1. Content descriptors
The knowledge descriptors establish the geographical concepts, interconnections and changes examined in Year 9.
Australian Curriculum v9
Year 9 Geography Curriculum: Achievement Standard and Content Descriptors
Bring the Year 9 Geography achievement standard and all 14 linked descriptors into a single curriculum map. It helps teachers coordinate knowledge, geographical inquiry and evidence across a complete learning sequence.
Available combined curriculum hubs
Browse published Geography curriculum maps.
All Humanities and Social Sciences achievement standards | All Humanities and Social Sciences content descriptors
How the curriculum elements fit together
2. Learning and assessment
Skills descriptors support rigorous questions, data collection, spatial representation, analysis and evaluation.
3. Achievement standard
A useful evidence set shows students applying geographical concepts and inquiry skills to explain and evaluate change.
ASHASGEOY9
Open the standalone ASHASGEOY9 page →
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 9, students explain how peoples’ activities or environmental processes change the characteristics of places. They explain the effects of human activity on environments, and the effects of environments on human activity. They explain the features of biomes’ distribution and identify implications for environments. They analyse the interconnections between people and places and environments. They identify and explain how these interconnections influence people, and change places and environments. Students analyse strategies to address a geographical phenomenon or challenge using environmental, social or economic criteria.
Students develop a range of questions about a geographical phenomenon or challenge. They collect, represent and compare relevant and reliable geographical data and information by using a range of primary research methods and secondary research materials in a range of formats. They interpret and analyse data and information to explain patterns and trends and infer relationships. They draw evidence-based conclusions about the impact of the geographical phenomenon or challenge. They develop and evaluate strategies, predict impacts and make a recommendation. Students use geographical knowledge, concepts, terms and digital tools as appropriate to develop descriptions, explanations and responses that acknowledge research findings.
The 12 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 9, students explain how peoples’ activities or environmental processes change the characteristics of places.
Content descriptorAC9HG9K01 Knowledge and understanding
the distribution and characteristics of biomes as regions with distinctive climates, soils, vegetation and productivity
Elaborations (3)
- Elaboration identifying and describing the major aquatic and terrestrial biomes of Australia and other areas of the world, and mapping their distribution
- Elaboration interpreting and explaining patterns and trends in the productivity of the major aquatic and terrestrial biomes in Australia compared with a country in Asia
- Elaboration explaining the effects of interconnections between environmental processes (atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere and biosphere) and human activities, such as deforestation, mining and agriculture on the characteristics of biomes
Content descriptorAC9HG9K03 Knowledge and understanding
the environmental, economic and technological factors that impact agricultural productivity, in Australia and a country in Asia
Elaborations (4)
- Elaboration examining how environmental factors, such as climate, soil, landform, water and hazards, support higher agricultural production, such as wheat, rice and maize, in Australia and a country in Asia
- Elaboration examining how economic factors such as available land, labour, finance and enterprise, and technological factors such as biotechnology and use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) software, affect agricultural production in Australia and a country in Asia; for example, increased labour supply or access to storage, transportation and markets
- Elaboration examining how agricultural innovations have reduced environmental limitations on food production in Australia and a country in Asia; for example, increased food production due to research into and development of high-yielding and genetically engineered pest resistant varieties, construction of drip irrigation systems, and the use of stubble mulching, intercropping, agroforestry and crop rotation
- Elaboration explaining the impact of the interconnections between environmental, economic and technological factors on the yield of a particular crop, such as wheat, rice or maize, in Australia
They explain the effects of human activity on environments, and the effects of environments on human activity.
Content descriptorAC9HG9K02 Knowledge and understanding
the effects on environments of human alteration of biomes to produce food, industrial materials and fibres
Elaborations (3)
- Elaboration identifying the biomes in Australia and a country in Asia that produce some of the foods and plant material people consume
- Elaboration explaining the differences between natural and agricultural ecosystems in flows of nutrients and water, and in biodiversity; for example, the tropical rainforest biome in Indonesia produces food such as fruit, grains, nuts, vegetables and spices, and non-food products such as wood, rubber, coffee, chocolate and palm oil
- Elaboration explaining how human alteration of biomes (for example, drip irrigation, fertilisers, pesticides, genetically modified seeds, agrobiotics, terracing, and controlling erosion and overgrazing) has increased agricultural productivity in Australia and a country in Asia
They explain the features of biomes’ distribution and identify implications for environments.
Content descriptorAC9HG9K01 Knowledge and understanding
the distribution and characteristics of biomes as regions with distinctive climates, soils, vegetation and productivity
Elaborations (3)
- Elaboration identifying and describing the major aquatic and terrestrial biomes of Australia and other areas of the world, and mapping their distribution
- Elaboration interpreting and explaining patterns and trends in the productivity of the major aquatic and terrestrial biomes in Australia compared with a country in Asia
- Elaboration explaining the effects of interconnections between environmental processes (atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere and biosphere) and human activities, such as deforestation, mining and agriculture on the characteristics of biomes
They analyse the interconnections between people and places and environments.
Content descriptorAC9HG9K03 Knowledge and understanding
the environmental, economic and technological factors that impact agricultural productivity, in Australia and a country in Asia
Elaborations (4)
- Elaboration examining how environmental factors, such as climate, soil, landform, water and hazards, support higher agricultural production, such as wheat, rice and maize, in Australia and a country in Asia
- Elaboration examining how economic factors such as available land, labour, finance and enterprise, and technological factors such as biotechnology and use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) software, affect agricultural production in Australia and a country in Asia; for example, increased labour supply or access to storage, transportation and markets
- Elaboration examining how agricultural innovations have reduced environmental limitations on food production in Australia and a country in Asia; for example, increased food production due to research into and development of high-yielding and genetically engineered pest resistant varieties, construction of drip irrigation systems, and the use of stubble mulching, intercropping, agroforestry and crop rotation
- Elaboration explaining the impact of the interconnections between environmental, economic and technological factors on the yield of a particular crop, such as wheat, rice or maize, in Australia
Content descriptorAC9HG9K05 Knowledge and understanding
the ways changing transportation and technologies are used to connect people to services, information and people in other places
Elaborations (5)
- Elaboration discussing how access to transportation affects the ways people perceive, use and are connected to specific services or opportunities in a place; for example, regional flights to travel to capital cities and to international destinations
- Elaboration identifying and describing how transport and information networks function to connect people to goods and services (for example, from cotton crop to t-shirts or from farm to table), including how supply-chain logistics influence these connections
- Elaboration discussing how communications infrastructure and networks support people to collaborate; for example, local people working for social sustainability and inclusion such as the Masai in Kenya, Berber in North Africa, San or Kalahari Bushmen in southern Africa, Uyghurs in China, Ainu in Japan, Inuit in Greenland and Yanomami in the Amazon Basin
- Elaboration interpreting differences in people’s access to the internet between and within countries, such as in rural areas across Australia and across the world, including a country of Asia, and explaining how technologies are used to connect people to information, services and other people
- Elaboration examining how technologies have made it possible for places to provide a range of global business services, such as businesses operating call centres in India and the Philippines
Content descriptorAC9HG9K07 Knowledge and understanding
the ways that places and people are interconnected with other places through trade in goods and services, at all scales
Elaborations (3)
- Elaboration discussing some of the products and/or services that businesses in their local area sell to or buy from other places
- Elaboration examining how and why places are interconnected nationally, regionally and globally through trade in goods and services
- Elaboration identifying examples of change in interconnections between places and people through trade in goods and/or services over time at the local, national and global scale
They identify and explain how these interconnections influence people, and change places and environments.
