Year 2 - GEOGRAPHY OVERVIEW, Semester 1 – (10 hours)
Our Place - Big Question: Where are we?
Unit Title:
Achievement
Standard
Year 2 Achievement Standard
Knowledge
By the end of Year 2, students identify the features that define places and recognise that places can be described at different scales. They
describe how people in different places are connected to each other and identify factors that influence these connections. Students recognise that
the world can be divided into major geographical divisions. They explain why places are important to people.
Skills
Students pose questions about familiar and unfamiliar places and collect information to answer these questions. They represent data and the
location of places and their features in tables, plans and on labeled maps. They interpret geographical information to draw conclusions. Students
present findings in a range of texts and use simple geographical terms to describe the direction and location of places. They suggest action in
response to the findings of their inquiry.
Geographical
Concepts
Place
Space
Environment
Interconnection
Sustainability
Scale
Change
Content Descriptions






The location of the major geographical divisions of the world in relation to
Australia (ACHGK009)
The definition of places a parts of the Earth’s surface that have been given
meaning by people, and how places can be defined in a variety of scales
(ACHGK010)
They ways in which Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples maintain
special connections to particular country/place. (ACHGK011)
Represent data and location of places and their features by constructing
tables, plans and labelled maps (ACHGS015)
Draw conclusions based on the interpretation of geographical information
sorted into categories (ACHGS016)
Present findings in a range of communication forms for example written,
oral, digital and visual, and describe the direction and location of places,
using terms such as north, south, opposite, near, far (ACHGS017)
Assessment (A)
Assessment for Learning: Describing the location of their
home. (ACHGK009) (ACHGK010)
Assessment as Learning: make and label world map using
play dough (ACHGK009)
Assessment of Learning: Envelope writing – concept of
scale (ACHGK010)
Place name sorting (ACHGK016) (ACHGK010)
Aboriginal and non-aboriginal place sorting (ACHGK011)
Major Assessment Task
 Colour and label world map (ACHGK009) (ACHGS015)
 Re-describe the location of their home using
geographical terms and concept of scale. (ACHGK009)
(ACHGK010) (ACHGS017)
Learning Framework
Cross Curricula
Priorities
General Capabilities
Links to other LA’s
Community Contributor
Leader and Collaborator
Active Investigator
Effective Communicator
Designer and Creator
Quality Producer
Catholic Ethos
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Histories and Cultures
Social Emotional Learning
Asia and Australia’s Engagement with Asia
Inclusive Education
Sustainability Education
Literacy
Critical and Creative Thinking
Numeracy
Ethical Behaviour
Information and Communication Technology
Personal and Social Competence
English – Reading - using stories as stimulus and speaking and listening.
Mathematics – Location
History – Change of local area over time
Learning and Teaching Strategies
Week
Cross
Curricular
Priorities
Engage 
1
2
3
4
5
Catholic Ethos
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures
Inclusive Education
Explore 
Explain
6
7
General
Capabilities
8
9
10
Literacy
Ethical Behaviour
Critical and Creative Thinking
Elaborate 
Evaluate
ENGAGE
Resources
Opening scenario: Introduce a teddy/koala toy who has won a round the world ticket and is too scared to travel – he
has only been in one place (their place) – this term Teddy and the students will learn about the world in order to help
Teddy feel brave enough to travel. In the next unit the class will use their connections to other parts of the world
and/or other places in Australia to help teddy plan his vacation.
 Read You and Me: Our Place – Leonie Norrington, Dee Huxley. Discuss the book and how it focuses on what
the place in the story means to different characters in the story and how different groups share one place.
Compare the place in the story with the students’ own place. Discuss the local indigenous place names
e.g.Cairns – Gimoy. How do we care for and share our own place? Who is responsible for communal spaces?
In the story newcomers share the beach with the indigenous people – discuss who has come to share our place
with its first inhabitants. (ACHGK010) (ACHGK011) How does a place change when more people come to live
in it? What sustains life in a place? What do more people need?
 Use a Venn diagram to compare and contrast their place with the location in the story. Extension activity
could be to use a Y chart to imagine what the place in the story looks like, sounds like and feels like.
