Year

4 Planner for HASS

Term One

Term Two

Concepts
Place/Space/Environment/Change
Skills

Concepts
Place/Space/Change/Cause & Effect
Skills

Questioning and researching

Evaluating
Analysing
Communicating and reflecting
Content Descriptors

Questioning and researching

Evaluating
Analysing
Communicating and reflecting
Content Descriptors

Lesson Ideas

First Contacts
Stories of the First Fleet, including reasons for the journey,
who travelled to Australia, and their experiences following
arrival (e.g. treatment of convicts, daily lives, social order)
(ACHHK079)

The journey(s) of at least one world navigator, explorer

or trader up to the late 18th century (e.g. Christopher
Columbus, Vasco da Gama, Ferdinand Magellan), including
their contacts and exchanges with societies in Africa, the
Americas, Asia and Oceania, and the impact
on one society (ACHHK078)
Geography and society
The purpose of government and some familiar services
provided by local government (e.g. libraries, health, arts,
parks, environment and waste, pools and sporting
facilities, pet management) (ACHCK011)

Watch the BTN first fleet

video.
Create a Facebook profile for a
convict from the first fleet
look at information posted on
class website and assign
students a convict.

Choose a navigator and create

trading cards/profiles to
illustrate their chosen
explorer.
TPS on what they know about
old and new society compare
and contrast society then
and now. Connect to first
fleet.

Assessment
Use the KWL charts to assess diagnostic understanding; use this to plan further.
Conferencing and peer/self-evaluation.
Constant questioning and discussion so that concepts can be scaffolded.
Integration into other learning areas
English
Maths Mapping
Achievement Standard
*diagnostic testing and introductory concepts not assessed by achievement
standards.

Lesson Ideas

First Contacts
The diversity and longevity of Australia's
first peoples and the ways they are
connected to Country/Place (e.g. land, sea,
waterways, skies) and their pre-contact
ways of life (ACHHK077)

Bennelong & Philip Text; Lit connection; use

analysing skills to draw inferences and KWL
charts.

The nature of contact between Aboriginal

and/or Torres Strait Islander Peoples and
others (e.g. the Macassans, Europeans) and
the impact that these interactions and
colonisation had on the environment and
people's lives (e.g. dispossession,
dislocation, the loss of lives through conflict,
disease, loss of food sources and medicines)
(ACHHK080)

Artwork depicting environmental

comparisons. Look at YouTube clips, photos
and early painting and do a before and after
(1/2 page each) contrast painting.

Geography and society

The differences between 'rules' and 'laws'
(ACHCK012)

Replica of first fleet ships using sustainable

and recyclable materials. T&E

Create journal reflections and diaries based

upon the impact of peoples arrival.
Look at classroom/school rules and compare
them to laws. Discuss - If our classroom
rules were created as laws, what would be
the punishment for breaking them. Create
behaviour and consequence (sentence)
cards titled If our rules were laws. i.e.
Hitting someone = 20 years to life in prison.

Assessment
Use the written journals, artwork and behaviour and consequence cards to assess
reflection skills and consolidated understanding of the concepts taught.
Integration into other learning areas
English
Art
T&E
Achievement Standard
Students identify the role of local government in the community, and recognise that
peoples identity can be shaped through participation in a community group. They
distinguish between rules and laws and identify that rights and responsibilities are
important in maintaining social cohesion.

Term Three
Concepts
Rights & Responsibilities/Continuity &
Change/Environment/Place/Sustainability
Skills

Term Four
Concepts
Empathy/Perspectives/Significant/Contestability/Change/Envirnoment/Participation/Justi
ce/Rights & Responsibility/Interconnection
Skills

Questioning and researching

Evaluating
Analysing
Communicating and reflecting
Content Descriptors

Questioning and researching

Evaluating
Analysing
Communicating and reflecting
Content Descriptors

The
Earth's environment sustains
all life
The main characteristics
(e.g. climate, natural vegetation,
landforms, native animals) of the
continents of Africa and Europe,
and the location of their major
countries in relation to Australia
(ACHGK020)
The importance of environments
to animals and people, and
different views on how they can
be protected (ACHGK022)

Government and society

The importance and purpose of
laws (e.g. to maintain social
cohesion, to reflect society's
values) (ACHCK013)

Lesson Ideas

The Earth's environment sustains

all life
Choose a continent, create a poster.
Conservation focus: research an animal from their
continent that is endangered. Give information on
why it is endangered, and their plan to help the
cause.
Narrative on how to save the animals/persuasive
writing.
Identify environments that are at risk. Look at the
Great Barrier reef and discuss what is happening
and what we can do to help.

What is a law? Classroom rules, fairness and justice

discussion. Discuss how laws help animal and
environmental conservation.
KWL on social cohesion and moral values in society.
Creative writing text what would happen if there
were no laws?

Assessment
Use posters to assess different learning styles, use checklist/rubric to
determine the level of understanding.
Mark information reports and use for several assessment pieces. Writing,
reading, spelling, research/inquiry skills.
Integration into other learning areas
English
Art
T&E
PE
Achievement Standard
Students identify the location of Africa and Europe, and their major countries, in relation
to Australia. They identify the main characteristics of their natural environments and
describe the importance of the interconnections between people, plants and animals at
the local to global scale. Students recognise that people have different views on the
sustainable use of natural resources and describe how they can be managed and

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

Peoples' ways of living were adapted to
available resources and their
connection to Country/Place has
influenced their views on the
sustainable use of these resources,
before and after colonisation
(ACHGK023)
The natural resources (e.g. water,
timber, minerals) provided by
the environment and different views on
how they can be used sustainably
(ACHGK024)
Government and society
People belong to diverse groups, such
as cultural, religious and/or social
groups, and this can
shape identity (ACHCK014)

Lesson Ideas
Acknowledgment of country, why we do this, study of
national anthem, study of passports, indigenous
connection to country/place. Aboriginal yarning and
stories. Possibility of getting AIEOs involved in talking
about Indigenous culture relevant to Kalgoorlie.
Use childrens literature to illustrate the difference in
language and storytelling. AIEO to share a story.

Create plans to incorporate natural resources instead of

currently used ones. Persuasive writing on changing our
materials for the environment, mock political campaigns
and debates to illustrate arguments for or against. If we
could live on natural resources pre-contact, why cant
we now?
Literature The Lorax. Read to the students and ask
them to write a persuasive letter to the Once-ler about
whether they shouldnt cut down all the trees to make
thneeds, and a suggestion to a more sustainable way to
make thneeds.
Look at celebrations of diversity all around the world.
Create a class census to explore our own diversity.

Assessment
Assess students letters to see their understanding about sustainability, and their
creative thinking and inquiry skills (how to solve the problem with a sustainable
solution).
Anecdotal notes to assess students ability to reflect on, respect and communicate
societal diversity.
Integration into other learning areas
English Viewing, Speaking & Listening, Writing

Achievement Standard
Students describe the connection that Australias First Peoples have to Country/Place and identify
the impact of contact on Indigenous peoples in Australia, and around the world, as a result of
exploration and colonisation. They identify the significance of past events in bringing about
change and describe the experiences of an individual or a group over time. Students explain how

protected.

and why life changed in the past and identify aspects of the past that have remained the same.