksheet 1
Lesson 7: Looking after places
Lesson 8: Locating a place