Year 2
Humanities and Social Sciences
ASHASHASY2
Year 2 Humanities and Social Sciences Achievement Standard
8 statements aligned to content descriptors and elaborations
Achievement standard (as ACARA publishes it)
Achievement standard
Click any sentence to jump to its statement and linked content descriptors.
By the end of Year 2, students identify the significance of a local person, group, place and/or building. They identify the effects of changes in technologies on people’s lives. Students identify that places can be spatially represented in different geographical divisions. They identify how people and places are interconnected both at local and broader scales.
Students develop questions, and collect, sort and record related information and data from observations and provided sources. They interpret information and data, and identify and discuss perspectives. Students use interpretations to draw conclusions and make proposals. Students use sources, and subject-specific terms to present narratives and observations about the past, people and places at different scales.
The 8 achievement standard statements
Open a statement to see the content descriptors ACARA links to it, then open a descriptor's elaborations.
By the end of Year 2, students identify the significance of a local person, group, place and/or building.
Content descriptorAC9HS2K01 Knowledge and understanding
a local individual, group, place or building and the reasons for their importance, including social, cultural or spiritual significance
Elaborations (5)
- Elaboration suggesting reasons for the location of a local landmark before searching for resources that provide an explanation; for example, community building, statue or war memorial
- Elaboration investigating the history of a chosen person, building, site or place in the local community, using provided sources (for example, the internet, books, newspapers, community information guides, audio-visual material, digital sources, photographs) and relating a story that these reveal about the past
- Elaboration discussing why a particular site has heritage significance or cultural value for present generations; for example, it provides a record of a significant historical event, has aesthetic value, reflects the community’s identity
- Elaboration identifying and visiting, where appropriate, local sites, places and landscapes of significance to First Nations Australians; for example, engraving sites, rock paintings, natural sites or features such as the creeks or mountains
- Elaboration identifying and designing a local historical tour of a building or site; for example, one related to a particular cultural group
They identify the effects of changes in technologies on people’s lives.
Content descriptorAC9HS2K02 Knowledge and understanding
how technological developments changed people’s lives at home, and in the ways they worked, travelled and communicated
Elaborations (5)
- Elaboration examining changes in technologies over several generations by comparing past and present objects and photographs, and discussing how these changes have shaped people’s lives; for example, changes to land, air and sea transport; the introduction of transistors, television, FM radio moving to digital streaming, including how people communicated over long distances
- Elaboration identifying, through questioning adults, the communication, work and transport technologies used in the childhoods of their grandparents or familiar elders
- Elaboration suggesting what their pattern of visits to places might have been one or two generations ago and comparing this to their current pattern
- Elaboration identifying the technologies used by local First Nations Australians for aspects of daily life such as providing food, shelter and transportation
- Elaboration identifying the ways current communication and transport technologies impact on our interconnections with other places; for example, online communication, accessibility to other places through different types of transport
Students identify that places can be spatially represented in different geographical divisions.
Content descriptorAC9HS2K03 Knowledge and understanding
how places can be spatially represented in geographical divisions from local to regional to state/territory, and how people and places are interconnected across those scales
Elaborations (4)
- Elaboration identifying where they live in Australia, including in relation to their nearest capital city, the region and state/territory on a map and a globe
- Elaboration investigating the places locally and at a broader scale that they and their families visit for shopping, health, recreation, religious or ceremonial activities, or other reasons
- Elaboration identifying links they and other people in their community have with people and places at the regional and/or state/territory scale; for example, where produce in their supermarket comes from or produce from their farms goes to, relatives they visit, places they go for holidays
- Elaboration describing how communication and transport technologies connect their place to other places at the regional and/or state/territory level; for example, online communication, phone, road, rail, planes, ferries
They identify how people and places are interconnected both at local and broader scales.
Content descriptorAC9HS2K04 Knowledge and understanding
the interconnections of First Nations Australians to a local Country/Place
Elaborations (3)
- Elaboration listening to stories connecting local First Nations Australians with the land, sea, waterways, sky and animals of their Country/Place
- Elaboration liaising with community to identify language groups of First Nations Australians who belong to the local area and exploring the relationship between language, Country/Place and spirituality (this is intended to be a local area study with a focus on one language group; however, if information or sources are not readily available, another representative area may be studied)
- Elaboration discussing when to use Acknowledgement of Country and Welcome to Country at ceremonies and events to respectfully recognise the Country/Place and Traditional Owners and Custodians of the land, sea, waterways, and sky
Students develop questions, and collect, sort and record related information and data from observations and provided sources.
Content descriptorAC9HS2S01 Skills
develop questions about objects, people, places and events in the past and present
Elaborations (3)
- Elaboration developing inquiry questions about a historical site; for example, “What does it look like now?”, “What condition is it in?”, “What was its purpose?”, “How might its use have changed?”, “How was it built/created?”, “Who built it?”, “How is it now used?”, “Why is it important?”, “Was/is it used by different groups of people?’
- Elaboration developing inquiry questions about places; for example, “What are the features of the place?”, “How far away is it?”, “How easy is it to get to?”, “How am I connected to it?”, “How is it connected to other places?”
