The unit is divided into three sections:
The parts in italics are to be read aloud to the students to help them put the activities into context.
View
The VIEW section begins with an inquiry question to determine how much the students know about the Royal Flying Doctor Service. The teacher leads students through a series of prompts before they watch a short documentary, The Furthest Corner. After watching, students mark the spatial distributions of the outback and metropolitan populations on a map of Australia.
Explore
In EXPLORE, students enter a 3D environment that allows them to navigate the inside of a Royal Flying Doctor Service plane. They follow the numbers in sequential order to hear the story of Sarah, a young girl who requires medical assistance from the Royal Flying Doctor Service. After exiting the 3D tour, students use a RDFS flight map to access current RFDS flight data. They then use Google Maps to go on a ‘virtual excursion’ in order collect geographical data on Menindee, NSW, the town mentioned in the 3D tour.
Make
In MAKE, students respond to the themes encountered in VIEW and EXPLORE by creating their own RFDS emergency situation as modelled in the 3D tour. They choose a location and develop a scenario which they record or perform live to the class.
CURRICULUM LINKS
Students will cover the following curriculum standards in this unit of work.
Geographical Concepts and Skills
Place, space and interconnection
Identify and describe the characteristics of places in different locations at a range of scales (VCGGC071)
Identify and describe locations and spatial distributions and patterns (VCGGC072)
Identify and explain the interconnections within places and between places (VCGGC073)
Data and information
Collect and record relevant geographical data and information from the field and other sources (VCGGC074)
Represent data and the location of places and their characteristics by constructing tables and simple graphs and maps of appropriate scale that conform to cartographic conventions of border, scale, legend, title and north point (VCGGC075)
Interpret maps and other geographical data and information to develop identifications, descriptions, explanations and conclusions, using geographical terminology including simple grid references, compass direction and distance (VCGGC076)
Geographical Knowledge
Diversity and significance of places and environments
Representation of Australia as states and territories, and Australia’s major natural and human characteristics (VCGGK079)
Similarities and differences in individuals’ and groups’ feelings and perceptions about places, and how they influence views about the protection of these places (VCGGK083)
Similarities and differences between places in terms of their type of settlement, demographic characteristics and the lives of the people who live there (VCGGK084)