Australian Landscape Basics

Overview

In this lesson, students understand what a landscape is by linking landforms, climate, vegetation and human impact. They then sort images of Australian landscapes into categories and justify their choices.

Learning intentions

Students will:

• understand that landscapes are shaped by interactions between landforms, climate, vegetation and people
• identify features in images and describe how they suggest climate and land cover
• classify landscapes into categories using evidence from the images
• use key geographic terms to explain their reasoning

Success criteria

• I can define “landscape” using examples from Australian environments.
• I can describe landform and vegetation features I see in an image.
• I can match an image to a landscape category with a clear justification.
• I can explain how people affect a landscape using simple evidence.

Curriculum links

• Western Australian Curriculum: Geography (place, space and environment; investigating landscapes and how natural systems interact)
• Western Australian Curriculum: English (using evidence to support opinions and explanations; speaking and listening)
• Western Australian Curriculum: Critical and creative thinking (analysing, explaining and making evidence-based decisions)

Lesson structure (60 minutes)

1. 00–05 Introduce the idea of “landscape” Teacher shows 2–3 slides of Australian scenes (e.g., coastal, desert, forest). Students quick-talk: “What do you notice? What might shape this place?”

2. 05–12 Mini-lesson: components of landscapes Teacher models a simple framework on the board: Landform (what the land looks like) + Climate (what weather/temperature likely is like) + Vegetation (what plants can grow) + People (what humans do and change). Emphasise that categories are based on relationships, not single features.

3. 12–20 Image feature scan (hands-on) In pairs, students receive 6 small picture cards. They sort into two piles: “natural features” and “human features” (some cards may include both). Teacher circulates using prompts: “What makes you think that?” and “Which clue is strongest?”

4. 20–33 Main task: sorting into landscape categories Students work as a group (class of 7) to sort the full set of landscape pictures into 4 teacher-chosen categories, such as:

• Coastal landscapes
• Desert and arid landscapes
• Grasslands and plains (including inland floodplains where shown)
• Temperate or tropical forest landscapes For each category, students must place cards and give one evidence-based statement using the framework (landform + climate/vegetation + people). Teacher supports by modelling a sentence starter: “This is likely a ____ because ____.”

5. 33–45 Gallery share and justification Students do a quick “gallery walk” (or teacher presents each category). For each category, one student explains why 1–2 selected images belong. Others add one extra piece of evidence or respectfully challenge with a question.

6. 45–55 Concept check: write-and-match exit responses Students complete a short response sheet (or notebook task):

• Define landscape in 1–2 sentences.
• Choose one image from the sorted categories and write a 3-sentence justification covering landform, climate/vegetation and human impact.

7. 55–60 Wrap-up and home link for lesson 3 Teacher summarises: landscapes can be understood by how natural factors and people interact. Students share one learning highlight and one question for next lesson (e.g., “How do we know climate from vegetation?”).

Resources

• Set of landscape picture cards (coastal, desert/arid, grasslands/plains, forest; include some with visible human impact like roads, farms, settlements, grazing, deforestation, dams)
• Board/slide visuals of landscape examples
• Sorting mats or four large category labels
• Sentence starters and a landscape framework chart (Landform, Climate, Vegetation, People)
• Feature scan mini-cards (natural vs human)
• Student response sheets or notebook prompts
• Coloured sticky notes for adding “evidence” statements to categories
• Timer and class working space (table grouping)

Assessment

• Observation of students’ sorting decisions and their use of evidence during discussion
• Listening assessment during gallery share (ability to justify with landform/climate/vegetation/people)
• Exit response to check understanding of the term “landscape” and evidence-based reasoning

Differentiation

• Support: provide sentence starters, word bank (landform, climate, vegetation, human impact), and a smaller set of cards for initial sorting if needed
• Support: allow students to point to specific image features while talking before writing
• Extension: ask students to add an additional “because” link (e.g., “If the vegetation is sparse, what does that suggest about rainfall?”) and compare two categories using one shared feature
• EAL/SEN: use visual supports and allow oral responses recorded by teacher or on an adapted template (one sentence per framework element)