- Elaboration posing questions using the stems, “How do I feel about …?”, ‘What would it be like to …?” and “What effect …?”
Content descriptorAC9HS2S02 Skills
collect, sort and record information and data from observations and from provided sources, including unscaled timelines and labelled maps or models
Elaborations (4)
- Elaboration collecting information from sources and observations relevant to learning about the past (for example, photographs, interviews, newspapers, stories, and place and street names in maps) and relevant to learning about places (for example, surveying peers, satellite images, diagrams, field photographs, observations of monuments, built and non-built historical landmarks, middens, remnants of native vegetation and old building remains), and identifying relevant information
- Elaboration creating pictorial maps with annotations to show historical sites or places they are connected to, incorporating symbols to show locations of objects, places or significant features
- Elaboration locating the places they are connected to, such as through family, travel or friends, or the places they visit for shopping, recreation or other reasons on a print, electronic or wall map
- Elaboration ordering key events in the history of the local community or in its development using formats such as unscaled timelines, slideshows or stories; for example, the history of a person, place or building, or the developmental stages of telecommunications technologies
They interpret information and data, and identify and discuss perspectives.
Content descriptorAC9HS2S03 Skills
interpret information and data from observations and provided sources, including the comparison of objects from the past and present
Elaborations (4)
- Elaboration interpreting distance on maps using terms such as “distant”, “close”, “local”, “many hours in a bus/car/plane” and “walking distance” to decide on the accessibility of different features and places
- Elaboration interpreting geographic maps, concept maps and other digital or visual displays to explore system connections; for example, places their classmates are connected to, where some food comes from, how First Nations Australians’ songlines connect places
- Elaboration interpreting symbols and codes that provide information, such as map legends
- Elaboration identifying how objects and activities are similar or different depending on conditions in local and distant places; for example, clothes, transport, technology
Content descriptorAC9HS2S04 Skills
discuss perspectives related to objects, people, places and events
Elaborations (3)
- Elaboration discussing why some places are considered special or significant by others, such as parents, First Nations Australians, grandparents or familiar elders, friends and returned soldiers
- Elaboration examining the points of view of older generations about changes over time; for example, changes to the natural or built environment, changes to daily living
- Elaboration exploring how the same place has significance to different groups for different reasons; for example, traditional meeting places for First Nations Australians within an urban area that include buildings or monuments that are important to other cultural groups.
Students use interpretations to draw conclusions and make proposals.
Content descriptorAC9HS2S05 Skills
draw conclusions and make proposals
Elaborations (5)
- Elaboration listing what makes a local person, place or building significant and drawing conclusions about how people were, or are, connected to a local place and other places in the region and/or state/territory
- Elaboration creating a Venn diagram or table that shows aspects of continuity or change in the local area or technology over time
- Elaboration discussing how change in one aspect of technology impacted on the way people worked, travelled, communicated or played in the past
- Elaboration identifying how knowledge of special places and natural systems in their local area contributes to behaviour, and ideas about how to care for these places and to preserve their significance
- Elaboration using their knowledge about a familiar place or site to imagine how it might change in the future and how they can influence a positive future for it
Students use sources, and subject-specific terms to present narratives and observations about the past, people and places at different scales.
Content descriptorAC9HS2S06 Skills
develop narratives and share observations, using sources, and subject-specific terms
Elaborations (3)
- Elaboration developing narratives drawing on ideas in sources, such as a comparison of past and present daily life
- Elaboration sharing observations using sources such as how access to and use of a place has changed over time
- Elaboration sharing with their teacher, other students and members of their family what they know about the past, using terms in speech and writing to denote the passing of time (for example, “in the past”, “years ago”, “the olden days”, “in the future”) and to describe direction and location of a place (for example, “north”, “south”, “opposite”, “near”, “far”)
This achievement standard describes the expected learning for Year 2 Humanities and Social Sciences. Use it to plan teaching and assessment with the Australian Curriculum v9.
At a Glance
| Strand | Substrand | CDs | Elaborations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Knowledge and understanding | History | 2 | 10 |
| Knowledge and understanding | Geography | 2 | 7 |
| Skills | Questioning and researching | 2 | 7 |
| Skills | Interpreting, analysing and evaluating | 2 | 7 |
| Skills | Concluding and decision-making | 1 | 5 |
| Skills | Communicating | 1 | 3 |
| Total | 10 | 39 | |
Frequently Asked Questions
What should students know by the end of Year 2 Humanities and Social Sciences?
By the end of Year 2, students identify the significance of a local person, group, place and/or building. They identify the effects of changes in technologies on people’s lives. Students identify that places can be spatially represented in different geographical divisions. Read the full standard
How many Content Descriptors support this standard?
10 Content Descriptors support this Achievement Standard (Knowledge and understanding: 4, Skills: 6).
How does this compare to Year 1?
The Year 1 Humanities and Social Sciences standard (ASHASHASY1) covers the preceding curriculum level. Standards build progressively, with Year 2 expectations extending what was introduced in Year 1.
Is this from the latest Australian Curriculum?
Yes, this Achievement Standard is from the Australian Curriculum version 9.0 (AC v9), the most current version published by ACARA.