Factors that shape places incursion | Stage 3 HSIE Geography | Field of Mars EEC

Cost, risk assessment and details

Cost	DoE $27 per student – GST free Non-gov $37 per student – GST free, min charge $750 per class Schools outside Greater Sydney – minimum charge $750 per class Program costs may change. Bookings are charged at the cost confirmed when you book.
Risk assessment	Risk management plan
Classes	Recommended maximum 4 classes per day.
School preparation	If leaving school grounds, ensure teacher to student ratio of 1:15.
View	Factors that shape places learning resource
Welfare	May not suit recently unwell participants. For medical or special needs notify staff prior to program.
Extreme or wet weather	Program may be modified, postponed or cancelled due to predicted extreme temperatures, bush fire danger, heavy rainfall, high winds or dust storms.
Booking policy	Confirm student numbers and classes 7 days in advance.
Cancellation and rescheduling	Cancellation or rescheduling with less than 30 school days’ notice before the booking date – $650 Cancellation with less than 14 school days’ notice before the booking date – full program cost Cancellation due to unsafe weather or fire danger – $0

Activities

Activities may vary depending on student needs, timing and weather.

Introduction

Students are introduced to the day’s inquiry question—How should local bushland sites be managed for people and the environment? Students discuss safe, respectful fieldwork behaviours and begin identifying how urban bushland is valued and used by the community.

Field sketching

Students learn field sketching techniques and create an annotated folded view drawing of the site. Students label natural and human features and explain why features are present, including visible signs of management.

Bushland adventures

On a guided bushwalk, students explore how people use local bushland places for recreation and connection. Students identify positive and negative influences, for example track damage, domestic animals, weeds and litter and discuss how management can reduce impacts.

Creek walk

Students investigate an urban waterway by using simple ID charts to distinguish native plants and common weeds along the creek line. Students reflect on how the creek environment is used and valued now, how it might be used in the future, and what management actions could protect it.

Students conduct hands-on water tests using field equipment and record results as a class. Students link stormwater runoff to changes in water quality and ecosystem impacts, and explain how human actions can contribute to pollution and weed growth.

Collecting evidence

Students use photographs and observations as fieldwork evidence to communicate geographic ideas about features, impacts and management strategies.

Explore related fact sheets

Use these student-friendly fact sheets before or after your Factors that shape places incursion to support learning about natural features, human features, waterways, landforms and environmental change.

• ⁠Field of Mars Reserve fact sheet – Explore local bushland, creeklines, wetlands, mangroves, saltmarsh, tracks and human impacts.
• ⁠River and creek environment fact sheet – Learn how water flow, creek banks, plants, animals and human impacts shape creek environments.
• ⁠Estuary environments fact sheet – Explore places where freshwater and saltwater mix and support connected plants, animals and food webs.
• ⁠Mangrove forest ecosystem fact sheet – Discover tidal mud, mangrove roots, seedlings, crabs, fish nurseries and estuary food chains.
• ⁠Coastal salt marsh ecosystem fact sheet – Learn about low tidal wetlands with salt-tolerant plants, mud, shallow water and changing conditions.
• ⁠Eucalypt forest ecosystem fact sheet – Compare forest features with waterways, mangroves, saltmarsh and human-managed places.

Suggested timetable

Time	Activity
9.15 - 11.00	Introduction at school or local area
Recess
11.30 - 1.00	Activities in local area
Lunch
1.30 - 2.00	Activities in local area
2.00	Return to school

Times and session duration varies depending on school timetables, location choice and number of classes.

Please include your school's bell times in the notes section of your booking form.

Tier 2 and 3 vocabulary

impact, management, sustainability, interaction, characteristics, compare, interpret, catchment, landform, physical, chemical, water quality, erosion, deposition, fieldwork

Syllabus outcomes and content

Geography K-10 Syllabus (2015)

Factors that shape places

Outcomes

• Describes the diverse features and characteristics of places and environments GE3-1
• Explains interactions and connections between people, places and environments GE3-2
• Compares and contrasts influences on the management of places and environments GE3-3
• Acquires, processes and communicates geographical information using geographical tools for inquiry GE3-4

Content

Environments shape places

• Investigate how the natural environment influences people and places

Humans shape places

• Investigate how people influence places

Other syllabus links

Learning experiences will also support but not explicitly teach the following outcomes and content:

Science and Technology K-6 Syllabus (2017)

Outcomes

• Examines how the environment affects the growth, survival and adaptation of living things ST3-4LW-S

Content

• Describe how changing physical conditions in the environment affect the growth and survival of living things

Geography K-10 Syllabus © NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) for and on behalf of the Crown in right of the State of New South Wales, 2015

Science and Technology K-6 Syllabus © NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) for and on behalf of the Crown in right of the State of New South Wales, 2017