Content descriptorAC9HG9K03 Knowledge and understanding
the environmental, economic and technological factors that impact agricultural productivity, in Australia and a country in Asia
Elaborations (4)
- Elaboration examining how environmental factors, such as climate, soil, landform, water and hazards, support higher agricultural production, such as wheat, rice and maize, in Australia and a country in Asia
- Elaboration examining how economic factors such as available land, labour, finance and enterprise, and technological factors such as biotechnology and use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) software, affect agricultural production in Australia and a country in Asia; for example, increased labour supply or access to storage, transportation and markets
- Elaboration examining how agricultural innovations have reduced environmental limitations on food production in Australia and a country in Asia; for example, increased food production due to research into and development of high-yielding and genetically engineered pest resistant varieties, construction of drip irrigation systems, and the use of stubble mulching, intercropping, agroforestry and crop rotation
- Elaboration explaining the impact of the interconnections between environmental, economic and technological factors on the yield of a particular crop, such as wheat, rice or maize, in Australia
Content descriptorAC9HG9K06 Knowledge and understanding
the effects on places of people’s travel, recreational, cultural or leisure choices, and the strategies for managing the impacts on these places
Elaborations (3)
- Elaboration discussing the causes of the global growth of tourism and its environmental, economic or social impacts on places
- Elaboration explaining the impacts of people’s cultural and leisure choices on the sustainability of places popular with tourists (for example, visiting Mecca, Vatican City or Varanasi as religious pilgrimages) and predicting how space tourism or the impacts of COVID-19 may affect places
- Elaboration examining how management plans for national parks, such as Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, bring together cultural and scientific knowledge and experience, and examining governance and past experience to manage the effects of people’s cultural and leisure choices
Content descriptorAC9HG9K08 Knowledge and understanding
the impacts of the production and consumption of goods on places throughout the world, and strategies to manage sustainability in these places
Elaborations (4)
- Elaboration examining the effects on people, places or environments of mining, farming, forestry or the production of manufactured goods
- Elaboration explaining the environmental effects of the production and distribution of consumer products and services on the places that produce the raw materials, the people who make the products, and the environments that receive the waste at the end of the products’ life; for example, the environmental effects of an e-waste supply chain from mining, production and sales to waste disposal
- Elaboration evaluating the environmental, economic and social impacts of the global oil supply chain, from where the resource is extracted, processed and sold, and how impacts could be sustainably managed in Australia and in West Asia
- Elaboration examining a strategy used by local, state or national governments to manage waste in one of Australia’s cities or regional urban centres, and identifying implications for sustainability (environmental, economic and social factors)
Students analyse strategies to address a geographical phenomenon or challenge using environmental, social or economic criteria.
Content descriptorAC9HG9K04 Knowledge and understanding
challenges to sustainable food production and food security in Australia and appropriate management strategies
Elaborations (6)
- Elaboration examining environmental impacts of changes to food production causing a decline in the capacity of the land to provide agricultural products; for example, land and water degradation such as soil erosion, salinity and desertification, shortage of fresh water, competing land uses, climate change and pollution contribute to a decrease in food production
- Elaboration examining economic and social impacts of changes to food production; for example, competing land uses such as urban and industrial uses, and recreation activities
- Elaboration examining the impacts of modifications to biomes on the productivity and availability of staple resources for First Nations Australians; for example, reduced access to bush food such as myrrnong (yam daisy) in Victoria or cycads, bunya nuts and wongi plums in northern Australia
- Elaboration examining management strategies that improve food security; for example, efforts to reduce food wastage, government policies or trade barriers
- Elaboration explaining management strategies that restore the quality or diversity of agriculture in Australia; for example, improving the function of natural biomes and anthropogenic biomes, monitoring land management practices, improving the condition of the soil or building the capability of farmers
- Elaboration generating ideas for a strategy to expand agricultural production in Australia; for example, market bush food such as herbs and wattle seed, invest in research, support farm innovations or develop the expertise of farmers
Content descriptorAC9HG9K06 Knowledge and understanding
the effects on places of people’s travel, recreational, cultural or leisure choices, and the strategies for managing the impacts on these places
Elaborations (3)
- Elaboration discussing the causes of the global growth of tourism and its environmental, economic or social impacts on places
- Elaboration explaining the impacts of people’s cultural and leisure choices on the sustainability of places popular with tourists (for example, visiting Mecca, Vatican City or Varanasi as religious pilgrimages) and predicting how space tourism or the impacts of COVID-19 may affect places
- Elaboration examining how management plans for national parks, such as Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, bring together cultural and scientific knowledge and experience, and examining governance and past experience to manage the effects of people’s cultural and leisure choices
Content descriptorAC9HG9K08 Knowledge and understanding
the impacts of the production and consumption of goods on places throughout the world, and strategies to manage sustainability in these places
Elaborations (4)
- Elaboration examining the effects on people, places or environments of mining, farming, forestry or the production of manufactured goods
- Elaboration explaining the environmental effects of the production and distribution of consumer products and services on the places that produce the raw materials, the people who make the products, and the environments that receive the waste at the end of the products’ life; for example, the environmental effects of an e-waste supply chain from mining, production and sales to waste disposal
- Elaboration evaluating the environmental, economic and social impacts of the global oil supply chain, from where the resource is extracted, processed and sold, and how impacts could be sustainably managed in Australia and in West Asia
- Elaboration examining a strategy used by local, state or national governments to manage waste in one of Australia’s cities or regional urban centres, and identifying implications for sustainability (environmental, economic and social factors)
Students develop a range of questions about a geographical phenomenon or challenge.
