k10outline - Year 9 Syllabus

Year 9 SyllabusTest

Year 9 Syllabus

Year Level Description

In Year 9, Humanities and Social Sciences consists of Civics and Citizenship, Economics and Business, Geography and History.

Students develop increasing independence in critical thinking and skill application, which includes questioning, researching, analysing, evaluating, communicating and reflecting. They apply these skills to investigate events, developments, issues and phenomena, both historical and contemporary.

Students continue to build on their understanding of the concepts of the Westminster system, democracy, democratic values, justice and participation. They examine the role of key players in the political system, the way citizens' decisions are shaped during an election campaign and how a government is formed. Students investigate how Australia's court system works in support of a democratic and just society.

Students are introduced to the concepts of specialisation and trade while continuing to further their understanding of the key concepts of scarcity, making choices, interdependence, and allocation and markets. They examine the connections between consumers, businesses and government, both within Australia and with other countries, through the flow of goods, services and resources in a global economy. The roles and responsibilities of the participants in the changing Australian and global workplace are explored.

The concepts of place, space, environment, interconnection, sustainability and change continue to be developed as a way of thinking, which provides students with an opportunity to inquire into the production of food and fibre, the role of the biotic environment and to explore how people, through their choices and actions, are connected to places in a variety of ways. Students apply this understanding to a wide range of places and environments at the full range of scales, from local to global, and in a range of locations.

Students develop their historical understanding through key concepts, including evidence, continuity and change, cause and effect, perspectives, empathy, significance and contestability. These concepts are investigated within the historical context of the making of the modern world from 1750 to 1918. They consider how new ideas and technological developments contributed to change in this period, and the significance of World War I.

Knowledge and understanding

Civics and citizenship

Our democratic rights

The role of political parties, and independent representatives in Australia's system of government, including the formation of governments (ACHCK075)

Ethical understanding

How citizens' choices are shaped at election time (e.g. public debate, media, opinion polls, advertising, interest groups, political party campaigns) (ACHCK076)

How social media is used to influence people's understanding of issues (ACHCK076)

The key features of Australia's court system and the role of a particular court (e.g. a supreme court, a magistrates' court, the Family Court of Australia) and the types of cases different courts hear (ACHCK077)

Ethical understanding

How courts apply and interpret the law, resolve disputes, and make law through judgments (e.g. the role of precedents) (ACHCK077)

Ethical understanding

The key principles of Australia's justice system, including equality before the law, independent judiciary, and right of appeal (ACHCK078)

Ethical understanding

The factors that can undermine the application of the principles of justice (e.g. bribery, coercion of witnesses, trial by media, court delays) (ACHCK078)

Economics and business

Australia and the global economy

The role of the key participants in the Australian economy, such as consumers, producers, workers and the government (ACHEK038)

Intercultural understanding

Australia's interdependence with other economies, such as trade and tourism, trade links with partners in the Asia region, and the goods and services traded (ACHEK038)

Why and how participants in the global economy are dependent on each other, including the activities of transnational corporations in the supply chains and the impact of global events on the Australian economy (ACHEK039)

Why and how people manage financial risks and rewards in the current Australian and global financial landscape, such as the use of differing investment types (ACHEK040)

The ways consumers can protect themselves from risks, such as debt, scams and identity theft (ACHEK040)

The nature of innovation and how businesses seek to create and maintain a competitive advantage in the market, including the global market (ACHEK041)

The way the work environment is changing in contemporary Australia and the implication for current and future work (ACHEK042)

Geography

Biomes and food security

The distribution and characteristics of biomes as regions with distinctive climates, soils, vegetation and productivity (ACHGK060)

The ways that humans in the production of food and fibre have altered some biomes (e.g. through vegetation clearance, drainage, terracing, irrigation) (ACHGK061)

The environmental, economic and technological factors that influence crop yields in Australia and across the world (e.g. climate, soils, landforms, water resources, irrigation, accessibility, labour supply, agricultural technologies) (ACHGK062)

The challenges to food production, including land and water degradation, shortage of fresh water, competing land uses, and climate change for Australia and the world (ACHGK063)

The effects of anticipated future population growth on global food production and security; the capacity for Australia and the world to achieve food security; the implications for agriculture, agricultural innovation and environmental sustainability (ACHGK064)

Geographies of interconnections

The perceptions people have of place, and how this influences their connections to different places (ACHGK065)

The way transportation, and information and communication technologies are used to connect people to services, information and people in other places (ACHGK066)

The ways that places and people are interconnected with other places through trade in goods and services, at all scales (ACHGK067)

Critical and creative thinking

The effects of people's travel, recreational, cultural or leisure choices on places, and the implications for the future of these places (ACHGK069)

History

The making of the modern world

Overview:

The important features of the modern period (1750–1918) including technological change, Imperialism and Nationalism

Depth study 1: Investigating the Industrial Revolution (1750–1914)

The technological innovations that led to the Industrial Revolution, and other conditions that influenced the industrialisation of Britain (e.g. the agricultural revolution, access to raw materials, wealthy middle class, cheap labour, transport system, and expanding empire) and of Australia (ACDSEH017)

The population movements and changing settlement patterns during the Industrial Revolution (ACDSEH080)

