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More trees? Yes please!

Have you looked straight up into the canopy of a forest recently? There is so much to see. Learn more about what’s growing in Australia’s forests and why trees are important to us, to animals and to each other.

Three of Australia’s iconic trees – the Eucalypts, Figs and Macadamias populate our forests across the country.  Explore the connections that trees have to other living things, investigate the ways that these trees survive against threats and discover the best conditions to grow these trees for the future. 

Stage 2 Geography 

  • Examines features and characteristics of places and environments - GE2-1  
  • Describes the ways people, places and environments interact - GE2-2  
  • Examines differing perceptions about the management of places and environments - GE2-3  
  • Acquires and communications geographical information using geographical tools for inquiry - GE2-4 

 Skills   

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 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 
  • Literacy capability 
  • Numeracy capability 
  • Information and Communication Technology capability 
  • Critical and Creative Thinking capability 
  • Personal and Social capability 
  • Ethical Understanding capability 
  • Intercultural Understanding capability. 

Sensory activity safety: 

  • Before smelling or tasting a plant, ask if any participants have hay fever / asthma / allergies 
  • Only smell or taste a plant that has been identified as safe 
  • Wash hands after each outdoor activity 

Further reading for Teachers 

Did you know? 

Koalas are fussy eaters, preferring only a few of the over 800 species of Eucalypts!' 

Eucalypt plantations all over the world totals well over 20 million hectares: 
  • India ­ - over 3.9 million hectares, 22% of world eucalypt plantation acreage 
  • Brazil – over 3.7 million hectares, 20% of world eucalypt plantation acreage 
  • China – over 2.6 million hectares 14% of world eucalypt plantation acreage 
  • Australia - by contrast only 5% of world eucalypt plantation acreage 

Australia has 101 million hectares of natural eucalypt forest, and the total land area of Australia is 7.692 million square kilometres or 769,200,000 hectares.  

Access the Department Of Agriculture, Water and Environment webpage to view maps such as the one below showing the extent of eucalypt growth in 2018.