Our Place – Australia Unit Plan

 Overview

Objectives

• To explore the natural and human features of Australia.
• To investigate how Australia can be represented on a map as states and territories.
• To investigate the geographical location of capital cities and regional centres around Australia.
• To explore the oral traditions Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples use to map landscapes.
• To identify, describe and locate rivers in Australia.
• To identify, describe and locate mountains in Australia.
• To identify, describe and locate deserts in Australia.
• To identify, describe and locate rainforests in Australia.
• To explore the unique natural environment of the Great Barrier Reef.
• To identify the human features of Australia and to explore some Australian landmarks.

Preparing for Learning

This Geography unit provides opportunities for cross-curricular integration. Look for ways to meaningfully integrate the content of the unit with other learning areas e.g. Literacy, Numeracy, The Arts.

Prior to commencing the unit, create a classroom display which celebrates the natural and human features of Australia. Display posters, word wall vocabulary and learning goals that the students will engage with throughout the unit to stimulate their learning. For examples of additional teaching resources to display in your classroom, browse the Australia collection on the Teach Starter website.

Some of the resources which accompany this unit plan will need to be prepared prior to teaching. For this reason, it is advised that teachers browse through all lessons before commencing the unit.

Australian Curriculum alignment

• Humanities and Social Sciences > HASS > Year 3 > Inquiry and skills > Communicating > ACHASSI061

  Present ideas, findings and conclusions in texts and modes that incorporate digital and non-digital representations and discipline-specific termsElaborationscomposing different types of texts to repor...

• Humanities and Social Sciences > HASS > Year 3 > Inquiry and skills > Analysing > ACHASSI057

  Interpret data and information displayed in different formats, to identify and describe distributions and simple patternsElaborationsfinding the meaning of acronyms/initialisms they encounter (for exa...

• Humanities and Social Sciences > HASS > Year 3 > Inquiry and skills > Researching > ACHASSI055

  Sequence information about people’s lives and eventsElaborationsdeveloping an annotated timeline (for example, a timeline of celebrations and commemorations) (Skills: Literacy, Critical and Creat...

• Humanities and Social Sciences > HASS > Year 3 > Inquiry and skills > Questioning > ACHASSI052

  Pose questions to investigate people, events, places and issuesElaborationsposing relevant questions when investigating the contribution individuals and groups have made to the development of the loca...

• Humanities and Social Sciences > HASS > Year 3 > Inquiry and skills > Evaluating and reflecting > ACHASSI059

  Interact with others with respect to share points of viewElaborationssharing and listening to others’ stories about their community and place (for example, Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander or...

• Humanities and Social Sciences > HASS > Year 3 > Inquiry and skills > Analysing > ACHASSI056

  Examine information to identify different points of view and distinguish facts from opinionsElaborationsdistinguishing fiction and non-fiction texts in relation to representation of places, environmen...

• Humanities and Social Sciences > HASS > Year 3 > Inquiry and skills > Researching > ACHASSI054

  Record, sort and represent data and the location of places and their characteristics in different formats, including simple graphs, tables and maps, using discipline-appropriate conventionsElaboration...

• Humanities and Social Sciences > HASS > Year 3 > Inquiry and skills > Evaluating and reflecting > ACHASSI058

  Draw simple conclusions based on analysis of information and dataElaborationsexplaining conclusions about how their place and community have changed and developed (for example, settlement patterns, lo...

• Humanities and Social Sciences > HASS > Year 3 > Inquiry and skills > Researching > ACHASSI053

  Locate and collect information and data from different sources, including observationsElaborationslocating sources suited to learning about the past (for example, photographs, interviews, newspapers, ...

• Humanities and Social Sciences > HASS > Year 3 > Knowledge and Understanding > Geography > ACHASSK066

  The representation of Australia as states and territories and as Countries/Places of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples; and major places in Australia, both natural and humanElaborationsusi...

• Humanities and Social Sciences > HASS > Year 3 > Knowledge and Understanding > History > ACHASSK062

  The importance of Country/Place to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Peoples who belong to a local areaElaborationsliasing with Community to identify original language groups of Aboriginal or T...

Find more resources for these topics

AustraliaAustralian States and TerritoriesNatural and Built Environments