TERM 3: Human and Social Sciences (HASS)

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Teaching strategies and learning experiences:
Strands
Knowledge and
understanding
People live in places

Content Descriptors
The globe as a representation of the
Earth on which Australia and other
familiar countries can be located
(ACHEGK001)

Geographical Inquiry and skills

Humanities and Social Sciences skills
Questioning and Predicting
Identify prior knowledge about a topic (e.g.
shared discussion, think-pair-share)
Pose and respond to questions about the
familiar

The representation of
familiar
places, such as schools, parks and
lakes on a pictorial map (ACHGK001)
The places people live in and belong
to (e.g. neighbourhood, suburb,
town, rural locality), the familiar
features in the local area and why
places are important to people (e.g.
provides basic needs) (ACHGK002)
The reasons some places are special
to people and how they can be
looked after, including Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander Peoples' places
of significance (ACHGK004)

Explore a range of sources (e.g. observations,

interviews, photographs, print texts, digital
sources)
Analysing
Sort and record information and/or data into
simple categories (e.g. use graphic organisers,
drawings)
Process information and/or data collected (e.g.
sequence familiar events, answer questions,
discuss observations)
Evaluating

Human and Social Sciences Term Plan (People live in Places)

General capabilities and cross-curriculum

priorities
Literacy
Describe the location and features of
familiar places
Numeracy
Give directions to familiar locations
ICT capability
Use Google Maps to explore familiar
places
Use iPad to take photos
Use Paint program to illustrate
surroundings
Critical and creative thinking
Pose questions about familiar and more
distant places
Personal and social capability
Identify places that are important to
themselves and the school
community
Ethical understanding

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Explore points of view (e.g. understand that

their point of view may differ from others)
Represent information gathered in different
formats (e.g. drawings, diagrams, story maps,
role-plays)
Draw conclusions based on discussions of
observations (e.g. answer questions, contribute
to guided discussions)
Participate in decision-making processes (e.g.
engage in group discussions, make shared
decisions)
Share observations and ideas, using everyday
language (e.g. oral retell, drawing, role-play)
Develop texts (e.g. retell, describe personal
stories)
Communicating and reflecting
Reflect on learning (e.g. drawings, discussions)

Human and Social Sciences Term Plan (People live in Places)

Identify rules for using special places in

the school
Intercultural understanding
Locate and describe places in more
distant places that children have
visited
Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander histories and cultures
Identify the name of the local Aboriginal
or Torres Strait Islander Language
Group
Asia and Australias engagement
with Asia
Identify places in the Asian region on a
globe
Sustainability
Suggest ways to care for important
places in the school

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Assessment

Assessment

Make judgments

Describe the assessment

Teachers gather evidence to make judgments about the following

characteristics of childrens work:
Understanding
Recognise why some places are special to people
Skills
Observe the familiar features of places
Draw conclusions based on observations in texts
Reflect on ways familiar places can be cared for

Collection of work samples

Make judgments about students responses to a series of focused tasks within a specified
context and based on the process of Geographical Inquiry and Skills. Teachers and children
collaborate on tasks which are conducted in class and in childrens own time. The focus of the
collection of work is describing the features of familiar places, recognising that places can be
represented on maps and a globe and considering why places are important to people. The
collection of work will also focus on making records and sharing observations and describing
direction and location.
Examples may include:
labelled outline maps of local places
labelled diagrams
annotated visual records

records of evidence gathered through fieldwork.

Guided research (Spoken and multimodal)
Assessment will be based on students ability to observe, collect, record and
represent geographical data and draw conclusions about a place in their surrounding
context.
.
Assessment for this inquiry occurs, and is built upon, through the sequenced
learning experiences following each sub-strand of the learning area.
Children:
use collected photos to create their own pictorial map of the features of their
school
draw a picture of their own place and present a spoken description of the
drawing in response to the inquiry question: What makes this place special?
Human and Social Sciences Term Plan (People live in Places)

The valued features of the standard elaborations targeted in this

assessment are:
Geographical knowledge and understanding
Questioning and researching
Interpreting and analysing
Communicating

Tricia Cheah

Humanities and Social Sciences Overview

Focus: People live in places

By the end of this Foundation unit, students will be able to demonstrate understanding of the place they live in and belong to, and learn to observe and
describe its geographical features. Students will adopt the idea of location (concept of space) through drawing story-maps, making reference to maps and
creating model to show where places and features are located, as well as, learning about the globe as a representation of the earth. Students will also be
capable of sharing observations in a range of texts and use everyday language to describe direction and location.
Focus

Curriculum Connections

The represen
tation of
familiar
places, such
as schools,
parks and
lakes on a
pictorial map
(ACHGK001)

English
Listen to and respond
orally to texts and to the
communication of others in
informal and structured
classroom situations
(ACELY1646)

To engage
children in
mapping the
playground
areas and
identification
of the
playground
facilities
built.