(ACHGK010)
Soft Toy Teddy/Koala or similar
“You are a winner” letter from
competition stating Teddy has won a
round the world flight ticket
You and me: Our Place – Leonie
Norrington, Dee Huxley

Local Elders
Assessment for learning: Where do I live? Students to describe where they live – draw/write. This activity will be
repeated later in the unit and teachers will be able to assess how much more students know and understand
about how to describe their location using geographical terms and scale. (ACHGK010) (ACHGK009)
Map of local area – Indigenous place
names (Can be downloaded from the
Geography 2013 diigo site and on the
Curriculum Place/ Geography/Support
Materials)
Geographical Language
Place, location, environment, town, city, rural, coastal, localised indigenous place name, localised
indigenous sacred place names, country, north, south, opposite, near, far
Reflection
Assessment Opportunities
Assessment for learning: Where do I
live? (ACHGK010) (ACHGK009)
Week
Cross
Curricular
Priorities
1
2
3
4
5
Catholic Ethos
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures
Social Emotional Learning
Inclusive Education
Critical and Creative Thinking
Engage 
Explore 
Explain 
6
General
Capabilities
7
8
9
10
Literacy
Numeracy
Information and Communication Technology
Ethical Behaviour
Elaborate 
EXPLORE
Explore our address. Teacher model the school address on the board. What does each line of an address represent?
street, city/town/suburb, state, country.
Evaluate
Resources
Student’s addresses
Envelopes and stamps
Students look at their own address (teachers need to ensure they have each child’s address available)
Google maps and
Students to copy their address onto an envelope and swap with another class member. They can write a letter and/or do Google earth
a drawing to put in their co-student’s envelope. How accurately can the students write their address?
http://www.google.com/e
arth/index.html
What does our town name mean? And what do the street names mean and what is the origin of these place names?
(ACHGK010)
https://maps.google.com
Sort local place names into aboriginal and non-aboriginal place names. (ACHGK011) Write and discuss place names for .au/maps?hl=en&tab=wl
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander place names/country e.g Babinda –Binda, Gordonvale – Dulabed, Cairns –Gimoy,
Extension: World
Worree- Worry, Earlville – Bukal, Walsh Pyramid – Djarragun (Scrub hen’s nest).
Explorer App
An excursion could be planned for this week to the local post office to post the letters and find out how the postal system
Teacher Resource:
operates. Make a flow chart of the journey of a letter showing the steps of how a letter is processed. From an
Message Stick
indigenous perspective, discuss the importance of the message stick, which was a symbol that a message was being
http://www.youth.tsv.cat
delivered by the person who held the message stick, identifying traditional communication pathways between tribal
holic.org.au/documents/
groups.
Use Google maps/World Explorer App to locate students’ addresses and the school.
As a class, plan a trip for Teddy using the IWB, Google Map or World Explorer to visit some friends from the class and
local places that you are connected to e.g. library, shopping centre, school, police station, church park, sports and
recreation centres etc.
1. Locate places Teddy will visit on a local map
2. Provide Teddy with a planned itinerary of his local visits
3. Request Teddy to reflect on how he feels after visiting new places and meeting new people?
Message_Stick_protocol
s.pdf
Extension activity (scale) is to find Brisbane and locate a suburb and street in that suburb using Google maps. How
would their address change if they were to move to that place?
Geographical Language
scale, street, city/town/suburb, state, country, localised indigenous place name, localised indigenous sacred place
names, country, north, south, opposite, near, far, connection, itinerary, address, postcode, plan, local,
Reflection
Assessment
Opportunities
Assessment of Learning
Address: writing on
envelope (ACHGK010)
Place name sorting
(ACHGK011)
Week
1
2
3
Cross
Curricular
Priorities
Critical and Creative Thinking
Engage 
Explore 
4
5
6
General
Capabilities
Explain 
7
8
10
Literacy
Information and Communication Technology
Elaborate 
Evaluate
EXPLAIN
Resources
Explicitly teach the major geographical divisions of the world – continents, oceans, equator, north and south pole,
hemispheres, tropics of Capricorn and Cancer.
Create a word bank for e.g. continents/countries/town/state. Discuss what these words mean. Look at atlases,
globes and digital atlases to identify continents, oceans, states and countries.
Use a Frayer Model to define and characterise the word continent, providing examples and non examples.
(Modelled) Sorting activity: Sort places into a table with the following headings:
Place name
Continent
Ocean
State/Territory Country
Thursday Island
Brisbane
Queensland
9
City
Island
Students put a tick in the appropriate column for each place.
Suggested places to sort; Australia, Pacific, China, Vanuatu, New Zealand, Indian, Wellington, Papua New Guinea,
North America, Antarctica, Lapland, Brazil, Mexico, Western Australia, South Australia, Northern Territory, Africa
etc.
(ACHCS016)
Major Assessment Task Part A:
Assessment of Learning: Colour and label a world map showing land/sea, continents, NESW, equator, tropics of
Cancer and Capricorn, north and south pole. Note that the students must have a completed copy in the classroom to
refer to. (ACHGK009) (ACHGS015)
Worksheets and Maps of
world and continents –
www.superteacher.com
Geographical Language
Scale, Continents, oceans, equator, north and south pole, hemispheres, tropics of Capricorn and Cancer, globes,
digital atlases, atlases, north, south, opposite, near, far, east, west.
