The+Local+Environment

8.3 The Local Environment

**Contextual Outline**

The immediate environment has an impact on all people in ways that an Earth and Environmental Science student will learn to recognise and explain. This module allows students to draw on existing knowledge of their own local area and expand on their understanding of geological and climatic concepts through careful analysis of the area. Study of this module must include field experience in the investigation of landforms, rock and soil types as well as biological factors and how all of these interact to form the local environment.

Students will be able to identify the physical and chemical features of their local environment and relate those features to the hydrologic, lithologic and atmospheric cycles in operation.They need to be able to identify and relate landforms, rock types and soils to the resultant natural environments in which they, the plants and other animals of the area, live. In order to judge the impact of human settlement in the area, students will need to investigate the history of the local environment as evident in the rocks, soils and fossils of the area. Where practicable, they could also seek the assistance of local Indigenous people in tracing the history of the area before the advent of European settlement.

Finally, students should be encouraged to analyse those aspects of the local environment that have been affected by people, describe the impacts, identify the causes of these impacts and propose realistic solutions to any problems that exist by emphasising ecologically sustainable development strategies. At least one field study will be necessary to identify the features of the landscape.This module increases students’ understanding of the nature and practice, the implications for society and the environment, and the current issues, research and developments in Earth and Environmental Science.



=The Local Environment Unit planner=

__Resources__ __[|Rocks, weathering soil and geological time]__ NOVA: Australia’s threatened species Our environment: it's a living thing The world’s biomes [|Comprehensive site about the whole unit of work] **Assumed Knowledge** //Domain: knowledge and understanding// Refer to the //Science Years 7–10 Syllabus// for the following: 5.10a) distinguish between biotic and abiotic features of the local environment 5.10c) describe some impacts of human activities on ecosystems 5.11.2c) discuss strategies used to balance human activities and needs in ecosystems with conserving, protecting and maintaining the quality and sustainability of the environment
 * [|Wingecarribee - The Collapse of Wingecarribee Wetlands: An Australian Environmental Tragedy]** - from the University of Wollongong and Robertson Environment Protection Society