Mathematics
Sort, describe and name
familiar two-dimensional
shapes and threedimensional objects in the
environment (ACMMG009)

Lesson
name
1.My
classrooms
layout

Geographical
Classroom Organisation
understanding
Looking from
Students will be introduced to language
above
of location and then apply that language
Birds eye view when creating a map of their classroom.
They will then use the map to locate
hidden items in the classroom.

2. My PrePrimary
Playground

natural and
constructed
features
mapping

Sort and classify familiar

objects and explain the
basis for these
classifications. Copy,
continue and create
patterns with objects and
drawings (ACMNA005)

3.Map the
school

mapping

Human and Social Sciences Term Plan (People live in Places)

Resource

Assessment

A3 butcher
paper
Marker
Pre-cut pictures

Diagnostic assessment on students

ability to make recognise the
language of location and read the
map to locate items in their
surroundings.

Students will be working in pairs to

identify the facilities of the pre-primary
playground. They would need to Thinkpair-share their findings by mapping the
features through drawings. Materials
seen in the surroundings are encouraged
to be included in their drawing
representation.

My PrePrimary
Playground
template

Formal assessment on students

ability to identify by classifying the
facilities of the playground and pin
point the location of each in their
drawings representation in the
format of pictorial map
(work sample to be collected)

Introduce the school grounds and areas

which students mostly visited. In small
groups, have students to tour around the

Map of the
school

Formal assessment of students

abilities to observe and recognise
the location of the classroom as

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Describe position and

movement (ACMMG010)

school grounds to identify features of the

school During the tour, some students
will hold the role of photographers and
observers. Students will be identifying
the facilities and activities done according
to each location.

Science
Explore and make
observations by using the
senses (ACSIS011)
Share observations and
ideas (ACSIS012)

well as identifying for safety,

favourite and ways to care for the
facilities in the school grounds.
(work sample to be collected)

Discuss about the places that children

identify to be:
safe (look for signs of safety, such
as gates or a first aid station)
favourite (places that provide a
sense of belonging
well-cared for (look for signs of
care, such as rubbish bins or
garden beds).

History
Sequence familiar objects
and events (ACHHS015)

The places
people live in
and belong
to (e.g.
neighbourho
od, suburb,
town, rural
locality), the
familiar
features in
the local
area and
why places
are
important to

What do we do
here template

4 &5
Where do I
live? The
way from
home to
school
(produce
variable
results

Street name
Geographical
features
Direction
Location

Human and Social Sciences Term Plan (People live in Places)

This activity provides students with a

different perspective of places they pass
on the way
Read the story The Journey Home
Demonstrate how Google maps can be
used to track journeys between home
and school. Model several journey
scenarios. Discussion about special
places, significant places, and looking
after places. Children could be asked to
put gold stars on their favourite places, or
red stars on dangerous places Ask the

Investigation:
Take home
activity to take
photos of places
identifying
features that is
close to home

Sharing time (oral presentation):

ability to use location and direction
terminology to explain their
journeys from home to school.
English/Math connections

Using Google
maps, have the
children track
their journey
between home
and a special
place, for

Tricia Cheah

people (e.g.
provides
basic needs)
(ACHGK002)
To identify
the
surrounding
areas around
the
neighbourho
od and its
function
relevant to
students

children to identify the longest and the

shortest distance to school
Week 5:Presentation: Students showing
things of interest to them on their
journey, and their finished product might
be a kind of map (for example, a story
map) which could tell other people about
their journey.

