Year 5 Overview
Curriculum overview
The theme for Year 5 is Factors that shape the human and environmental characteristics of places.
The interactions between human and environmental processes give rise to much of the diversity on the earth.
They also produce much of the wealth and many of the problems confronting humans and their environment.
Inhabited places get many of their characteristics from the interaction of human and environmental processes.
Changes made by people include building, land clearance, transport systems, mining, drainage and agriculture.
There are also more diffuse changes such as pollution and climate change. Consequences can be intentional or
unintentional, desirable or undesirable. Some consequences are not apparent until long after their cause.
Bushfires are one of Australia's many hazards, and they are caused by the interaction of natural and human
factors. Many of the key interests of geography are illustrated by the interaction of these factors within a specific
place.
About the illustrations
Illustration 1: Bushfire stories aims to engage students in a story about children of their own age investigating the
geographical issue of bushfires. The story contains a lot of information about bushfire causes and prevention.
There are stopping points in the story where students can be asked to reflect, predict and research before they
read on. The story can be used to motivate, involve and instruct students about the important place of bushfires
in Australia.
Illustration 2: Planning your local place – fieldwork and beyond focuses on fieldwork in the local area. Suggestions
are given as to how the fieldwork could focus on local issues, or be experiential, focusing on a sense of place.
Either way, the skills and techniques of doing geographical fieldwork are developed, as are the techniques of
presentation. Students can then be asked to use their imaginations as well as their field experiences to suggest
ideas for better planning for their local area.
http://www.geogspace.edu.au/core-units/years-5-6/exemplars/year-5/y5-exemplars-y5-overview.html
Bushfire stories
Curriculum overview
The Australian Curriculum: Geography content descriptions addressed in the illustration are:

The influence of the environment on the human characteristics of a place (ACHGK028)

The impact of bushfires or floods on environments and communities, and how people can respond
(ACHGK030).
Source: Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA).
Learning goals
This activity is built on the stories about children of a similar age to the targeted students. Children like reading
about adventures, and can identify with characters as well as the absorbing information provided in such stories.
The story supplied with this activity, The GeoSix and the bushfire (PDF, 333 KB), encourages children to write their
own versions of likely events in each chapter. It also encourages them to draw sketches and maps to go with the
story.
The illustration-specific learning goals include:

developing narrative skills

understanding the causes and management of bushfires

understanding people's responsibilities for the prevention of bushfires

developing verbal, pictorial and mapping communication skills in describing events and places in the
story.
Geographical understanding and context
This activity focuses on learning about the interactions between the natural and constructed environment.
Bushfires are one of Australia's most serious hazards, and they have always been a significant influence on the
Australian environment. As such, all Australians need to understand their cause, occurrence, and prevention.
Teaching approaches
The story provided here can be used as a resource in the exploration of information and attitudes about bushfires
and the environment.
1. Introduction
You might start this activity with a photograph or movie clip of a bushfire. Some care needs to be taken that this is
not too traumatic. Alternatively, the story The GeoSix and the bushfire (PDF, 333 KB) that is supplied could be the
starting point.
2. Exploring the Geosix story
http://www.geogspace.edu.au/core-units/years-5-6/exemplars/year-5/y5-exemplars-y5-overview.html
The GeoSix and the bushfire (PDF, 333 KB) can be read together as a class, in small groups, or individually. There
are particular places indicated where the story stops to allow students to write their own versions of events, or to
do tasks similar to those being done by children in the story. The suggested activities are:

At the end of Chapter 1: At this point you should stop the story and ask the students to write their own
version of the next events.

Part way through Chapter 2: At this point the class might undertake the activities suggested by the
Geosix. Complete the gathering of information before comparing it to what the GeoSix found.

Part way through Chapter 3: At this point students can be asked to suggest possible answers to Dominic's
question: '… but what has changed to make bushfires into the dangerous monsters they have become?'
This may lead to class discussion and debate before the next section is read.

At the end of Chapter 3: At this point students can suggest answers to Antonia's question: 'What are the
things that we would do if we lived in a bushfire area?' Discuss individual and community precautions and
preparations for bushfires.

