AC9S9U03 Year 9 Science

This Content Descriptor from Year 9 Science provides the specific knowledge and skills students should learn. Use it to plan lessons, create learning sequences, and design assessments that align with the Australian Curriculum v9.

represent the carbon cycle and examine how key processes including combustion, photosynthesis and respiration rely on interactions between Earth’s spheres (the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere)

Elaborations

• 1 identifying Earth as a system, describing Earth’s spheres and discussing examples of interactions between different spheres
• 2 examining the carbon cycle using diagrams, animations or simulations and explaining the role of photosynthesis and respiration in that cycle
• 3 identifying the impact of combustion reactions as a result of human activity on the carbon cycle
• 4 investigating the greenhouse effect and relating it to the role carbon dioxide plays in maintaining temperatures that support life on Earth
• 5 conducting a field investigation to evaluate carbon sequestration in an ecosystem, such as measuring tree biomass, deadwood, leaf litter and soil depth, and using formulas to calculate approximate carbon storage
• 6 investigating how First Nations Australians use fire-mediated chemical reactions to facilitate energy and nutrient transfer through the practice of firestick farming
• 7 investigating how First Nations Australians are reducing Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions through the reinstatement of traditional fire management regimes
• 8 identifying how carbon dioxide is captured and stored naturally or through the use of technologies
• 9 calculating an individual’s carbon footprint, examining the impact of human activities and suggesting strategies to reduce carbon dioxide emissions

Related Achievement Standards