Outdoor and Environmental Studies

Study design 2024-2028

Area of Study 1. Outcome 1-  Changing human relationships with outdoor environments

On completion of this unit the student should be able to analyse the changing nature of relationships with outdoor environments between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians at a local and state level over time, and evaluate the impact of environmentalism on political parties and/or policies. 

 To achieve this outcome you will be required to draw on key knowledge and key skills outlined below:

Key knowledge:

• an overview of Australian outdoor environments before humans arrived, including characteristics of biological isolation, geological stability, and climatic variations

• relationships with Australian outdoor environments expressed by specific Indigenous peoples' communities before and after European colonisation

• relationships of non-indigenous peoples with specific outdoor environments as influenced by and observed in local or visited outdoor environments during historical time periods:

-Early colonisation (1788-1859)

- Pre-Federation (1860-1900)

- Post-Federation (1901-1990)

• the beginnings of environmentalism and the resulting influence on political party policy, as observed in one of the following historical campaigns:

            – Lake Pedder (Tasmania)

            – The Little Desert (Victoria)

            – The Franklin River (Tasmania)

Key skills: 

• explain the characteristics of the Australian environment before humans arrived

• analyse the changing relationships with Victorian outdoor environments expressed by specific Indigenous peoples' communities before and after European colonisation

• analyse the changing relationships of non-indigenous peoples with Victorian outdoor environments as observed during historical time periods

• describe the beginnings of environmentalism as observed in a historical campaign

• evaluate the influence of environmentalism on the development of a government policy or political party