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Places are similar and different: Glebe and Gulargambone

A comparison of inner city Sydney with rural north-western NSW.

Content summary

Climate of places

Students:

  • investigate the climates of different places, for example: (ACHGK017)
    • discussion of how weather contributes to climate
    • comparison of climates in different places    

Similarities and differences between places

Students:

  • investigate the settlement patterns and demographic characteristics of places and the lives of the people who live there, for example:  (ACHGK019)
    • examination of the varying settlement patterns and demographics of places   
    • comparison of the daily life of people from different places

Background notes for teachers:

This study provides a comparison of two diverse areas of NSW. The inquiry process and data collection methods can be applied to other areas of Australia and Australia’s neighbours. The focus is on climate, settlement patterns, demographics and lives of the people who live in each place.

A settlement pattern means the shape of a settlement. Gulargambone has some linear settlement patterns in the village where the buildings are built in single lines along roads. In the surrounding rural area it has a dispersed settlement pattern as the buildings are spread out. Glebe and inner city areas have a nucleated settlement pattern as many buildings are clustered together.

Demographics are social statistics, the aspects of a population that can be quantified, eg ages, countries of birth, occupations. An understanding of daily life can be obtained from the demographics, by researching the services of an area, viewing photographs and interviewing residents and/or visitors.

Definitions from NSW Syllabus for the Australian Curriculum Geography K-6:
Environment – The living and non-living elements of the Earth's surface and atmosphere. Where unqualified, it includes human changes to the Earth's surface eg croplands, planted forests, buildings and roads.
Landscape – A landscape is an area, created by a combination of geological, geomorphological, biological and cultural layers that have evolved over time eg riverine, coastal or urban landscapes.
Settlement pattern – The spatial distribution of different types of human settlement, eg isolated houses, towns, cities.

Student Activities

Gulargambone and Glebe

Students view the images of  the Fish Markets at Glebe and the Gulargambone cypress pine saw mill and discuss similarities and differences

Number of set tasks: 1

Activity Notes for Teachers

Engagement
Students view the image of Glebe and of Gulargambone in Sources 1 and 2. To generate interest and inquiry discuss questions such as:
What people, buildings, equipment and objects are shown?
What is the physical setting in each photograph?
What is happening in each photograph?
Where do you think each photograph was taken?
Provide the caption for each photograph.

Questioning and locating. Students use a Local government Area map of Coonamble showing the region and Sydney to understand the locations of each place. Students use Google Earth to locate Glebe and Gulargambone. They view satellite images of the landform and land uses and explore the streets and surroundings using Street View.

Acquiring geographical information - Life and landscapes in inner city Sydney and north-western NSW.  Students analyse photographs of Gulargambone and Glebe and make decisions about daily life.

Task 1 - Acquiring geographical information – Research climate, demographics, settlement patterns
Task 2 - Processing information – Venn diagram
Task 3- Communicating – Similarities and differences

Additional resources

Picture books
Roland Harvey books, eg In the Bush: Our Holiday at Wombat Flat, All the Way to WA, In the City                         
Sam's Bush Journey by Sally Morgan and Ezekiel Kwaymullina 

Web resources


Services and attractions
Discover Gulargambone 
Visit Coonamble Shire
Glebe Attractions  

Demographics
Community Profile – Coonamble 
Glebe Point Road Village Community Profile 

Climate statistics 
Summary Statistics Sydney (Observatory Hill) 
Summary Statistics Coonamble Shire 

NSW Syllabus for the Australian Curriculum: Geography

A student

  • GE2-1 examines features and characteristics of places and environments
  • GE2-2 describes the ways people, places and environments interact
  • GE2-4 acquires and communicates geographical information using geographical tools for inquiry

Acquiring geographical information

  • develop geographical questions to investigate (ACHGS019, ACHGS026)
  • collect and record relevant geographical data and information, for example, by observing, by interviewing, conducting surveys, or using maps, visual representations, the media or the internet (ACHGS020, ACHGS027)

Processing geographical information

  • represent data by constructing tables, graphs and maps (ACHGS021, ACHGS028)
  • represent information by constructing large-scale maps that conform to cartographic conventions, using spatial technologies as appropriate (ACHGS022, ACHGS029)
  • interpret geographical data to identify distributions and patterns and draw conclusions (ACHGS023, ACHGS030)

Communicating geographical information

  • present findings in a range of communication forms, for example, written, oral, digital, graphic, tabular and visual, and use geographical terminology (ACHGS024, ACHGS031)
  • reflect on their learning to propose individual action in response to a contemporary geographical challenge and identify the expected effects of the proposal (ACHGS025, ACHGS032)
  • Place: the significance of places and what they are like eg natural and human features and characteristics of different places and their similarities and differences; how people’s perceptions about places influence their responses and actions to protect them.
  • Space: the significance of location and spatial distribution, and ways people organise and manage spaces that we live in eg settlement patterns within Australia, neighbouring countries and other countries.
  • Environment: the significance of the environment in human life, and the important interrelationships between humans and the environment eg how climate and environment influence settlement patterns; interconnections between people and environments; differing ways people can use environments sustainably.
  • Interconnection: no object of geographical study can be viewed in isolation eg interconnections between people, places and environments; influence of people’s values on the management and protection of places and environments and the custodial responsibilities of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.
  • Scale: the way that geographical phenomena and problems can be examined at different spatial levels eg types of settlement across a range of scales; the influence of climate across a range of scales.
  • Sustainability: the capacity of the environment to continue to support our lives and the lives of other living creatures into the future eg ways in which people, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, use and protect natural resources; differing views about environmental sustainability; sustainable management of waste.

Learning across the curriculum

  • Literacy
  • Numeracy
  • Difference and diversity
  • Work and enterprise