Content descriptorAC9HG9S01 Skills
develop a range of questions for a geographical inquiry related to a phenomenon or challenge
Elaborations (3)
- Elaboration developing a range of questions to investigate why a geographical phenomenon has changed or why a challenge may arise; for example, “Why is food security important?”, “What are sources of food in Australia?”, “How are people, places and environments connected?”
- Elaboration developing and modifying questions to sharpen the focus of an investigation using concepts or scale of study; for example, “Why is the security and sustainability of food production important at the national scale?”, “How can bush food become a sustainable nutritional source of food in Australia?”, “How can connections between people, environments and places affect the sustainability of places at the global scale?”
- Elaboration planning an investigation of a geographical phenomenon or challenge being studied at a range of scales, using digital tools; for example, the diverse types of biomes modified by humans for food and non-food products at a national and global scale, or the different types of connections between people and places at local, national and global scales
They collect, represent and compare relevant and reliable geographical data and information by using a range of primary research methods and secondary research materials in a range of formats.
Content descriptorAC9HG9S02 Skills
collect, represent and compare data and information from primary research methods, including fieldwork and secondary research materials, using geospatial technologies and digital tools as appropriate
Elaborations (6)
- Elaboration identifying primary research methods, including fieldwork, to collect original materials; for example, comparison of aerial photographs or field sketches over time to document the use or alteration of biomes by people, or surveying peers on their use of the internet or other technologies
- Elaboration collecting relevant secondary research materials online using targeted criteria; for example, "connections between food security and deforestation in Bangladesh”, “the digital divide and its impacts on people and places in North Korea”
- Elaboration evaluating primary or secondary research materials for relevance (for example, “Does the information reflect current thinking on sustainable food production?”) and reliability (for example, “Who is/are the author/s? Does the author reference other experts or reports in the field of environmental management?”)
- Elaboration creating a presentation of data and information using geospatial technologies; for example, a 3D diagram illustrating interactions between an oil spill in coral reefs and resultant decline in aquatic food production; a flow diagram showing the daily activities of a female subsistence farmer in Africa; or a diagram of a mangrove ecosystem before and after human interactions
- Elaboration creating visual representations of multi-variable geographical data using digital tools; for example, a table to compare the daily consumption of meat per person in developed and developing countries; a complex graph to illustrate the relationship between temperature, precipitation and biomes; or a cross-section identifying horizons in a soil profile, and the impacts of mining and fracking on agricultural land
- Elaboration representing spatial distribution of geographical phenomena by constructing special purpose maps that conform to cartographic conventions, for example creating a map to show the relationship between biomes and world food production
They interpret and analyse data and information to explain patterns and trends and infer relationships.
