Humanities

Common Unit

Subject Description

Students will explore Geography for a semester and History for a semester in the Year 9 Humanities course.

Geography

Unit Description

Biomes and Food Security

​The unit begins with a focus on the distribution and unique characteristics of biomes as distinct regions of the world. A biome is a large geographical area of distinctive plant and animal groups, which are adapted to that particular environment. Examples of biomes include deserts, forests, grasslands and tundra. The way humans interact with biomes is explored — how we alter biomes to produce food and industrial materials and the environmental impact of these alterations. This then leads into food security and exploring the capacity of these biomes to produce enough food to sustain the current and projected global population.  

Geographies of Interconnections

This area of study looks at how the world is based on a series of connections between a wide variety of physical and conceptual phenomena. Students explore how humans connect with particular places and the way transport, information and communication technologies are used to connect people to services, resources and people in other places around the globe. 

Assessment

• Biomes: Test.
• Food Security: Essay

History

In Year 9 history students study the making of the modern world from 1750 to 1918. This was a period of industrialisation and rapid change in the ways people lived, worked and thought. It was an era of nationalism and imperialism, and expansion of European power, which had significant effects on First Nations Peoples. The period culminated in World War I (1914–1918), the “war to end all wars”.

An overview of the study of the making of the modern world requires students to develop an understanding of the context and chronology of the period, and the broad patterns of historical continuity and change from 1750 to 1918, such as European imperial expansion and the movement of peoples within and between countries, and the impact this had on the Australian continent. This includes being introduced to the significant economic, social and political ideas that developed and caused change in groups and in societies, and some of the significant individuals and groups who promoted these ideas.

In Year 9, students study The Industrial Revolution and movement of peoples (1750–1900, and Making and transforming the Australian nation (1750–1914) and the First World War (1914–1918).

By the end of Year 9, students explain the historical significance of the period of the early modern world up to 1918. They explain the causes and effects of events, developments, turning points or movements globally, in Australia and in relation to the First World War. They describe the social, cultural, economic and/or political aspects related to the changes and continuities in a society or a historical period. Students explain the role of significant ideas, individuals, groups and institutions connected to the developments of this period and their influences on the historical events.

Students develop and modify questions about the past to inform historical inquiry. They locate, select and compare primary and secondary sources, and use information in sources as evidence in historical inquiry. They explain the origin, content, context and purpose of primary and secondary sources. Students compare sources to determine the accuracy, usefulness and reliability of sources as evidence. They explain causes and effects, and patterns of continuity and change connected to a period, event or movement. Students compare perspectives of significant events and developments, and explain the factors that influence these perspectives. They analyse different and contested historical interpretations. Students use historical knowledge, concepts and terms to develop descriptions, explanations and historical arguments that acknowledge evidence from sources.

Assessment

• Evaluation of Historical Sources, test: The Industrial Revolution 1750 - 1900
• Individual research task: Australia 1788 - 1913
• Research in class Essay: WWI 1914 - 1918