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NSW Curriculum
NSW Education Standards Authority

11–12Geography 11–12 Syllabus

Record of changes
Implementation from 2024
Expand for detailed implementation advice

Content

Year 11

People, patterns and processes
Overview of the diversity and extent of human activity
  • The diversity and extent of human activity on the Earth’s surface on a global scale, including spatial patterns of settlement, infrastructure, and agricultural and industrial production

  • Spatial patterns related to culture

  • The increasingly integrated nature of the world

    Including:
    • economic activities and cultures
    • the effect of technological change on interconnections between places in relation to distance and time
    • the role of transnational corporations (TNCs), world cities, migration and tourism in international integration
Population and resource consumption
  • The characteristics, growth and distribution of the world’s population, including trends, rates of change and density

  • Influences that shape global population change

    Including:
    • demographic transition
    • population movements
  • Challenges arising from population change – environmental, economic and social

  • Population characteristics and trends in TWO countries

    Including:
    • reasons for similarities and/or differences
    • challenges and responses in each country
    • varying perspectives on population management
  • Links between population characteristics and natural resources

    Including:
    • the global distribution and consumption of natural resources
    • population size, distribution and concentration, and levels of resource consumption in various places
    • challenges of resource consumption, including depletion of resources, impacts on Indigenous Peoples, environmental degradation, and inequalities in human wellbeing
People, patterns and processes study

Students undertake ONE of the following studies to develop an understanding of the role of people in changing places and environments, the processes involved, and various responses to change.

  • Study 1: Human resilience in diverse environments

  • Study 2: Local places and global economic change

  • Study 3: Place and cultural change

  • Study 4: Political power and contested spaces

  • Study 5: Technological advances and the transformation of places.

Study 1: Human resilience in diverse environments

Students investigate:

  • Environments that challenge some forms of human occupation and survival

  • Characteristics of environments that contribute to human occupation and endeavour

  • The contribution of human ingenuity and resilience to the character of places

  • ONE environment at a local or national scale that challenges human occupation and survival

    Including:
    • spatial patterns and characteristics of the environment
    • evidence of human ingenuity and resilience
    • impacts of, and responses to, change
    • opportunities to enhance environmental sustainability and/or human wellbeing
Study 2: Local places and global economic change

Students investigate:

  • Places relatively unaffected by global economic change

  • Changes to places resulting from global economic integration and global flows of people, goods and ideas

  • Impacts of change on the human and physical characteristics of places, including impacts on Indigenous Peoples and lands

  • ONE place outside Australia shaped by international economic integration

    Including:
    • nature of change resulting from global linkages
    • responses to economic integration
    • opportunities to enhance environmental sustainability and/or human wellbeing
Study 3: Place and cultural change

Students investigate:

  • Culture of place

  • Influences on the culture of place

    Including:
    • the continuity of cultures in different places
    • the processes of diffusion, adoption and adaptation of culture
    • the mediums facilitating cultural change
  • Evidence of cultural change in various places around the world

  • Impacts of, and responses to, change

  • ONE place at a local or national scale

    Including:
    • the spatial and cultural characteristics of the place
    • influences on the cultural identity of the place
    • perceptions of, and responses to, cultural continuity and/or change
    • opportunities to enhance environmental sustainability and/or human wellbeing
Study 4: Political power and contested spaces

Students investigate:

  • The geopolitical characteristics of places from a global perspective, including nation-states and territories, political systems and ideologies, and power blocs

  • Influences on political tension and conflict

  • Impacts of, and responses to, political tension and conflict

  • ONE contested space at a local or regional scale

    Including:
    • spatial patterns and characteristics of the space
    • the influence of economic, environmental, social, cultural and/or technological factors
    • impacts of political tension and/or conflict on people, places and the environment
    • opportunities to enhance environmental sustainability and/or human wellbeing
Study 5: Technological advances and the transformation of places

Students investigate:

  • Technological advances that have contributed to the rise of global networks

  • The spatial pattern of networks

  • The role of networks in transforming places, and the implications for people and/or environments

  • ONE study of a network at any scale

    Including:
    • spatial patterns and/or characteristics of the network
    • the development and/or operation of the network and technological advances
    • impacts of, and responses to, change
    • opportunities to enhance environmental sustainability and/or human wellbeing
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