6.Tracking
Journeys

Invite an Aboriginal elder or Torres Strait

Islander elder to the classroom to
discuss traditional ways of tracking
journeys from one place to another
and how they communicate this to
one another. Alternatively, read the
book My Mob goes to the beach by
Sylvia Emmerton to the children.

example their
grandparents
home, a holiday
destination etc

Emmerton, S
2004, My Mob
goes to the
beach, Black Inc
Press, Sydney.
http://0edutv.informit.c
om.au.prospero
.murdoch.edu.a
u/share.php?to
ken=7580f4153
963940d12610e
6e4053595f

Formal assessment of students

ability to identify the geographical
features from the story by
listing/drawing in their story map
templates

Story-map
template
(aboriginal
features)

Human and Social Sciences Term Plan (People live in Places)

Tricia Cheah

The globe as
a
representati
on of the
Earth on
which
Australia and
other
familiar
countries can
be located
(ACHEGK001
)

7. Discover
Australia
where are
we? What
we have

Book will be read to students to

introduce the location. Discuss countries
and iconic destinations within Australia.
Outline the location of each countries
using the map of Australia (electronically)

Map
Spotlight on
Australia
(Bobbie Kalman)

Diagnostic assessment on students

knowledge of places located in
Australia (WA,SA,VIC,QLD)

Global map will be displayed and area of

significant to students origin will be
pinpointed. Different geographical
features of the countries surroundings
will be discussed.

A is for Australia
(Frane Lessac)

Formative assessment of students

understanding of which country
they are from and where they are
located in the global map (through
the Global world template)

Introduce the children to the YouTube

video Global Wonders: Hello Song with
Sing-a-long.
Use a globe to locate the countries
where the languages originate from
within the Hello Song.
Ask the children to observe teachergenerated photos of different places
of the countries to create a I see/I
wonder chart as a class with the
children, e.g.:

Global
Wonders: Hello
Song with Singa-long
www.youtube.c
om/watch?v=kj
wkMmdqmH4

Encourage students to locate where is

Perth located using the map of Australia
template
8. Lets go
globalWhere are
you from?

Countries
(Malaysia,
Philippines,
Korea, Taiwan,
New Zealand,
Singapore)

9. Using
the global
as
representat
ion

Global world
template

Formative assessment on students

ability to locate the countries
discussed during the whole
classroom discussion

I see

I wonder
Lots of sand Lots of mountain
Is it cold? Is it dry?

Human and Social Sciences Term Plan (People live in Places)

Tricia Cheah

The reasons
some places
are special to
people and
how they can
be looked
after,
including
Aboriginal
and Torres
Strait
Islander
Peoples'
places of
significance (
ACHGK004)

10. Special
places that
I have been

Name of
places
Locations

Human and Social Sciences Term Plan (People live in Places)

Define special. Engage students in

discussion on different places that are
special. Record data of students
responses in a graph to show the range of
places (grandparents, park, etc.).
Describe the pattern shown in the graph
Encourage students to identify the special
places in Perth or overseas they have
visited (highlighting the map), Pose the
question, Where is your favourite place?
draw, label and describe by writing one
or two sentences.

Photos
(Perth Zoo
Kings Park
Perth City
House
Winthrop
Primary School
Northbridge
Playground
Beach

Summative assessment
Spoken/Written description
identifying students reasoning
on their special places and ways
to look after

Written/ spoken description on

the drawing in response to the
inquiry question: What makes
this place special?
Ability to locate the place using
a map

Map of Perth
template

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Concepts for developing geographical understandings in Prep2

Concept

Description

Place

Places are parts of the Earths surface and can be described by location, shape, boundaries, features and environmental and human
characteristics. Places are unique in their characteristics and play a fundamental role in human life. They may be perceived, experienced,
understood and valued differently. They range in size from a part of a room to a major world region. For Aboriginal peoples and Torres
Strait Islander peoples, Country/Place is important for its significance to culture, identity and spirituality.
In P2, children explore the places they live in and belong to, and learn to observe and describe features of places. Children also become
aware of, and interested in, more distant places. The idea of active citizenship is developed as children consider how places can be cared
for.

Space

Spaces are defined by the location of environmental and human features, geographical phenomena and activities across the Earths
surface that form distributions and patterns. Spaces are perceived, structured, organised and managed and can be designed and
redesigned to achieve particular purposes. Space can be explored at different levels or scales.
In P2, childrens spatial thinking starts by learning about direction and distance and how familiar things, such as the classroom or school
grounds, are organised for different purposes. By Year 2, children become aware of the distances between places and how distance
constrains their activities.

Scale

Scale refers to the different spatial levels used to investigate phenomena or represent phenomena visually (maps, images, graphs), from
the personal to local, regional, national, world regional and global levels. Scale is also involved when geographers look for explanations
or outcomes at different levels. Scale may be perceived differently by groups and can be used to elevate or diminish the significance of
an issue, for example, a local issue or global issue.
In P2, children explore place, space and environment in studies at the personal and local scale.

Adapted Source: Australian Curriculum Geography

Human and Social Sciences Term Plan (People live in Places)

Tricia Cheah