§-Geography syllabus

SA · SACE Board← Geography

Geography syllabus, dot point by dot point

Every dot point in the SA Geography subject outline, in syllabus order, with a focused answer for each. Open any dot point for the answer, exam-style questions and links to related points.

Environmental Change

Topic overview →

Why is biodiversity declining, how does this loss vary across places and scales, and how effective are conservation strategies in protecting ecosystems?

Explain the causes of biodiversity loss, analyse its uneven spatial impacts on ecosystems and people, and evaluate conservation strategies for protecting biodiversity.

What does sustainability mean for environmental change, and how can management strategies balance environmental, social and economic needs across scales?

Explain the concept of sustainability, analyse how environmental management strategies operate across scales, and evaluate their effectiveness in addressing environmental change.

What are the causes, spatial patterns and consequences of changes in land cover across Australia and the world, and how can land cover change be managed?

Describe and explain changes in land cover, analyse their environmental, social and economic consequences, and evaluate strategies that manage land cover change sustainably.

What causes land degradation and desertification, how do these processes vary spatially, and how can degraded land be managed and restored?

Explain the physical and human causes of land degradation and desertification, analyse their uneven impacts, and evaluate strategies for prevention and rehabilitation.

How do people contribute to climate change, what are its spatial impacts, and how can societies mitigate and adapt to a changing climate?

Explain how human activity contributes to climate change, analyse the uneven environmental, social and economic impacts, and evaluate mitigation and adaptation strategies.

How do people interact with ecosystems, and what are the causes and consequences of changes to ecosystems and biodiversity in Australia and globally?

Explain the interrelationship between people and ecosystems, analyse the causes and consequences of ecosystem and biodiversity change, and evaluate strategies for managing ecosystems sustainably.

How do the carbon and water cycles move matter through Earth's systems, and how does human activity disturb these natural cycles?

Explain how the carbon and water cycles operate, analyse how human activity alters these natural systems, and evaluate the environmental consequences of that disturbance.

Geographical Skills and Fieldwork

Topic overview →

What are the seven geographical concepts, and how do students use them to frame and answer questions about a changing world?

Explain the seven geographical concepts and apply them to analyse places, patterns and processes across the topics and in fieldwork.

What geographical skills do students need to interpret maps, graphs, statistics and spatial data in the SACE Stage 2 Geography examination?

Interpret and apply geographical skills including map reading, graph and statistical interpretation, photograph analysis and spatial technologies to answer geographical questions.

How do geographers choose, construct and interpret graphs and statistics to represent and analyse geographical data accurately?

Select and construct appropriate graphs and statistical measures, and interpret data to identify and explain geographical patterns and relationships.

How do geographers interpret photographs, satellite images and spatial technologies to identify features, patterns and change over time?

Interpret ground, aerial and satellite imagery and spatial technology outputs to identify features, describe patterns and analyse change over time.

How do geographers plan, conduct and report independent fieldwork to investigate a local geographical topic or issue?

Develop a fieldwork inquiry question, plan and apply appropriate primary data-collection techniques, and analyse and communicate findings in a fieldwork report.

Population Change

Topic overview →

How and why do populations grow, age and move, and what are the consequences of these trends for places in Australia and across the world?

Describe and explain population trends and movements, analyse their consequences, and evaluate strategies that manage population growth, ageing and migration.

What drives forced migration and displacement, how are these movements distributed across the world, and how do countries and agencies respond?

Explain the causes of forced migration and displacement, analyse their uneven spatial patterns and impacts, and evaluate responses by countries and international agencies.

Why are the world's people concentrating in cities and megacities, and what are the consequences of urbanisation for people and environments?

Explain the causes of urbanisation and the growth of megacities, analyse the consequences for people and environments, and evaluate strategies that manage urban growth sustainably.

How does the demographic transition model explain population change, and how well does it apply to countries at different stages of development?

Explain the stages of the demographic transition model, analyse how birth and death rates change through development, and evaluate the model's usefulness and limits.

Why are populations ageing, what does a rising dependency ratio mean for societies, and how can countries respond to an older population?

Explain the causes of population ageing, analyse the consequences of a rising dependency ratio, and evaluate strategies for managing an ageing population.

Why is the world's population so unevenly distributed, and what physical and human factors explain patterns of population density?

Explain the physical and human factors shaping population distribution and density, analyse the resulting spatial patterns, and apply this to interpret population data.

Social and Economic Change

Topic overview →

How is wealth and wellbeing distributed across and within countries, what causes these patterns of inequality, and how can they be reduced?

Describe global patterns of inequality, explain their causes, analyse their consequences, and evaluate strategies that aim to reduce inequality between and within places.

How is development measured, what do indicators such as GDP, HDI and the Gini coefficient reveal and hide, and how do they expose patterns of inequality?

Explain how development and inequality are measured, analyse the strengths and limits of key indicators, and apply them to interpret spatial patterns of development.

How do trade and aid connect places into an interdependent global economy, and how do these flows shape inequality between countries?

Explain how trade and aid link countries, analyse how these flows create interdependence and uneven outcomes, and evaluate their role in addressing global inequality.

How do transnational corporations organise global production networks, and how do they reshape the economies and societies of the places they operate in?

Explain how transnational corporations organise global production networks, analyse their uneven spatial impacts, and evaluate their costs and benefits for host and home countries.

How are economies changing and becoming more interdependent, and what are the consequences for workers, regions and trade in Australia and globally?

Explain how economies change and become interdependent through trade and the international division of labour, analyse the consequences for places, and evaluate responses.

What is globalisation, how does it reshape places and economies, and how do localisation movements respond to its impacts in Australia and the world?

Explain the processes of globalisation and localisation, analyse their economic, social and cultural consequences, and evaluate responses to the changes they bring.