Social SciencesFreePrintable

Cumberland Plain Woodland Exploration

A free social sciences worksheet ready for your classroom. Open in Kuraplan to grab the print-ready PDF, customize it for your students, or generate a fresh version in seconds.

Download now

Name:Date:

Cumberland Plain Woodland Exploration

Read the briefing and complete the investigation tasks. When discussing Aboriginal knowledge or care for Country, avoid treating all Aboriginal peoples and communities as the same.

A woodland under pressure

Cumberland Plain Woodland is a grassy eucalypt woodland of the Sydney Basin, especially the western Sydney plain. Before large-scale clearing, it covered extensive areas. Today, much of its original extent has been cleared or changed, and remaining patches vary in size and condition. The ecological community is listed as critically endangered under Australian national environmental law. The woodland’s plants and animals are adapted to local conditions, including periods of dry weather. Habitat loss and fragmentation can leave small patches isolated from one another. Other pressures include weeds, altered fire patterns, rubbish and damage from nearby development. Protecting connected, healthy remnants can help native species persist. The Cumberland Plain is Country for Aboriginal peoples, including the Darug people. Country encompasses relationships among people, land, waters, plants, animals, culture and responsibilities. Aboriginal knowledge and practices are diverse, living and place-specific. Any discussion of cultural knowledge should be guided by Traditional Owners and relevant community voices.

Spatial investigation

Use the briefing to consider how remnant habitat and urban growth may interact. It describes the woodland’s location and pressures, but does not provide exact boundaries, distances or the full extent of woodland.

1.Which description best identifies Cumberland Plain Woodland?

A critically endangered grassy eucalypt woodland community of western Sydney
A tropical rainforest community of northern Queensland
A single, continuous forest covering all of New South Wales
A woodland planted only for commercial timber

2.Identify two pressures on woodland remnants described in the briefing. For each, explain one way it could affect habitat or native species.

3.True or false? The woodland’s critically endangered listing means every remaining patch is in the same condition.

TrueFalse

4.Complete the sentence using the briefing: Habitat fragmentation can leave small woodland patches from one another.

5.According to the briefing, where is Cumberland Plain Woodland especially found?

6.Based on the briefing, give one broad conclusion about the woodland and urban growth that it supports, and one detail it does not provide enough information to establish.

7.Explain how urban growth can create a tension between the needs of people and the protection of Cumberland Plain Woodland.

People, Country and conservation choices

Conservation planning works best when ecological evidence is combined with respectful engagement with the people connected to a place. Cultural knowledge is not a resource to collect or share without permission. The following choices are general planning principles, not a substitute for local guidance.

8.Which action best shows respect when a council is planning work near woodland on Country?

Seek guidance from the relevant Traditional Owners and follow appropriate cultural protocols
Assume one person can speak for every Aboriginal community
Publish cultural information without asking permission
Treat cultural values as unrelated to land-management decisions

9.A proposed road would pass close to two woodland remnants. Suggest two questions planners should investigate before deciding where the road should go.

10.Choose one practical action that could support woodland conservation, then explain why it may help. Your action could relate to habitat restoration, weeds, rubbish, development planning or community involvement.