Learning Outcomes
- Demonstrate knowledge of the concept of risk management as it relates to bushfire
- Apply geographical inquiry and a range of skills, including spatial technologies and fieldwork, to investigate the natural hazard of bushfire
Unit Overview
Curriculum Area: Senior Secondary Geography | Unit 1 Natural and ecological hazards
(Addresses Content Descriptions: ACHGE003; ACHGE004; ACHGE006; ACHGE07; ACHGE008; ACHGE009; ACHGE011; ACHGE013; ACHGE015; ACHGE016; ACHGE017; ACHGE019; ACHGE020; ACHGE021 )
Format: Teacher facilitated individual, group and whole class activities, with associated homework
Timing: ~21 hours of class time (distributed over 5 weeks)
This unit uses the hazard of bushfire to allow students to explore and investigate relationships between geographical information and the concept of risk management (ACHGE013). Geographical skills, particularly the use of spatial, information and communication technologies (ACHGE004), are developed through the collection, analysis and communication of geographical information and data from primary and secondary sources whilst investigating the natural hazard of bushfire (ACHGE003, ACHGE006, ACHGE008).
Investigating bushfire as a complex hazard is relevant to Geography in both the geophysical and human processes which occur in its creation and the management of risks it poses (Tiefenbacher, 2013). The three complementary analytical perspectives of a geographer - place, environment and space (Maude, 2010) can be applied in the investigation of bushfire and its risk management, supporting student development and understanding of the integrated nature of geography as a discipline (Kirkpatrick, 2007).
Bushfire is a topical issue locally, nationally and globally, facilitating investigation at a range of scales, and opportunities to investigate interactions and consequences of spatial decisions - key components of the study of geography at a senior secondary level, according to the Tasmanian Qualifications Authority (TQA) (2013).