The experiences of men, women and children during the Industrial Revolution, and their changing way of life (ACDSEH081)

The short-term and long-term impacts of the Industrial Revolution, including global changes in landscapes, transport and communication (ACDSEH082)

Depth study 2: Investigating World War I (1914–1918)

The causes of World War I and the reasons that men enlisted to fight in the war (ACDSEH021)

The places where Australians fought and the nature of warfare during World War I, including the Gallipoli campaign (ACDSEH095)

The impact of World War I, with a particular emphasis on Australia, such as the use of propaganda to influence the civilian population, the changing role of women and the conscription debate (ACDSEH096)

The commemoration of World War I, including debates about the nature and significance of the ANZAC legend (ACDSEH097)

Humanities and Social Sciences skills

Questioning and researching

Identify current personal knowledge, gaps, misconceptions, currency of information, personal perspective and possible perspectives of others (WAHASS79)

Construct, select and evaluate a range of questions and hypotheses involving cause and effect, patterns and trends, and different perspectives (WAHASS80)

Analyse and clarify the purpose of an inquiry using appropriate methodologies, ethical protocols and concepts to plan for, and inform, an investigation (WAHASS81)

Use a range of methods to collect, select, record and organise relevant and reliable information and/or data from multiple sources that reflects the type of analysis of information that is needed (e.g. questionnaires, surveys, emails, discussion lists, tables, field sketches, annotated diagrams), with and without the use of digital and spatial technologies (WAHASS82)

Identify the origin, purpose and context of primary sources and/or secondary sources (WAHASS83)

Use appropriate ethical protocols, including specific formats for acknowledging other people's information and understand that these formats vary between organisations (WAHASS84)

Analysing

Use criteria to analyse the reliability, bias, usefulness and currency of primary sources and/or secondary sources (WAHASS85)

Analyse information and/or data in different formats (e.g. to explain cause and effect relationships, comparisons, categories and subcategories, change over time) (WAHASS86)

Account for different interpretations and points of view/perspectives in information and/or data (e.g. from tables, statistics, graphs, models, cartoons, maps, timelines, newspapers) (WAHASS87)

Analyse the 'big picture' (e.g. put information and/or data into different contexts, reconstruct information by identifying new relationships, identify missing viewpoints or gaps in knowledge) (WAHASS88)

Apply subject-specific skills and concepts in familiar, new and hypothetical situations (WAHASS89)

Evaluating

Draw evidence-based conclusions by evaluating information and/or data, taking into account ambiguities and multiple perspectives; to negotiate and resolve contentious issues; to propose individual and collective action in response to contemporary events, challenges, developments, issues, problems and/or phenomena (WAHASS90)

Critically evaluate information and/or data and ideas from a range of sources to make generalisations and inferences; propose explanations for patterns, trends, relationships and anomalies; predict outcomes (WAHASS91)

Communicating and reflecting

Select a range of appropriate formats based on their effectiveness to suit audience and purpose, using relevant digital technologies as appropriate (WAHASS92)

Develop texts, particularly explanations and discussions, using evidence from a range of sources to support conclusions and/or arguments (WAHASS93)

Deconstruct and reconstruct the collected information and/or data into a form that identifies the relationship between the information and the hypothesis, using subject-specific conventions, terminology and concepts (WAHASS94)

Compare evidence to substantiate judgements (e.g. use information and/or data from different places or times; use tables, graphs, models, theories) (WAHASS95)

Generate a range of viable options in response to an issue or event to recommend and justify a course of action, and predict the potential consequences of the proposed action (WAHASS96)

Reflect on why all findings are tentative (e.g. the changing nature of knowledge, changes in circumstances, changes in values) (WAHASS97)

Achievement standard

At Standard, students construct a range of questions and hypotheses involving cause and effect, patterns and trends, and different perspectives. They use a range of methods to select, record and organise relevant information and/or data from multiple sources. When interpreting sources, students identify their origin and purpose, and draw conclusions about their usefulness. They examine sources to compare different points of view/perspectives and describe different interpretations. Students analyse information and/or data to identify simple patterns, trends, relationships and/or change over time. They draw evidence-based conclusions, using information and/or data to consider multiple perspectives and/or to propose action in response to contemporary challenges. Students develop a range of texts appropriate to the type of discussion and/or explanation required. They use subject-specific terminology and concepts, and provide evidence from a range of sources to support conclusions, and acknowledge these sources.

Students describe some ways individuals and political parties participate within the electoral system in Australia’s democracy. They describe Australia’s court system and how the courts resolve disputes. Students identify the principles of justice and the threats to these principles.

Students explain the interdependence between Australia and other economies by identifying Australia’s trading partners, and describe how specialisation results in the exchange of goods and services between countries. They describe the risks and rewards that result from making consumer and financial choices. Students describe innovations and changes in business, and the implications for the current and future work environment.

Students explain the spatial variation and characteristics of natural environments and the interconnections between people, places and environments. They identify the cause and effect of these interconnections, and predict possible implications for people, places and natural environments, now and in the future. Students make inferences about the spatial outcomes of the interconnections between people, places and environments.

Students explain the causes and effects of the Industrial Revolution and World War I over both the short and long term, and the significance of each. Students use evidence to explain patterns of change and continuity over time, and identify the motives and actions of the individuals and groups at that time.