Unit 3 & 4 GEO orientation 2013
VCE GEOGRAPHY ORIENTATION
Unit 3: Regional resources
This unit investigates the characteristics of resources and the concept of region. A resource is
anything which occurs naturally or is created by humans provided that people use it to satisfy a need
or want. Resources found within regions mean different things to different people over place and
time. A study of resources is about the processes and relationships operating in the past, in the
present, and those which will operate in the future. Regions are areas of various scales that have
characteristics and features that distinguish them from other areas according to the elements used
to define them. The use and management of resources is dynamic and changes spatially over time in
response to the interactions between human activities, natural processes and the legislative
processes that humans put into place. Social, historical, environmental, economic and political
factors can be used to predict and plan for future policies and strategies to ensure the sustainability
of the available resources.
Governments and other organisations often use the concept of region for planning purposes when
determining allocation of resources and development of policies. Although the process of
globalisation is influencing the world at a rapid rate, a regional perspective may give identity and
help to make sense of such processes.
The availability and utilisation of water resources influences settlement patterns, infrastructure
development and decision making in many Australian regions. Problems of supply and debates
about the water resources of rural and urban communities mirror processes that are happening
elsewhere on the Earth. There are competing demands for water resources within and between
regions at local, national and international scales.
Students must investigate a regional resource and a local resource in Australia. The regional
resource will be water in the Murray-Darling Basin region. Students will use fieldwork to investigate
a local resource.
Unit 3 & 4 GEO orientation 2013
AREA OF STUDY 1
Use and management of an Australian water resource
This area of study focuses on water as a resource in Australia, with specific application to the region
of the Murray-Darling Basin. Water is a critical resource on the Earth’s second driest continent.
Students should understand the context of the debates over the variations in the supply, distribution
and demand for water. In the regional context of the Murray-Darling Basin, the study focuses on the
source, availability, distribution and utilisation of water (surface and/or ground water), and
examines the dynamic nature of relationships and interactions between natural processes and
human activities. Students study a variety of management responses and evaluate strategies
designed to achieve sustainable development.
The area of study provides students with the opportunity to develop an understanding of a
significant resource and the concept of region, and to develop a regional perspective in determining
the availability, utilisation and sustainability of a resource.
Outcome 1
On completion of this unit the student should be able to analyse the use and management of water
within the Murray-Darling Basin region and evaluate its future sustainability.
To achieve this outcome the student will draw on knowledge and related skills outlined in area of
study 1.
Key knowledge
This knowledge includes
• definition of a resource and a region;
• importance of water as a resource in Australia;
• geographic characteristics of the Murray-Darling Basin region;
• distribution of water resources in the Murray-Darling Basin region;
• factors affecting patterns of water use in the Murray-Darling Basin region;
• conflict over the use of water in the Murray-Darling Basin region;
• current management policies and strategies to implement these policies;
• possible future patterns including sustainability of water use in the Murray-Darling Basin region.
Key skills
These skills include the ability to
• identify and classify selected resources and regions;
• describe the importance of water in Australia;
• describe the geographic characteristics and water resources of the Murray-Darling Basin region;
• analyse factors which affect the patterns of water usage and management;
• evaluate the effectiveness of water management policies and strategies in terms of its current use
and its future sustainability;
• process and represent data using a range of geographic techniques and media;
• apply spatial concepts as appropriate.
Unit 3 & 4 GEO orientation 2013
AREA OF STUDY 2
Use and management of local resources
This area of study focuses on the use and management of a significant resource in the local region.
Students study the importance of a local resource, how it is managed and its future sustainability.
The local resource is placed in a regional context; for example, a study of a local shopping strip could
be understood in the context of a hierarchy of shopping centres across the wider region. This
resource is the focus for fieldwork.
Outcome 2
On completion of this unit the student should be able to describe characteristics of a local resource
and justify a policy for its future use and management using data collected in the field.
To achieve this outcome the student will draw on knowledge and related skills outlined in area of
study 2.
Key knowledge
This knowledge includes
• the nature of the resource;
• geographic characteristics of the resource;
• distribution of a similar resource at a regional scale;
• positive and negative impacts of resource use on people and their environment at the local scale;
• the concept and practicality of sustainable policies related to the selected resource.
Key skills
These skills include the ability to
• conduct fieldwork at a local site to observe and record data on the geographic characteristics of a
resource;
• process and represent fieldwork data using a range of geographic techniques and media;
• interpret processed fieldwork data;
• synthesise fieldwork data to justify a future policy for sustainable resource use;
• understand the resource in its regional context;
• apply spatial concepts as appropriate.
Unit 3 & 4 GEO orientation 2013
Assessment of levels of achievement
The student’s level of achievement in Unit 3 will be determined by school-assessed coursework and
an end-of-year examination.
