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Australia is a coastal nation! Despite the vast size of the continent, the majority of Australians live near the beach. This places considerable pressure on the narrow coastal strip. Rarely is this pressure seen better than at Collaroy. As part of the work we are doing, follow this virtual field trip. Look at the images, read the questions (and even have a go at answering some of them!).

First things first. How does this fit into the Geography syllabus? There are a number of places where we can use this fieldwork (which makes it a good case-study for the exams - hint!) but the best one is as part of the 'Issues in Australian environments' section where we examine a range of environments to see:

  • spatial dimensions - where it is and why it's like it is;
  • ecological dimensions - how we affect it.

In looking at these we need to make sure we cover:

  • geographical processes (coastal landforms etc.);
  • the ideas of different users (surfers, fishermen etc.);
  • decision-making processes (how come it's ended up like this);
  • consequences (this is what you get if you treat it like this!);
  • implications - what this result means for other people in terms of equality of access etc.

There's also the part which suggests we do some fieldwork on it (so that's why we're going). Of course if you want the whole syllabus you can always head over to the Board of Studies website and get it here.

Enough of the official stuff, grab the boardies and head for the beach. Of course, if you're really being good geographers you'd also look at a map of the place!

 

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