Assessment Opportunities
Major Assessment Task
Part A:
Assessment of Learning:
Colour and label world map
(ACHGK009) (ACHGS015)
Reflection
Week
1
2
3
Cross
Curricular
Priorities
Engage 
4
5
6
General Capabilities
Explore 
Explain 
7
8
9
Literacy
Numeracy
Elaborate 
ELABORATE
Evaluate
Resources
In groups use green/white play dough on large pieces of blue card to represent a world map by looking at a world map.
Provide each group with labels (oceans and continent names) and toothpicks to stick in the play dough. Also provide
string for them to add equator and tropics of Capricorn and Cancer to their models. Photograph and print for their books.
Children to compare how well they did with a world map. Children can use a PMI template to reflect on how they found
the activity.
Geographical Language
scale, continents, oceans, equator, north and south pole, hemispheres, tropics of Capricorn and Cancer, north, south,
east, west, opposite, near, far
Reflection
10
Play dough and card
String
Toothpicks
Labels
Assessment
Opportunities
Assessment as Learning:
Play dough maps
Week
Cross
Curricular
Priorities
1
2
3
4
Social Emotional Learning
Engage 
5
6
General Capabilities
Explore 
Explain 
7
8
9
10
Literacy
Numeracy
Elaborate 
Evaluate
EVALUATE
Resources
Major Assessment Task Part B:
Where do I live? Students to re-describe where they live – They can use illustrations as well as written text. This
activity is repeated from earlier in the unit and teachers will be able to assess how much more students know and
understand about how to describe their location using geographical terms and scale. (ACHGK010) (ACHGK009)
(ACHGS017)
Geographical Language
word bank from the entire unit
Assessment Opportunities
Major Assessment Task Part B:
Assessment for learning:
Where do I live? (ACHGK010) (ACHGK009)
(ACHGS017)
Teacher to make anecdotal notes/tick sheet
Reflection
Planning for Differently Abled Students
Student/s
Different Ability
Australian Curriculum
Content Descriptions
being addressed
Learning and Teaching Strategies
Assessment Strategies
Assessment Task Sheet
Student Name:
Name of Task:
Year Level:
Where do I live?
2
Teacher:
Learning Area/s:
Geography
Date Commenced:
Date Due:
Type of Task:
Oral
Written
Other
Task Conditions:
Individual
Pair
Group Work
In Class
Homework
Other
Opportunity to
Access:
Books
Notes
Library
Assessed By:
Self
Peer
Teacher
Technology
Task Description
Label a world map to show the major geographical features
Students to describe their location using geographical terms and scale.
Procedure
Part A: Can you label the world map?
 You need to include continent and ocean names, equator, tropic of Cancer and Capricorn,
North and South Poles and the hemispheres
Part B: Explain where your home is?
 Include information about your address and what each line means.
 Use the globe and maps in class to help you to describe where your home is and what it is
like there?
 Identify traditional custodians of your local area and their connection to country.
 Remember to look at the geography word bank you have in class.
Resources:
World Map and un-labeled map worksheet
Where do I live?
Criteria
A
B
C
D
E
The student work demonstrates evidence of:
Ability to label and
recognise the
major geographical
features of the
world on a world
map
I can recognise and label
all of the major
geographical divisions of
the world I can apply my
knowledge of the major
geographical divisions of
the world using a map
with a different projection
I can recognise and label
most of the major
geographical divisions of
the world – Continents
and oceans without
using a reference map
I can recognise and label
the major geographical
divisions of the world –
Continents and oceans
by using a reference
map
I can recognise and label
the major geographical
divisions of the world –
Continents and oceans
by using a reference
map with some errors.
Without support I cannot
recognise and label the
major geographical
divisions of the world –
Continents and oceans
by using a reference
map.
Ability to describe
an address using a
variety of scales
I can explain the lines of
my address and give
information about its
location and features
(home, street,
suburb/town, state,
country, continent,
hemisphere, coastal,
tropical and the
Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander place
name)
I can explain the lines of
my address and also
give information about
the location of Australia
(home, street,
suburb/town, state,
country, continent,
hemisphere and the
Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander place
name)
I can explain the lines of
my address
(home, street,
suburb/town, state,
country and the
Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander place
name)
I can explain the lines of
most of my address
(home, street,
suburb/town, state,
country)
I am unable to explain
the lines of my address
(home, street,
suburb/town, state,
country)
Feedback
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