Stage 4 Landforms & Landscapes

Site overview:
These resources have been curated as with the aim of providing useful and varied information relevant to teachers and stage 2 Geography students. The resources selected align with the NSW Geography Syllabus and the Australian Curriculum. The site looks at the stage 2 content theme “Places are Similar and Different”.

The content focus is about the Perception and protection of places. These resources have been curated with the idea that Uluru and the question of whether or not it should be climbed will be used as a lens to examine how people perceive places differently and why this might be.

Through an in-depth exploration of this topic we will work on meeting following outcomes from the NSW Geography Syllabus:

Examine differing perceptions about the management of places and environments GE2-3

Acquires and communicates geographical information using geographical tool for inquiry GE2-4

Uluru makes a great inquiry site as UNESCO lists it for both its cultural heritage and its natural heritage, it simultaneous ancient and current. The issues surrounding Uluru although complex can be pitched at different levels, which can result in rich learning opportunities.

These resources have been selected and organized loosely with the 5E’s inquiry model in mind. As these aren’t intended to form a complete unit of work I have indicated in what phases these resources might be located and also what thinking they promote.

Resource 1: Pictograph - Geographical tool

Possible sequencing: 5E's  The Engage phase

Types of thinking: Remembering & Understanding


Resource description: A pictograph that represents the scale of Uluru in relation to the Sydney Harbour Bridge, The Eiffel Tower, The Statue of Liberty, The Great pyramid of Giza and Big Ben

Audience: Stage 2 students

Educational value points:

• Interestingly this pictograph that shows relative approximate scale of various landmarks (that you are able to climb or go inside) in relation to Uluru and could be used to for an impetus for a range of investigations. Students could:

- Discuss what do we know about these places being represented?
- Examine the features and characteristics of these landmarks and describe and record their attribute in a table e.g. size, material, age, purpose, natural vs. man made, civic architecture vs. spiritual place. These attributes can be jointly created as or scaffolded by the teacher as required.
- Locate on a map the approximate locations of these places
- Imagine they are tourists and use Google maps find out approximately how long it would take you to get to each of these places.

• The idea of a pictograph itself may be new to some students and there could be a focus on the pictograph as a geographical tool. Students could take the information from the pictograph and represent it using other graphing conventions or graphic organizers.

• Using a tool such as Survey Monkey collect data and construct their own pictograph illustrating who in their class has climbed any of these landmarks? And who would like to climb them if they did visit? This activity could be repeated again in the evaluation stage of learning and students can reflect if and how there thinking has changed.