Year 7 Humanities
The Year 7 Humanities course is built around two units of History and two units of Geography.
History is a disciplined process of inquiry into the past that develops students’ curiosity and imagination. History helps students appreciate how the world and its people have changed, as well as the significant continuities that exist to the present day. The History units are built around student-centred investigations into particular events and people based on the available evidence derived from remains of the past. The course is deliberately interpretative by nature, promotes debate and encourages thinking about human values, including present and future challenges. Our process of historical inquiry develops transferable skills, such as the ability to ask relevant questions, critically analyse and interpret sources, consider context, respect and explain different perspectives, develop and substantiate interpretations, and communicate effectively.
Many of these skills are also deployed in the study of Geography, where investigations into the wellbeing and sustainability of the environment and society enable young Australians to develop a holistic understanding of the world. The Geography units empower students to shape change for a socially just and sustainable future.
Structure
Unit 1: Water in the World
- The many uses of water, the ways it is perceived and valued, and the hazards associated with environmental processes.
- The distribution of its different forms as a resource, its varying availability in time and across space, and its scarcity.
- The ways water connects and changes places as it moves through the environment, and the impact of water-related hazards on human-environment relationships.
Unit 2: Place and Liveability
- The factors that influence liveability, how it is perceived, and the idea that places provide us with the services and facilities needed to support and enhance our lives.
- The distribution of these spaces, and how they are planned and managed by people.
- The ways that the liveability of a place is enhanced and how sustainability is managed.
Unit 3: Deep Time History of Australia
- A study of history from the time of the earliest human communities to the end of the ancient period, approximately 60,000 years ago – c.650 (CE), and a study of early First Nations Peoples of Australia.
- The development of cultural practices and organised societies.
- The discoveries (the remains of the past and what we know) and the mysteries (what we do not know) about this period of history, in a range of societies.
Unit 4: The Ancient World
- An investigation into the sub-strands or ancient civilisations: Greek, Roman, Egyptian and/or Chinese.
- Societal organisation, their beliefs, values and practices, and their significant contacts and conflicts with other societies.
Assessment
Short-response tests, data report and a research investigation.