Content descriptorAC9HG9S03 Skills
evaluate geographical data and information to make generalisations and predictions, explain patterns and trends and infer relationships
Elaborations (3)
- Elaboration making generalisations about trends; for example, using questionnaires or interviews to identify people’s perspectives on live food fish trade in Australia or people’s access to the internet in the local area
- Elaboration explaining a pattern; for example, using the current Global Hunger Index and the updated Food and Agricultural Organization’s Low-Income Food-Deficit Countries (LIFDCs) to identify locations of food scarcity and malnutrition, or comparing maps showing transport networks with survey responses on personal mobility
- Elaboration explaining relationships between causes and impacts of factors represented in data; for example, the impact of the use of Global Positioning System (GPS) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) on the way farmers control the dispersion of fertilisers and pesticides to produce higher yields and limit run-off, or the effects of the use of GPS to construct maps on how tourists use different transport systems to visits popular places in Australia
They draw evidence-based conclusions about the impact of the geographical phenomenon or challenge.
Content descriptorAC9HG9S04 Skills
evaluate data and information to justify conclusions
Elaborations (2)
- Elaboration drawing conclusions about the impact of a geographical challenge on people, places and environments; for example, investigating the causes of a decline in food species, its impacts on food security and the establishment of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, or the effects of cyberattacks on technological interconnections and implementation of international laws related to cyber security
- Elaboration justifying conclusions by reflecting on perspectives identified and reasons for these perspectives; for example, considering environmental, economic and social factors when challenging disappearing arable land converted from food production to non-food crops, or promoting ecotourism that impacts on people and places
They develop and evaluate strategies, predict impacts and make a recommendation.
Content descriptorAC9HG9S05 Skills
develop and evaluate strategies using environmental, economic or social criteria; recommend a strategy and explain the predicted impacts
Elaborations (5)
- Elaboration proposing individual action and supporting the proposal with reasons; for example, reducing food wastage or reducing negative environmental impacts when visiting theme parks or national parks
- Elaboration proposing collective action and supporting the proposal with reasons; for example, organisations that work to end hunger and improve food security, or improve labour practices and increase wages for people working to produce goods exported to other countries
- Elaboration evaluating the effectiveness of a strategy in relation to environmental, economic or social criteria; for example, examining factors likely to impact on achieving Goal 2 of the Sustainable Development Goals – Ending global hunger by 2030 or monitoring the extent that a management plan for a national park is implemented
- Elaboration explaining the outcomes and impacts of a strategy, such as providing people with adequate and quality food that is acceptable in different cultures, or reducing the global movement of hazardous waste between countries
- Elaboration reflecting on the influence of personal values and attitudes on predicted outcomes and impacts; for example, how preferring to buy locally produced food reduces food miles and greenhouse gases, or how reducing, recycling and reusing goods contributes to a more sustainable environment
Students use geographical knowledge, concepts, terms and digital tools as appropriate to develop descriptions, explanations and responses that acknowledge research findings.
Content descriptorAC9HG9S06 Skills
create descriptions, explanations and responses, using geographical knowledge and geographical tools as appropriate, and concepts and terms that incorporate and acknowledge research findings
Elaborations (3)
- Elaboration developing a response using geographical concepts and terms; for example, strategies to improve the sustainability of a place or environment
- Elaboration creating a description, using representations of data (for example, using maps to illustrate the major terrestrial biomes of Australia and photographs to show their impacts on people and places) and research findings (for example, using diagrams, graphs, tables and/or satellite images to show how environmental, economic or technological factors affect crop yields)
- Elaboration creating an explanation that applies tone appropriate to the audience; such as reducing food wastage, or developing a management plan for a tourist hot spot, in an authoritative tone and reasoned argument
About the strands
The 14 content descriptors linked to ASHASGEOY9 sit under these strands.
Knowledge and understanding
The discipline knowledge and concepts students learn, connect and apply in context.
Skills
The questions, research, analysis, evaluation and communication practices used in the discipline.
A practical planning sequence
- Choose the curriculum focus. Choose the concepts, interconnections and changes that frame the geographical inquiry.
- Select a meaningful context. Use varied spatial scales and reliable data to compare places and processes.
- Plan connected learning. Use the linked descriptors together where that creates a coherent sequence.
- Map the evidence. Assess representations, analysis, explanations, evaluations and justified responses.
Turn this curriculum map into a teaching sequence
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