At the end of Chapter 4: At this point you can do a number of possible concluding activities:
o
hold a mock meeting where different children take roles as members of the GeoSix and talk about
what they have discovered about bushfire precautions and dangers
o
help the class make a list of all the dangerous features and the good precautions that the GeoSix
observed in their fieldwork
o
ask the students to look up fire prevention on websites and add other facts to the list
o
ask the students to each prepare a report on the good and bad techniques of building and living
in bushfire hazard areas.
3. Extension activity
Just as many well-known stories have maps at the front of the book, and illustrations throughout, students could
be asked to draw their own versions of these for this story. The map would be an imaginary one, incorporating
some of the features mentioned in the story as well as others invented by the students.
Students could be asked to design a property that is well-prepared for bushfire hazards. They could make a sketch
map or even a 3D model.
What you need
Story: The GeoSix and the bushfire (PDF, 333 KB).
Access to the Internet.
Cardboard and other materials for making 3D models (extension activity).
Time frame: This could be spread over a week or two to allow students to do their own writing, illustrations and
maps.
Curriculum connections
This illustration links with the content descriptions of the following Phase 1 Australian Curriculum.
http://www.geogspace.edu.au/core-units/years-5-6/exemplars/year-5/y5-exemplars-y5-overview.html
English

Clarify understanding of content as it unfolds in formal and informal situations, connecting ideas to
students' own experiences, and present and justify a point of view (ACELY1699)

Navigate and read texts for specific purposes applying appropriate text processing strategies, for example
predicting and confirming, monitoring meaning, skimming and scanning (ACELY1702)

Use comprehension strategies to analyse information, integrating and linking ideas from a variety of print
and digital sources (ACELY1703)
Mathematics

Use a grid reference system to describe locations. Describe routes using landmarks and directional
language (ACMMG113)
Science

Living things have structural features and adaptations that help them to survive in their environment
(ACSSU043)

Scientific knowledge is used to inform personal and community decisions (ACSHE217)

Scientific understandings, discoveries and inventions are used to solve problems that directly affect
peoples' lives (ACSHE083)
History

Develop texts, particularly narratives and descriptions, which incorporate source materials (ACHHS105)

Use a range of communication forms (oral, graphic, written) and digital technologies (ACHHS106)
Source: Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA).
Resources
Story:
The GeoSix and the bushfire (PDF, 333 KB)
Websites:
NSW Fire & Rescue. Bushfire preparation. Bushfire preparation website (NSW) with plenty of useful hints.
Retrieved February 2013, from: http://www.fire.nsw.gov.au/page.php?id=314.
Country Fire Authority. Kids & schools. Retrieved February 2013, from: http://www.cfa.vic.gov.au/kids-schools.
South Australian Country Fire Service. School-education. Retrieved February 2013, from:
http://www.cfs.sa.gov.au/site/education/schooleducation.jsp
YouTube. Help survivors of the Victorian brushfire in Australia (duration, 1:18). A video (one of many) showing
scenes of the Victorian bushfires, and the seeking of donations. This is very vivid, and you will need check it
before showing it to the class to ensure it is suitable for your students. Retrieved August 2012.
http://www.geogspace.edu.au/core-units/years-5-6/exemplars/year-5/y5-exemplars-y5-overview.html
Planning your local place - fieldwork and beyond
Curriculum overview
The Australian Curriculum: Geography content descriptions addressed in the illustration are:

The influence of the environment on the human characteristics of a place (ACHGK028)

The influence people have on the human characteristics of places and the management of spaces within
them (ACHGK029)
Source: Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA).
Learning goals
This activity develops students' knowledge and understanding of the places and spaces around them by
observation and recording during fieldwork. It also encourages them to build on this learning by evaluating the
reasons for changes made to the local environment.
Students are then asked to put their views into action by developing a plan for a town or city design which
overcomes some of the problems they have noted in their fieldwork observations.
Geographical understanding and context
Fieldwork techniques are a central part of geography. You need to teach students how to observe and record
accurately what they see, hear, smell, feel and taste in the outdoors.
This illustration encourages the use of simple fieldwork techniques in activities close to the school, followed by an
evaluation of what has been observed, and finally, the imaginative planning of what could be done to overcome
problems and issues that have been identified.
Teaching approaches
1. Introductory fieldwork
The starting point is a walk around the local area. Students should have a notebook with them to record the
following:

dominant types of buildings

busy and quiet areas

evidence of changes, new buildings, planned developments, changes in land use

traffic problems

unsafe areas

places which are looked after well, and those which are not

places which have been planned, and places which have grown in an unplanned way.
2. Class discussion
http://www.geogspace.edu.au/core-units/years-5-6/exemplars/year-5/y5-exemplars-y5-overview.html
Back in the classroom, a discussion of the findings can lead to a more refined focus for a second walk around the
area. This next piece of fieldwork could be either 'issue-based' or 'experience-based'.
3. Issue-based fieldwork
If you use 'issue-based fieldwork' you might identify a particular issue relevant to your local area. Some examples
might include:

good and bad changes to the area

litter in the streets

the availability of playgrounds and recreation areas

the volume of traffic on local roads and streets, and its effects on people.
When the issue has been chosen, steps that can be undertaken include:

walk around the area to be investigated, thinking about aspects of the issue and the types of information
needed

use notes, counting, mapping, photographing, sketching to collect information

in the classroom, discuss and analyse the information gathered

select the key pieces of information learned about the issue.
4. Experience-based fieldwork
'Experience-based' fieldwork is more open-ended. It is intended to arouse curiosity and develop concern for the
area. This experiential fieldwork involves time spent in the area to be studied, and requires an 'open mind'
approach to seeing what is there.
A major aim of experiential fieldwork is to develop a 'sense of place' about the area being studied. Some
techniques that may be used to develop this include:

sketching

talking to local people about their place

observing and recording the activities that people of different ages are doing

taking geographical photographs.
When these observations have been made, the outcomes of the fieldwork can include some of the following:

drawings or diagrams

descriptions in words, including opinions and feelings as well as facts

short improvised dramas presenting opinions and attitudes

displays of photographs and sketches.
5. Reflection
When the fieldwork activity has been completed, ask your students what they found most interesting or
concerning about their local area. The next question is: How could it be better planned?
http://www.geogspace.edu.au/core-units/years-5-6/exemplars/year-5/y5-exemplars-y5-overview.html
6. Extension activity
To stimulate students' imagination, ask them to use a large sheet of paper to draw what they think a well-planned
town or city would look like. They could draw a sketch, a number of smaller sketches, a sketch map, a labelled
diagram, or some other form of representation.
Ask them to annotate the sketch or map with brief explanatory comments justifying their ideas.
What you need
Notebooks or papers in a folder for writing in the outdoors, or iPad or personal electronic device that records
notes and photographs.
Large sheets of paper (for extension activity).
Access to the Internet and digital cameras may be useful.
Preparation: Explore the best places to walk around in the local areas.
Time frame: Each of the walks around the local area could take anything from 30 to 90 minutes, depending on
size of group, characteristics of the area and the class.
Curriculum connections
This illustration links with the content descriptions of the following Phase 1 Australian Curriculum.
English

Use a range of software including word processing programs with fluency to construct, edit and publish
written text, and select, edit and place visual, print and audio elements (ACELY1707)

Use comprehension strategies to analyse information, integrating and linking ideas from a variety of print
and digital sources (ACELY1703)
Mathematics

Use a grid reference system to describe locations. Describe routes using landmarks and directional
language (ACMMG113)
Science

Scientific knowledge is used to inform personal and community decisions (ACSHE217)

Scientific understandings, discoveries and inventions are used to solve problems that directly affect
people lives (ACSHE083)

Communicate ideas, explanations and processes in a variety of ways, including multi-modal texts
(ACSIS093)
History

The role that a significant individual or group played in shaping a colony; for example, explorers, farmers,
entrepreneurs, artists, writers, humanitarians, religious and political leaders, and Aboriginal and/or Torres
Strait Islander peoples (ACHHK097)
http://www.geogspace.edu.au/core-units/years-5-6/exemplars/year-5/y5-exemplars-y5-overview.html

Use a range of communication forms (oral, graphic, written) and digital technologies (ACHHS106)
Source: Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA).
Resources
Books:
Milner, A. & Jewson, T. (2010). Using the school locality. In S. Scoffham (Ed.). Primary geography handbook.
Sheffield: Geographical Association.
Websites:
Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA). Australian Curriculum: Geography. Retrieved
May 2013, from: www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/Geography/Rationale.
If help is needed to get proportions correct in base maps, use Google Maps or nearmap websites.
http://www.geogspace.edu.au/core-units/years-5-6/exemplars/year-5/y5-exemplars-y5-overview.html