Program overview

This resource supports the fieldwork into urban overheating conducted by the Field of Mars Environmental Education Centre. It supports the Geography 11-12 syllabus Geography 11–12 Syllabus (2022) © 2024 NSW Education Standards Authority. This program focuses on the urban heat island effect (UHI).

Pre-learning

The activities within this resource are optional.  They have been developed to introduce students to:

• the concepts of urban heat islands (UHI), the factors that contribute to it, the challenges and the potential strategies that will shape more resilient cities

• the City of Ryde Council 'Cool Places Cool Spaces' citizen science project, its purpose, targets and the methodologies and equipment that are used in the field to measure and assess urban heat and outdoor thermal comfort. 

Fieldwork 

Fieldwork is conducted in the City of Ryde LGA with qualified staff from the Field of Mars Environmental Education Centre. The worksheet, stimulus materials and all fieldwork equipment will be provided to participating students on the day of the fieldwork program.

Please contact the Field of Mars Environmental Education Centre to book or for more information.

Post-fieldwork

Post-fieldwork activities have also been included to support the processing, analysis and presentation of primary data collected during fieldwork (in development).

Geographic tools including photographs and links to external sources can also be used in post- fieldwork activities and assessment.

Fieldwork context

Cities tend to be hotter than surrounding bushland and rural areas. This is known as the urban heat island effect (UHI). It is the result of complex interactions between the built environment and natural processes. Climate change is increasing the effects of the urban heat islands making higher temperatures and extreme hot weather events more severe and difficult to manage, placing people and the environment at risk. 

Recognising the challenges and the need to mitigate the UHI effect on a local scale, the City of Ryde has partnered with the Field of Mars EEC in the Cool Places Cool Spaces citizen science project. 

The City of Ryde is a local government area located in Sydney's north-western suburbs. It is approximately 10 kilometres from the centre of Sydney and has a population of 135,716 with a population density of 3,352 persons per square km (2023 ABS data). 

The Cool Places Cool Spaces citizen science project will use methodologies and equipment designed by RMIT University Sustainable Building Innovation laboratory and UNSW Sydney Faculty of Built Environment High Performance Architecture to measure microclimate data. 

The project continues to be supported by the UNSW Sydney Faculty of Built Environment High Performance Architecture. We thank Associate Professor Riccardo Paolini for his guidance during the implementation phase of this citizen science project. 

The data collected during our fieldwork will be used by City of Ryde in environmental management, urban planning, social planning, economic development, parks planning and sustainability. It will support Council in achieving targets set in the Ryde Resilience Plan 2030 and to support community education around the impacts of heat, particularly on vulnerable members of the community and heat preparedness information.

Fieldwork investigations

During fieldwork, you will acquire primary data to answer the following questions:

• How does the built environment impact natural processes that cause urban heat?

• How do geographers measure the impact of urban heat on people and the environment?

• What strategies could be implemented to address urban heat in outdoor spaces in Meadowbank?

Wallumedegal Country

You will be conducting fieldwork on Wallumedegal (Wattamattagal) Country. The word Wattamattagal is derived from the black snapper fish. The clan's territory follows the north bank of the Parramatta River from Lane Cove in the east to Parramatta in the west. 

We pay respect to Elders both past, present and emerging and extend that respect to other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.

Read more about the Aboriginal history of Ryde here.