Contribution to final assessment
School-assessed coursework for Unit 3 will contribute 25 per cent to the study score.
The level of achievement for Units 3 and 4 is also assessed by an end-of-year examination, which will
contribute 50 per cent to the study score.
Unit 3 & 4 GEO orientation 2013
Unit 4: Global perspectives
This unit investigates the geographic characteristics of global phenomena and responses to them.
Global phenomena are major natural or human events, processes or activities. Such phenomena are
distributed globally and possess the capacity to affect the globe or significant parts of the globe and
require more than a local or national response.
Human population studies are significant to understanding the challenges facing our globalised
world. Spatial variations in the distribution, composition and growth of human populations are
related to the nature of places. A global perspective is a viewpoint or policy designed to guide future
action by people or organisations to address the effects of global phenomena. Phenomena such as El
Nino, migration, rapid communications technology, Earthquake damage, genetically modified crops
or globally changing patterns of investment and industrialisation, shared ocean and atmosphere
resources, pandemics and other ‘borderless’ phenomena play important roles in shaping
community, environments and landscape change.
Governments, organisations, groups and individuals respond to global phenomena in different ways.
The type of response is affected by social, economic, historical and political considerations, resource
access and distribution, and the nature and scale of the event or process. Policy developed to deal
with a global phenomena and its effects results in the formation of a global perspective. This unit
investigates the distribution patterns of selected global phenomena. It considers the causes,
dimensions and impact of global changes and analyses policies and strategies, including those that
promote sustainability, to enable a better world in the future.
Students must investigate two global phenomena in each area of study, one of which must be
human population.
AREA OF STUDY 1
Global phenomena
This area of study focuses on an analysis, explanation and evaluation of the factors primarily
responsible for generating global phenomena. The study of the human population examines the
geographic distribution, structure and composition as well as the dynamics of population in time and
space, including growth and decline in fertility and mortality. The other global phenomenon may
include major natural processes and/or human activities and their interactions that are distributed
globally. Students investigate the impact on people and natural systems caused by human
populations and another global phenomenon. Suitable topics for study include climate change,
fishing, migration tourism, desertification and wetlands.
Outcome 1
On completion of this unit the student should be able to evaluate the relative importance of factors
that affect changes in human population and one other selected global phenomenon.
To achieve this outcome the student will draw on knowledge and related skills outlined in area of
study 1.
Key knowledge
This knowledge includes
• definition and classification of global phenomena;
• distribution and composition of the human population and the distribution of one other global
phenomenon;
• interaction of natural processes and human activities which affect the human population and one
other global phenomenon;
Unit 3 & 4 GEO orientation 2013
• positive and negative impact of changes in the human population and one other global
phenomenon on people and environments;
• future patterns of the human population and one other global phenomenon;
• the relative importance of factors which affect changes in the human population and one other
global phenomenon.
Key skills
These skills include the ability to
• analyse and explain the geographic characteristics of the human population and one other global
phenomenon;
• identify, locate and extract spatial data from a range of information sources about the human
population and one other global phenomenon;
• evaluate the relative importance of factors contributing to the changes in the human population
and one other global phenomenon;
• sort, process and represent spatial data using a range of geographic techniques and media;
• describe and analyse data either manually and/or using information and communications
technology;
• apply spatial concepts as appropriate.
AREA OF STUDY 2
Global responses
This area of study focuses on the ways in which people and organisations respond to the global
impact of two phenomena, including human population at a range of scales. It investigates how
people’s responses to the phenomena have changed in the short and the long term. It identifies the
positive and negative effects of these responses from government and non government
organisations or groups. It analyses and evaluates policies and strategies including those that
promote sustainability.
Outcome 2
On completion of this unit the student should be able to compare and evaluate the effectiveness of
responses and policies to manage a global phenomenon from a global perspective.
To achieve this outcome the student will draw on knowledge and related skills outlined in area of
study 2.
Key knowledge
This knowledge includes
• positive and negative impacts of global phenomena on people and environments;
• people’s responses to the human population and one other global phenomenon in the short and
long term;
• government and non-government organisations’ responses to the human population and one
other global phenomenon in the short and long term;
• global perspectives and the management of the effects of the human population and one other
global phenomenon at a range of scales;
• the effectiveness of the strategies outlined in the global perspectives in responding to the human
population and one other global phenomenon;
• factors which affect the future development of the human population and one other global
phenomenon.
Unit 3 & 4 GEO orientation 2013
Key skills
These skills include the ability to
• identify, locate and extract data from print and electronic sources about global perspectives on the
human population and one other global phenomenon;
• process and represent spatial data about global perspectives on the human population and one
other global phenomenon, using various geographic techniques and media;
• evaluate and synthesise data about global perspectives;
• apply, as appropriate, criteria to evaluate responses to the human population and one other global
phenomenon from a global perspective;
• apply spatial concepts as appropriate.