Sustainable Landscape Management

Overview

Students explore how landscapes can be managed and protected sustainably by evaluating human impacts and proposing practical management strategies. This lesson builds on earlier lessons in the unit by using students’ understanding of landforms and landscape characteristics to focus on environmental management choices.

Learning intentions

• Students will identify features of a landscape and the environmental changes affecting it.
• Students will explain how people can manage and protect landscapes sustainably.
• Students will describe strategies that reduce negative impacts and support long-term environmental health.
• Students will use geographical thinking to justify a management strategy using evidence.

Success criteria

• I can name at least two landscape features and one environmental issue affecting them.
• I can outline two sustainable management strategies and link them to the issue.
• I can use geographical terms (e.g. catchment, erosion, habitat, land use) accurately.
• I can justify my recommendation with clear reasons and a simple evidence source (observation, data, or text).

Curriculum links

• GELS-MAN-01 — Students demonstrate ways to manage and protect a place or environment.
• GELS-DFC-02 — Students identify features or characteristics of places and environments.
• GELS-APC-02 — Students identify ways Aboriginal Peoples care for and manage Country.
• Thinking and working geographically: asking questions, using evidence, and communicating findings.

Lesson structure (60 minutes)

1. 0–5 min · Retrieval starter. Teacher displays three landscape photos (e.g. riverbank, hillside, coastal edge) and asks: “What landform features do you notice?” Students write quick bullet answers, then hold them for later comparison.

2. 5–15 min · Scenario read + “spot the issue”. Teacher hands out a short case study card (local or familiar Australian landscape under pressure—such as erosion from runoff, vegetation loss, or track damage). Students work in pairs to underline: (a) what is changing, (b) who/what is causing it, and (c) what could be protected.

3. 15–28 min · Mini-direct teach: sustainable management. Teacher explicitly models a simple framework: Issue → Cause → Impact → Strategy → Why it works. Students complete a teacher-guided example on their worksheet using one strategy (e.g. stabilising soil, improving vegetation cover, managing water flow, creating protective zones).

4. 28–45 min · Group investigation: design a “Management Plan”. Students are placed in groups of four and choose one focus area from the case study (water quality, erosion risk, biodiversity/habitat, or land use/tracks). Teacher circulates with prompts:

• “What landscape characteristics are most relevant?”
• “What management option reduces harm and supports recovery?”
• “How could you check if the strategy is working?” Students produce a one-page plan including:
• Two sustainable strategies (not just one)
• At least one justification linked to the issue
• One “care and management” idea that could connect to Aboriginal Peoples caring for Country (expressed respectfully, without assuming uniform practices)

5. 45–55 min · Gallery share + feedback. Groups display their plans. Teacher uses a structured feedback protocol: “Glow” (what worked), “Grow” (one improvement), and “Question” (one clarification). Students move through two other plans and record feedback using sentence starters.

6. 55–60 min · Exit ticket. Students answer: “One strategy I would choose is… because… and I would know it is working by…” Teacher collects tickets to inform the next lesson.

Resources

• Case study card (1 per student) with short scenario text and a few data prompts (e.g. rainfall/runoff trend, before/after photo description, or bullet facts)
• Worksheet: Issue → Cause → Impact → Strategy → Why it works
• One-page group template: “Management Plan” with space for 2 strategies and justification
• Photo set of local landscapes (printed or projected)
• Feedback slips or sheet with “Glow/Grow/Question” sentence starters
• Coloured markers (or digital annotation tool) for highlighting issue/cause/impact
• Teacher checklist for formative assessment during group work

Assessment

• Formative: teacher observation during pairs identifying issue/cause/impact and during group planning using the framework.
• Formative: quality of strategies and justifications in the “Management Plan” (checked with a simple success-criteria rubric: identifies features, proposes strategies, justifies with evidence).
• Exit ticket: assesses whether students can explain a sustainable strategy and provide a realistic way to evaluate success.

Differentiation

• Support for learners who need scaffolding: provide sentence starters for explanations (“The issue is…”, “This happens because…”, “A strategy would be…”), and a word bank of geographical terms.
• Support for literacy: allow students to underline and label on the case study rather than writing full paragraphs; provide a partially completed example framework.
• Extension for advanced learners: require a third strategy or a comparison question (“Which strategy has the greatest long-term benefit, and why?”) and an evaluation method (e.g. monitoring vegetation regrowth, turbidity checks, or track condition).
• EAL/SEN adjustments: offer visual cues (icons for erosion, water, habitat) and allow bilingual support where available; group roles can include “reader”, “evidence finder”, “writer”, and “presenter” to ensure participation.