This is the teacher notes page identifying the outcomes addressed in these lessons. Copy each lesson link and send it to your students. For printable versions of these materials log into the teacher information section of the Department of Education.

Introduction

Australia is home to more than 25 million people. In the last 10 years, Australia’s population has grown by 4 million, nearly twice as many new Australians than the previous decade. Much of Australia’s population growth has happened in our major cities – particularly the two largest, Sydney and Melbourne. With more people living and working in Australia’s cities, the nation’s urban transport task has grown substantially. However, as urban spaces grow and more people need to move around the city, traffic congestion is expected to become an increasing problem for residents. In this series of lessons, students will explore the projected changes and categorise the impacts of these changes as social, economic or environmental. They will then conduct a traffic survey and analyse the results of this for trends and solutions. Students will finish by designing their own innovative solution to traffic or traffic management. 

Learning intentions 

Students: 

• develop an understanding of the link between population growth and traffic congestion 

• develop an understanding of the social, economic and environmental impacts of traffic congestion 

Success criteria 

Students: 

• Apply their understanding of potential issues with traffic congestion in future to developing an innovative solution for use in Australian cities 

Syllabus Content 

Australia’s urban future  

Students:  

• investigate the management and planning of Australia’s urban future, for example:  

• discussion of the implication of population forecasts for the future growth and sustainability of urban places 

• explanation of strategies used to create economically, socially and environmentally sustainable urban places 

• proposal of ways for individuals and communities to contribute to a sustainable urban future 

Outcomes 

A student: 

• explains processes and influences that form and transform places and environments GE5-2 

• analyses the effect of interactions and connections between people, places and environments GE5-3 

• assesses management strategies for places and environments for their sustainability GE 5-5 

• acquires and processes geographical information by selecting and using appropriate and relevant geographical tools for inquiry GE 5-7 

• communicates geographical information to a range of audiences using a variety of strategies GE 5-8