Australian Curriculum Links

Resource for teachers: Australian curriculum links

The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority has developed senior secondary Australian curriculum for English, mathematics, history and science.

What’s the state of the ACT’s environment?, and the ACT State of the Environment 2019 on which it is based, contains extensive up-to-date resource material for students and teachers in the ACT. The following tables show alignments of What’s the state of the ACT’s environment? to the Australian curriculum outcome standards for Years 9 and 10 Science.

The science curriculum provides opportunities for students to develop an understanding of important science concepts and processes, the practices used to develop scientific knowledge, of science’s contribution to our culture and society, and its applications in our lives.

The tables list the content descriptions for each of years 9 and 10 and the relevant content areas. For example, for Year 9 science, ‘Science understanding’ in the ‘Biological sciences’ includes ‘Multicellular organisms rely on coordinated and interdependent internal systems to respond to changes to their environment’, which has the Australian Curriculum code ACSSU175. Chapter 8 of What’s the state of the ACT’s environment, which covers biodiversity, is relevant to this description.

Year 9 Science

Australian Curriculum links1. Ngunnawal Country2. Community leadership and sustainability3. Trees in the city4. Climate is changing5. Human settlements and the environment6. Air pollution7. Land8. Biodiversity9. Water10. Fire and its impacts
Science understanding
Biological sciences
ACSSU175
ACSSU176
Chemical sciences
ACSSU177
ACSSU178
ACSSU179
Earth and space sciences
ACSSU180
Physical sciences
ACSSU182
Science as a human endeavour
Nature and development of science
ACSHE157
ACSHE158
Use and influence of science
ACSHE160
ACSHE228
Science inquiry skills
Questioning and predicting
ACSIS164
Planning and conducting
ACSIS165
ACSIS166
Processing and analysing data and information
ACSIS169
ACSIS170
Evaluating
ACSIS171
ACSIS172
Communicating
ACSIS174

Year 9 content descriptions

Science understanding

Biological sciences

Multicellular organisms rely on coordinated and interdependent internal systems to respond to changes to their environment (ACSSU175)

Ecosystems consist of communities of interdependent organisms and abiotic components of the environment; matter and energy flow through these systems (ACSSU176)

Chemical sciences

Chemical reactions involve rearranging atoms to form new substances; during a chemical reaction mass is not created or destroyed (ACSSU178)

Chemical reactions, including combustion and the reactions of acids, are important in both nonliving and living systems and involve energy transfer (ACSSU179)

Science as a human endeavour

Nature and development of science

Scientific understanding, including models and theories, is contestable and is refined over time through a process of review by the scientific community (ACSHE157)

Advances in scientific understanding often rely on technological advances and are often linked to scientific discoveries (ACSHE158)

Use and influence of science

People use scientific knowledge to evaluate whether they accept claims, explanations or predictions, and advances in science can affect people’s lives, including generating new career opportunities (ACSHE160)

Values and needs of contemporary society can influence the focus of scientific research (ACSHE228)

Science Inquiry skills

Questioning and predicting

Formulate questions or hypotheses that can be investigated scientifically (ACSIS164)

Planning and conducting

Plan, select and use appropriate investigation types, including field work and laboratory experimentation, to collect reliable data; assess risk and address ethical issues associated with these methods (ACSIS165)

Select and use appropriate equipment, including digital technologies, to collect and record data systematically and accurately (ACSIS166)

Processing and analysing data and information

Analyse patterns and trends in data, including describing relationships between variables and identifying inconsistencies (ACSIS169)

Use knowledge of scientific concepts to draw conclusions that are consistent with evidence (ACSIS170)

Evaluating

Evaluate conclusions, including identifying sources of uncertainty and possible alternative explanations, and describe specific ways to improve the quality of the data (ACSIS171)

Critically analyse the validity of information in primary and secondary sources and evaluate the approaches used to solve problems (ACSIS172)

Communicating

Communicate scientific ideas and information for a particular purpose, including constructing evidence-based arguments and using appropriate scientific language, conventions and representations (ACSIS174)

Year 10 Science

Australian Curriculum links1. Ngunnawal Country2. Community leadership and sustainability 3. Trees in the city4. Climate is changing5. Human settlements and the environment6. Air pollution7. Land8. Biodiversity9. Water10. Fire and its impacts
Science understanding
Biological sciences
ACSSU184
ACSSU185
Chemical sciences
ACSSU186
ACSSU187
Earth and space sciences
ACSSU188
ACSSU189
Physical sciences
ACSSU190
ACSSU229
Science as a human endeavour
Nature and development of science
ACSHE191
ACSHE192
Use and influence of science
ACSHE194
ACSHE230
Science inquiry skills
Questioning and predicting
ACSIS198
Planning and conducting
ACSIS199
ACSIS200
Processing and analysing data and information
ACSIS203
ACSIS204
Evaluating
ACSIS205
ACSIS206
Communicating
ACSIS208

Year 10 content descriptions

Science understanding

Biological sciences

Transmission of heritable characteristics from one generation to the next involves DNA and genes (ACSSU184)

The theory of evolution by natural selection explains the diversity of living things and is supported by a range of scientific evidence (ACSSU185)

Chemical sciences

Different types of chemical reactions are used to produce a range of products and can occur at different rates (ACSSU187)

Earth and space sciences

Global systems, including the carbon cycle, rely on interactions involving the biosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere (ACSSU189)

Physical sciences

Energy conservation in a system can be explained by describing energy transfers and transformations (ACSSU190)

Science as a human endeavour

Nature and development of science

Scientific understanding, including models and theories, is contestable and is refined over time through a process of review by the scientific community (ACSHE191)

Advances in scientific understanding often rely on technological advances and are often linked to scientific discoveries (ACSHE192)

Use and influence of science

People use scientific knowledge to evaluate whether they accept claims, explanations or predictions, and advances in science can affect people’s lives, including generating new career opportunities (ACSHE194)

Values and needs of contemporary society can influence the focus of scientific research (ACSHE230)

Science inquiry skills

Questioning and predicting

Formulate questions or hypotheses that can be investigated scientifically (ACSIS198)

Planning and conducting

Plan, select and use appropriate investigation types, including field work and laboratory experimentation, to collect reliable data; assess risk and address ethical issues associated with these methods (ACSIS199)

Select and use appropriate equipment, including digital technologies, to collect and record data systematically and accurately (ACSIS200)

Processing and analysing data and information

Analyse patterns and trends in data, including describing relationships between variables and identifying inconsistencies (ACSIS203)

Use knowledge of scientific concepts to draw conclusions that are consistent with evidence (ACSIS204)

Evaluating

Evaluate conclusions, including identifying sources of uncertainty and possible alternative explanations, and describe specific ways to improve the quality of the data (ACSIS205)

Critically analyse the validity of information in primary and secondary sources and evaluate the approaches used to solve problems (ACSIS206)

Communicating

Communicate scientific ideas and information for a particular purpose, including constructing evidence-based arguments and using appropriate scientific language conventions and representations (ACSIS208)