VCE Geography Units 3 & 4

Unit 3: Changing the land

This unit focuses on two investigations of geographical change: change to land cover and change to land use. Land cover is the natural state of the biophysical environment developed over time as a result of the interconnection between climate, soils, landforms and flora and fauna and human activity. Natural land cover has been altered by many processes such as geomorphological events, plant succession and climate change. Students investigate three major processes that are changing land cover in many regions of the world: deforestation, desertification, and melting glaciers and ice sheets. Students select one location for each of the three processes to develop a greater understanding. Students investigate local land use change using appropriate fieldwork techniques and secondary sources. They investigate the scale of change, the reasons for change and the impacts of change.

AREAS OF STUDY

Land use

Land cover change

Unit 4: Human population – trends and issues

In this unit students investigate the geography of human populations. They explore the patterns of population change, movement and distribution, and how governments, organisations and individuals have responded to those changes. They undertake an investigation into two significant population trends arising in different parts of the world, examining the dynamics of populations and their economic, social, political and environmental impacts on people and places. The growth of the world’s population from 2.5 billion in 1950 to over 7 billion since 2010 has been on a scale without parallel in human history. Much of the current growth is occurring within developing countries while the populations in many developed countries are either growing slowly or are declining.

AREAS OF STUDY

Population dynamics

Population issues and challenges