Australian Geography Series: Foundation

For Ages: Foundation years Foundation - People Live In Places is part of the Australian Geography Series which comprises nine books in total. This book has been written specifically for students in Kindy and Pre-primary who are living in Australia and studying Geography. The book is linked to the new Australian National Curriculum for Geography. Click here for sample pages from this book The activities in this book have been designed to help students describe and appreciate the places around them and the areas in which they live. Students are encouraged to recognise the term ‘features of a place’, and are asked to differentiate between natural and built features in familiar places, and locate a number of features on a map. They are also asked to categorise places that are familiar to them. In addition, the children are given the opportunity to recognise that we share places with others and therefore have a shared responsibility to look after the places that we use and make them safe places to visit. Exploring places that are special to Indigenous Australians and thinking about the reasons why they are special are considered. How places provide us with our basic needs, why we must care for places, and how we share places with those closest to us, all feature. Students will develop an understanding of how places and their features are represented on maps. They are asked to create their own maps and rearrange the features on maps to show how spaces can be used in different ways. They are also asked to draw possible routes on maps, add and identify features on maps, and recognise that features on maps can be shown from above, as well as from the side. This book is a wonderful resource for those who teach at Foundation level. The illustrations, together with the accessible layout, means that the activity pages are enjoyable and engaging for young children. Author: Lindsay Marsh