Home < Curriculum < Learning Areas < Society and Environment

| Introduction | Outcomes | Lower School |

Society and Environment is a dynamic learning area, which develops students’ understanding of how individuals and groups live together and interact with their environment.
It aims to provide students with appropriate knowledge, skills and values in order to understand and participate effectively in rapidly changing local, national and global societies and environments.

The Society and Environment learning area encourages students to:

• Actively explore, make sense of and contribute to improving the world around them;
• Learn about society, human relationships, and people in communities, groups and as individuals;
• Investigate how people view the past, experience the present and shape the future;
• Develop a respect for cultural heritage and a commitment to social justice, the democratic process and ecological sustainability;
• Make reasoned and informed decisions as citizens of a culturally diverse, democratic society in an interdependent world.

The Society and Environment Learning Area has seven major learning outcomes:

1. Investigation, Communication and Participation
   Students investigate the ways in which people interact with each other and with their environments in order to make informed decisions and implement relevant social action
   

2. Place and Space
   Students understand that the interaction people have with places in which they live is shaped by the location, pat- terns and processes associated with natural and built features.

3. Resources
   Students understand that people attempt to meet their needs and wants by making optimum use of limited resources in enterprising ways.
   

4. Culture
   Students understand that people form groups because of their shared understandings of the world, and, in turn, they are influenced by the particular culture so formed

5. Time, Continuity and Change
   Students understand that peoples’ actions and values are shaped by their understanding and interpretation of the past.
   

6. Natural and Social Systems
   Students understand that systems provide order to the dynamic natural and social relationships occurring in the world.

7. Active Citizenship
   Students demonstrate active citizenship through their behaviours and practices in the school environment, in accordance with the principles and values associated with the democratic process, social justice and ecological sustainability.

YEARS 7-10

Society and Environment is a major Learning Area in Years 7-10. During these years, students will explore the following topics:

Year 7

• Introduction to Geography
• From Dreamtime to Gold: Uncovering Western Australia’s Past
• The Economy and Work

Year 8

• Geography Skills
• From Rome to Industrial Revolution: Exploring Ancient and Medieval History
• Citizenship, Local Government and You

Year 9

• Resources and Choices: Introducing Australia’s Economy
• Twentieth Century Australian History: 1901-1933
• Cultures of the Asia-Pacific Region

Year 10

• Politics and Law
• Geography Skills and Issues
• Twentieth Century Australian History: 1939-1975
• Understanding Economic Systems and Issues

To access the Years 7-10 Information Booklet, please click here [link to http://www.iona.wa.edu.au/pages/curriculum/Year_7-10_Information_Booklet_2010.pdf]

YEARS 11-12

In Years 11 and 12, students can choose from the following courses: