While Life Skills content and outcomes don't match the mainstream course, there are enough links between the two courses that they can run in parallel. Essentially you will running two courses at once in your classroom. You will run your mainstream course with the majority of your students, and then address the outcomes and content of the Life Skills course at the same time with the one (or couple of) Life Skills student/s.

Have a look at the Life Skills course and see where the content and outcomes match the mainstream course. Even if it means rearranging the order, design the delivery of the Life Skills course so that as much as possible you are delivering similar concepts and content at the same time. For example cover the Life Skills content related to recognising physical elements of environments at the same time as mainstream students address content related to biophysical environments at the beginning of the Biophysical Interactions topic. Or cover the Life Skills content on patterns of human activity, when the mainstream class is covering Population. This will mean that all students are part of the same conversations and discussions, but can be given different individual work. It may work out that the Life Skills student can also be involved in some aspects of class group activities, depending on the complexity of the tasks.

Make sure that you access any support that you can from the school. This might be the Learning and Support Teacher (LaST) or a Student Learning Support Officer (SLSO). Not everyone is comfortable having a support teacher in the classroom, and you need to work with the person and establish a bit of a routine to make it work well. You will need to get used to having another instructor that might talk when you're asking the students to be quiet, or that repeats instructions, but if this is what has to happen for the student to engage in the work, then you have to deal.Don't expect them to design the resources for the student. Support staff are unlikely to be Geography trained. They might be able to give you some lesson ideas to engage the student, but you will need to design the actual resources.

Modifying class activities might be as simple as giving a few extra clues. For example, you might include a cloze passage in a lesson to help build student literacy skills and provide a quick recap of information. A Life Skills student may require the following modification:
- extra time to complete the task (mainstream students might take 5-10 minutes, but Life Skills students may need considerably longer).
- some extra clues (e.g. providing the first letter of the answer)
- larger text and simplified layout to make it less daunting
- one-on-one assistance from the classroom teacher or SLSO.
Below is an example of a cloze passage that has been modified, including the downloadable files.

It is possible to lead a Life Skills student through the same fieldwork skills and tools as the rest of your class. If you do activities outside with your class practicing soil testing, water testing, field sketches, etc, the student can still participate in much of this, but may not be able to analyse the results in the same way as the mainstream students. These activities also provide a great way of providing some mentoring and leadership opportunities for your mainstream students. They could take turns in being paired with the Life Skills student to model fieldwork techniques or assist in conducting tests. This is also a nice way to help your students to bond and teaches them some responsibility and understanding.

The SGP will need to be scaffolded heavily. You might choose to provide the student with some picture books or geographically themed magazine to help them identify topics they are interested in. Depending on the student's capabilities, it may be the case that the teacher ends up identifying a topic for the student. Unless the Life Skill student's parents are very engaged, it is likely to be easier to develop the SGP project around the school playground so that they can be guided through different parts of the project at school. 

It might be worth providing the student with a separate exercise book that they keep all their SGP notes, fieldwork, articles, etc in. The teacher or SLSO might find a couple of relevant websites and print them for the student. The SLSO could spend some time in class underlining key points and concepts and helping the student to write a couple of sentences about the topic.

The completed assignment for a Life Skills student would include the student's SGP exercise book, as well as a short description on the project. The teacher would need to make a judgement based on the student's abilities regarding the length and depth required.

​Below: Excerpt from SGP program. Downloadable file below.

It may be useful to look at resources for lower ages groups/stages. For example, if you are studying Biophysical Interactions you might choose to supplement your resources with activities from Stage 3 Water In the World and Landscapes and Landforms. You may also look at picture books and non-fiction books designed for late primary or early high school. Have a chat with your school librarian about the topics for Year 11 and ask them to find some suitable texts.

In light of the CESE research released this year on cognitive load theory (Cognitive load theory: Research that teachers really need to understand), I'd like to take some time to review what we are asking teachers to process in terms of reviewing and implementing new syllabuses. I want to consider the following questions:
- Are we asking HSIE teachers to process too much information too quickly?
- Are the expectations too high in terms of meaningfully reviewing and effectively implementing so many new syllabuses in a relatively short period of time?
- Are we overloading teachers and can this overloading be prevented?
- Are the findings of the Curriculum Review going to necessitate further changes?

In the past few years HSIE teachers have been through familiarisation and implementation of K-10 History and Geography syllabuses, and are currently implementing the new Stage 6 History syllabus (this year is the first Year 12 under the new syllabus). While History teachers have had a fairly heavy workload over the last few years in terms of preparing for new syllabuses and implementing them, Geography teachers have so far only had to worry about implementing the K-10 syllabus. Up until this point progress has been fairly steady and mostly manageable. In the case of the new Geography syllabuses there has actually been some frustration that it has moved a bit too slowly, with Phase 3 subjects almost catching up with Geography which was a Phase 2 subject. Regardless, most people are happy to see change to syllabuses that are stale and need refreshing.

2018 - Consultation on draft 7-10 Commerce syllabus
2018 - Implementation of Stage 6 History courses
2018 - Consultation on Elective Geography
2018 - Consultation on Elective History
2018 - Consultation on Work Education

Moving forward, this year and next may actually be quite problematic for HSIE teachers. This year sees the first HSC exam for the new History course, a proposed rewrite and possible review of the Stage 6 Geography syllabus, familiarisation with new Elective Geography, Elective History and Work Education courses, and release and consultation on the new 7-10 Commerce and Aboriginal Studies syllabuses. Teacher anxiety is already quite high with new assessment and reporting requirements and the first HSC exam in senior History. Unlike previous years, there aren't past papers to refer back to for preparation and expectations aren't as clear as they may have been in the past with an old syllabus. In addition, the quality of feedback during consultation periods for Commerce and Aboriginal Studies is likely to be compromised due to teachers also trying to create teaching and learning programs and resources for Elective Geography, Elective History and Work Education all in the one year. 

2019 - First HSC examination year for the new Stage 6 History syllabus 
2019 - Review of Stage 6 Geography
2019 - Proposed release of 7-10 Commerce syllabus for familiarisation
2019 - Proposed consultation on draft Aboriginal Studies syllabus
2019 - Familiarisation with Elective Geography
2019 - Familiarisation with Elective History
2019 - Familiarisation with Work Education

In amongst all of this, NESA is undertaking an overall Curriculum review, with frames of reference including identifying essential knowledge, skills and attributes, overcrowding of the curriculum, levels of detail in curriculum documents, breadth and depth of study and assessment and reporting (including NAPLAN, the ROSA and HSC). How will this review impact on newly implemented syllabuses? Will there be further changes to syllabuses now in consultation or familiarisation stages? Will the review jeopardise the writing of new syllabuses? Will the Curriculum review be continued if there is a new state government elected? Why didn't we just implement the Australian Curriculum as is, if we were going to go with something simpler anyway?

The only thing we know for sure at this stage is nothing remains constant except change itself. To be continued....

I have previously written about syllabus changes in NSW:
​New NSW syllabuses
Geography - Australian Curriculum
New NSW syllabus - Geography
Consultation period for the new NSW Geography syllabus from BOSTES

Is Great White Bear Tours a local case study?
The NSW Stage 6 Geography syllabus requires students to examine a local case study for the People and Economic Activity topic. Depending on the economic activity studied, common case studies are local vineyards, hotels, chocolatiers. The syllabus states, "a geographical study of an economic enterprise operating at a local scale." It does not specify that it has to be in Australia, or local to you/your school. While Great White Bear Tours is not "local" to anyone studying the NSW syllabus, it can be viewed as "local" in the sense that it operates within its local area (the tours run in a relatively small geographical area, in the immediate vicinity of the business site). 

Let's have a look at the references to the local case study in the syllabus...

There are two uses of the the word local when referring to the case study in the content section of the syllabus. In the first example it refers to the case study operating at a local level. It does not specify that it needs to be local to you or your school. 
​
Below: Screen shot from the NSW Stage 6 syllabus (Content)

It is referred to again later in the content section where it refers to an enterprise operating at a local scale. Again there is no reference to it being local to you or your school. 

Below: Screen shot from the NSW Stage 6 syllabus (Content)

What about fieldwork?
Fieldwork is an integral part of geographical inquiry and learning. It is a common practice for classes to do their fieldwork on their economic enterprise, particularly if they have chosen a case study close to the school. However, while it is common practice, it is not mandated. If we look what is mandated, the syllabus states that students need to identify methods such as "collecting and analysing field data about economic activity. Note that it doesn't state that the fieldwork has to be based on the economic enterprise (the local case study). In this way a class could conduct fieldwork on Tourism in general, but not their economic enterprise and still meet requirements. There are also many opportunities to conduct virtual fieldwork.

Explore some fieldwork options on the Year 12 Geography, People and Economic Activity site:
Fieldwork: Hudson Bay

This is part of a unit of work for Changing Places - Australia's Urban Future.

Lesson 1: Australia's Projected Population Growth
Lesson 2: Implications for Future Growth and Sustainability
Lesson 3: Sydenham to Bankstown Urban Renewal Precinct
Lesson 4: WestConnex - Sydney, Sustainability and Transport
Lesson 4: Sydney Sustainability and Transport (Teacher's Notes)
​Lesson 5: The GreenWay
​Lesson 5: Deindustrialisation
Lesson 6:: Create an infographic
Lesson 7: Contributing to a Sustainable Urban Future
Lesson 7: WestConnex - Protest Movements and Impacts
Lesson 7: Conflict Over Dulwich Hill

OR See the ​complete unit on the Changing Places website.
​
Australia’s Population

Australia’s population is continuing to become more urban and the population structure is aging. As Australia’s population grows, this will have implications for how Australian cities will continue to grow and how sustainable they will be. Issues of sustainability include access to water, affordability of food and the distance food travels to get on the plate, loss of habitat areas and species diversity and greenhouse gas emissions. Planning for Australia’s urban future, involves strategically planning for equitable and affordable access to services and infrastructure. It is imperative that we develop resilient communities that can cope with and manage changes in the future.

Sydney

The population of Greater Sydney (including the Blue Mountains and Central Coast) reached 5 million in June 2016. Last year, Sydney had the largest population growth of the capital cities.

Sydney's Inner West

For the purposes of this unit of work, the “Inner West” will be defined as the suburbs which are part of the Inner West Council. However, the Inner West is a very loosely defined term, which can be used to describe a much broader range of suburbs.
According to the 2016 census, the Inner West of Sydney had a population of approximately 192,000, and a population density of approximately 55 persons per hectare.

Lesson: Population growth
 
Population Growth in Sydney
Conduct your own research on population growth in Sydney. Create a summary including the location of the highest growth areas and the impact of migration on growth in Sydney.
How can you ensure that the information you have gathered is reliable, free from bias and useful?
 
Population Growth and Transport in Sydney
In groups of 2-3 examine the current population projections for Sydney and consider the effectiveness of current transport infrastructure (include roads, rail, light rail, ferries, etc), taking into account commute times and traffic congestion. Suggest a range of different strategies to address transport issues in Sydney. Discuss with your group the pros and cons of each strategy. Devise a plan that you would put in place if you were Premier. Present your alternate plan to the class (include annotated maps, descriptions justifying your choices, references to economic, social and environmental sustainability of your choices).
 
Sydney’s Inner West
Use the Inner West Council Community Profile website: https://profile.id.com.au/inner-west
Create an infographic that presents the main characteristics of the Inner West. You might include information about  age, ethnicity, income, etc.

Geographical Inquiry:
Develop a set of questions to study change in Sydney’s Inner West. Your questions should encompass the issues of new transport infrastructure, population growth and increase in population density.

Identify the geographical concepts that are relevant to your geographical inquiry.

Identify fieldwork techniques that will be appropriate for your geographical inquiry.
​
Outline the steps that you will undertake to complete your geographical inquiry. Set a schedule with dates by which to complete each part of the geographical inquiry.

This is part of a unit of work for Changing Places - Australia's Urban Future.

Lesson 1: Australia's Projected Population Growth
Lesson 2: Implications for Future Growth and Sustainability
Lesson 3: Sydenham to Bankstown Urban Renewal Precinct
Lesson 4: WestConnex - Sydney, Sustainability and Transport
Lesson 4: Sydney Sustainability and Transport (Teacher's Notes)
​Lesson 5: The GreenWay
​Lesson 5: Deindustrialisation
Lesson 6: Create an infographic
Lesson 7: Contributing to a Sustainable Urban Future
Lesson 7: WestConnex - Protest Movements and Impacts
Lesson 7: Conflict Over Dulwich Hill

OR See the ​complete unit on the Changing Places website.

​​Population forecasts for continued and accelerating growth or urban areas have a range of implications for sustainability.

Sustainability is development that meets the needs of the present population without endangering the capacity of future generations to meet their needs. Indicators of sustainability in urban areas include air and water quality, biodiversity, integration of green building initiatives, health and well being measures, employment rates, transport infrastructure and access to employment.

Implications of growth of urban areas include loss of agricultural land, habitat areas and open space, increased pressure on transport infrastructure resulting in heavy flows of commuter traffic and traffic congestion.

Planning for the future growth of urban centres in Australia needs to address the provision of:

• public transport,
• more efficient use and upgrading of existing infrastructure and the provision of additional infrastructure,
• land-use and infrastructure planning which takes into consideration equitable access and reduction in carbon emissions,
• provision of green and public space,
• creation and support of employment centres

Priority Precincts and increased density
An increase in density of urban areas creates more compact, “efficient” urban areas. This allows for services and infrastructure to be provided for a greater number of people and can allow residents to access public transport more easily and become less reliant on cars. The State Government’s Priority Precinct Program encourages population growth and increased density in specified areas. The Sydenham to Bankstown Urban Renewal Corridor includes the Inner West suburbs of St Peters, Sydenham, Tempe, Marrickville, Dulwich Hill and Hurlstone Park. For further reading click:
http://www.urbangrowth.nsw.gov.au/assets/Living-Cities/CfS-Discussion-Paper-Making-Great-Places-Density-Done-Well.pdf

​Connectivity and Infrastructure
Public infrastructure such as hospital, police centres, schools, trains, buses and roads is required for cities to function effectively. Upgrades of schools include Ashfield Boys, Ashbury Public, Croydon Public, and the construction of NSW School of Languages at Petersham. An ambulance super centre is being built at Haberfield. Transport infrastructure includes the construction of the Metroline and the M4 East extension, M5 extension and the M4-5 link. 

Post originally written in 2017, and updated March 2018.
This is part of a unit of work for Changing Places - Australia's Urban Future.

Lesson 1: Australia's Projected Population Growth
Lesson 2: Implications for Future Growth and Sustainability
Lesson 3: Sydenham to Bankstown Urban Renewal Precinct
Lesson 4: WestConnex - Sydney, Sustainability and Transport
Lesson 4: Sydney Sustainability and Transport (Teacher's Notes)
​Lesson 5: The GreenWay
​Lesson 5: Deindustrialisation
Lesson 6: Create an infographic
Lesson 7: Contributing to a Sustainable Urban Future
Lesson 7: WestConnex - Protest Movements and Impacts
Lesson 7: Conflict Over Dulwich Hill

OR See the ​complete unit on the Changing Places website.

The NSW Government has released a revised Sydenham to Bankstown Urban Renewal Strategy for public comment. The strategy will be implemented over 20 years and sees plans for urban consolidation and retail opportunities along the a new metro line which will replace the existing train line and link with the Metroline being built in Sydney's north west. It includes the creation of over 35,000 new homes. View the Sydenham to Bankstown Urban Renewal Corridor website. 

​Priority Precincts where development will be concentrated include Campsie, Canterbury, Lakemba and Belmore. Developments in these areas will include buildings up to 25 storeys high. Marrickville will have an increase in homes of 84%, while Canterbury will increase by 208%. and Belmore will increase 128%. Some suburbs such as Dulwich Hill and Hurlstone Park have had a reduction in the number of new dwellings proposed compared to the previous plan released.

View Changing Places: Conflict over development in Dulwich Hill.

The existing rail line between Sydenham to Bankstown will be converted to a Metro line. During construction the rail line will not be in operation. It is anticipated that once completed, it will reduce wait times and travel times to the city. However, the existing rail line allows commuters to connect with the existing CityRail network and travel to locations such as Chester Hill, Villawood, Cabramatta and Liverpool, without having to change trains. Commuters can then change trains to connect with the rest of the CityRail network. It is unclear at this stage how the Metro line will interact with the existing City Rail and light rail networks.

Residents and community groups have expressed some concerns regarding the increased level of density and population. Concerns relate to inadequate parkland and open space, destruction of heritage architecture, new designs which are unsympathetic to the heritage nature of suburbs, and lack of supporting infrastructure. There has been limited information released regarding industrial and commercial zoning, and concerns have been raised regarding the sustainability of the development. The rezoning will also take place years before the Metro line will finished. Supporters of the developments state that high density is better for the environment than urban sprawl and increases connectivity and land values in the area.

The renewal strategy announcement has come at a time when residents of the Inner West are already dealing with a large number of new developments and there is a perception that there is an inequitable system of planning in place. For example Council targets for new housing approvals have been exceeded in Canterbury, but many other council areas such as Hunters Hill, Warringah, Pittwater, Willoughby and Manly have not met their targets.

There have been a range of issues associated with the WestConnex development such as compulsory acquisition and demolition of houses, encroaching on parks, noise and construction issues. The recently announced future sale of Canterbury Racecourse for development has also been an issue of contention. These issues combined are likely to make Inner West residents less persuadable when it comes to future developments.

Lesson Activities:
Define the terms low-density, medium-density and high-density. Describe the advantages and disadvantages of each type of housing.

Examine: http://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/Plans-for-your-area/Priority-Growth-Areas-and-Precincts/Sydenham-to-Bankstown-Urban-Renewal-Corridor/Map
Outline the changes that will occur in each Inner West suburb as a result of the Sydenham to Bankstown Planned Precinct.

Assess how the new Metroline  will support population growth in the Urban Activation Precincts.

Extra resources:
Residents, ex-pollies baulk at high density in revised Sydneham to Bankstown Urban Renewal Strategy.

Planning experts say development should be embraced and not feared along Sydenham to Bankstown corridor. ​

Sydney's tale of two suburbs: new analysis shows the wide spread of development.

Metro's on the wrong track

High rise to hell

Open season on high rise

Heritage, character face destruction

Inner West needs nine new schools

This post was originally written in January 2017, and edited in March 2018.
This is part of a unit of work for Changing Places - Australia's Urban Future.

Lesson 1: Australia's Projected Population Growth
Lesson 2: Implications for Future Growth and Sustainability
Lesson 3: Sydenham to Bankstown Urban Renewal Precinct
Lesson 4: WestConnex - Sydney, Sustainability and Transport
Lesson 4: Sydney Sustainability and Transport (Teacher's Notes)
​Lesson 5: The GreenWay
​Lesson 5: Deindustrialisation
Lesson 6: Create an infographic
Lesson 7: Contributing to a Sustainable Urban Future
Lesson 7: WestConnex - Protest Movements and Impacts
Lesson 7: Conflict Over Dulwich Hill

OR See the ​complete unit on the Changing Places website.
​​
Changing Places  (Year 9)
 
The Changing Places topic requires students to explain processes and influences that form and transform places and environments (GE5-2) and to assess management strategies for places and environments for their sustainability (GE5-5).  The topic requires students to examine urbanisation, the impact of migration and strategies to address change in urban places and how they enhance sustainability.
 
As a part of examining the causes and consequences of urbanisation, students will have investigated spatial distribution patterns of urbanisation (for example the influence of transport corridors), and the social, economic and environmental consequences of urbanisation (this could include traffic congestion, costs of tolls or costs of constructing new infrastructure, average times people spend commuting to work, the impact of car exhaust on air quality). In examining urban settlement patterns students will specifically address the impact of transportation networks in Australian and another country to explain differences in urban concentrations. While there is scope to deal with a range of issues and influences related to urbanisation and urban settlement, there is certainly an opportunity to develop a unit of work that develops students’ understanding in car dependence, traffic congestion, public transport, road networks, etc. to lead them to be able to examine this issue of the WestConnex development from a range of perspectives and with detailed background knowledge.
 
In the last part of the Changing Places topic students investigate the management and planning of Australia’s urban future, including Australia’s population projections, implications for growth and sustainability, strategies to create sustainable urban places and ways for individuals and groups to become involved. WestConnex provides a great case study to examine this. Obviously you need to address the points at the national scale, but the WestConnex project impacts on such a large are of Sydney that you might find that many of your students are already engaged with (or at least aware of) the project in some way.
 
Urban Places/ Urban Dynamics (Year 12)
 
If you choose to do Sydney as a large city case study for Urban Places the WestConnex project could also tie into the - growth, development, future trends and ecological sustainability dot point. 

This is part of a unit of work for Changing Places - Australia's Urban Future.

Lesson 1: Australia's Projected Population Growth
Lesson 2: Implications for Future Growth and Sustainability
Lesson 3: Sydenham to Bankstown Urban Renewal Precinct
Lesson 4: WestConnex - Sydney, Sustainability and Transport
Lesson 4: Sydney Sustainability and Transport (Teacher's Notes)
​Lesson 5: The GreenWay
​Lesson 5: Deindustrialisation
Lesson 6: Create an infographic
Lesson 7: Contributing to a Sustainable Urban Future
Lesson 7: WestConnex - Protest Movements and Impacts
Lesson 7: Conflict Over Dulwich Hill


WestConnex

Stage 1 (M4 East)
Stage 1 of the WestConnex project involves the widening of the M4, a connection between Parramatta Road and the City West Link and new connections at Concord Road. A tunnel will run from the end of the current M4 to the City West Link.
Ashfield and Haberfield
A section of Ashfield along Parramatta Road was acquired and demolished for WestConnex. The exit to the M4 tunnel will be near the crossroads of Frederick St/ City West Link and Parramatta Road. A large sections of Haberfield has been acquired to allow the WestConnex to link directly with the City West Link.

Stage 2 (New M5)
Stage 2 of the WestConnex project involves the construction of a tunnel between St Peters and Kingsgrove.
St Peters, Alexandria and Newtown
A traffic interchange is under construction next to Sydney Park. This will feed traffic into Edgeware and Enmore Roads and King Street, Newtown. Campbell Street and Euston Road will be widened.

Stage 3 (M4-M5 Link)
Stage 3 will involve an underground tunnel from Victoria Rd, east of the Iron Cove Bridge to St Peters.
Balmain and Rozelle
While Stage 3 of WestConnex is being finalized , recent announcements suggested that the former Balmain Tigers Club  on Victoria Rd at Rozelle, will be used as a dive site. Further details have not yet been released.

For more detail about WestConnex view previous blog posts:

Lesson 4: West Connex Update 1: Ashfield and Haberfield
Lesson 4: WestConnex Update 2: St Peters, Alexandria, Newtown

Lesson Activity: WestConnex and Sustainability

Examine the WestConnex development from a range of different perspectives. Develop a criteria to assess the project for economic, social and environmental sustainability. Include maps showing where the WestConnex project is located and the changes to landuse along the corridor (for example, acquisitions and demolitions, new open spaces). What might you change to improve the economic, social and environmental sustainability of the project?

Consider the following:
- What is the overall cost of development (economic, social, environmental)?
- What kind of Sydney do we really want?
- Do the benefits to the city/commuters outweigh the costs to others?

Light Rail Extension
A key issue in sustainability is its car-dependence. Every improvement in public transport is a step towards improving Sydney's  sustainability. The  2013 Inner West Light Rail Extension involved utilising former freight lines to extend light rail services from Lilyfield to Dulwich Hill. The light rail now extends from Lilyfield into the CBD, and commuters can also connect to the Inner West rail line at Summer Hill or Stanmore. The extension of the light rail line through the Inner West involved a 5.6 km line extension and the construction of stops at Leichhardt North, Hawthorne, Marion, Taverners Hill, Lewisham West, Waratah Mills, Arlington, Dulwich Grove and Dulwich Hill Interchange.

Metroline
The existing rail line between Sydenham to Bankstown will be converted to a Metro line. During construction the rail line will not be in operation. It is anticipated that once completed, it will reduce wait times and travel times to the city. However, the existing rail line allows commuters to connect with the existing CityRail network and travel to locations such as Chester Hill, Villawood, Cabramatta and Liverpool, without having to change trains. Commuters can then change trains to connect with the rest of the CityRail network. It is unclear at this stage how the Metro line will interact with the existing City Rail and light rail networks.

Lesson Activity: Metroline
Determine the advantages and disadvantages of replacing the existing train line with the Metroline.

This is part of a unit of work for Changing Places - Australia's Urban Future.

Lesson 1: Australia's Projected Population Growth
Lesson 2: Implications for Future Growth and Sustainability
Lesson 3: Sydenham to Bankstown Urban Renewal Precinct
Lesson 4: WestConnex - Sydney, Sustainability and Transport
Lesson 4: Sydney Sustainability and Transport (Teacher's Notes)
​Lesson 5: The GreenWay
​Lesson 5: Deindustrialisation
Lesson 6: Create an infographic
Lesson 7: Contributing to a Sustainable Urban Future
Lesson 7: WestConnex - Protest Movements and Impacts
Lesson 7: Conflict Over Dulwich Hill

​OR See the ​complete unit on the Changing Places website.
​
​Sydney’s Inner West is still experiencing deindustrialization as industrial land users continue to move further west. Zoning for high density residential developments has exacerbated the increase in land values of industrial properties in Inner West suburbs. As a result some of the last remnants of the suburbs’ blue collar, industrial working class history are being redeveloped. Old waterfront industrial sites such as Rozelle Bay and White Bay have already been rezoned as part of the Bays Precinct urban renewal initiative. Recent rezoning for high density residential housing in suburbs such as Marrickville and Dulwich Hill will see a decline in small industries in coming years.

Fieldwork:
​
Visit Marrickville, and take photographs that show evidence of change occurring. Examine the main street, Marrickville rd. Conduct an environmental survey on the main street.
Conduct a landuse survey of Marrickville. Use an outline map of the suburb, and shade in different colours to represent different landuses (yellow – low density residential, brown – high density residential, red – commercial, grey - industrial, blue – public facilities/institutions, green – recreation). Compare your landuse survey to the proposed plans for Marrickville and describe the landuse changes that will take place.

Lesson Activity: Deindustrialisation

Choose one suburb that will be changed by the Planned Precincts. Create a digital map that shows the existing density of the suburb, and another map which shows the proposed density of the suburb. Use Google Maps to help you create your map.
​
Use flowcharts and mind maps to visually represent the changes that are occurring in Sydney’s Inner West. You may choose to group your ideas around specific suburbs or developments.

This is part of a unit of work for Changing Places - Australia's Urban Future.

Lesson 1: Australia's Projected Population Growth
Lesson 2: Implications for Future Growth and Sustainability
Lesson 3: Sydenham to Bankstown Urban Renewal Precinct
Lesson 4: WestConnex - Sydney, Sustainability and Transport
Lesson 4: Sydney Sustainability and Transport (Teacher's Notes)
​Lesson 5: The GreenWay
​Lesson 5: Deindustrialisation
Lesson 6: Create an infographic
Lesson 7: Contributing to a Sustainable Urban Future
Lesson 7: WestConnex - Protest Movements and Impacts
Lesson 7: Conflict Over Dulwich Hill

OR See the ​complete unit on the Changing Places website.
​
Community groups lobbied for the continuation of a Greenway Trail along the light rail corridor to link up with the Cooks River cycleway.

The Cooks River to Iron Cove GreenWay is a green corridor following the route of the Rozelle to Dulwich Hill light rail line. It is shared pedestrian and cyleway that links the Cooks River Cycleway and the Iron Cove BayRun. The combination of both light rail and the Greenway encourages public transport use and cycling/walking both for recreation and commuting, reducing some of the car dependence in this part of Sydney.
​
In addition to providing opportunities for residents to choose cycling and walking as an alternative to car travel, it also provides a habitat corridor, linking several bushcare sites in the Inner West.

Fieldwork:

Visit a site along the GreenWay. Walk along the greenway and choose 3 separate locations to complete an environmental survey. Compare the results of the 3 surveys. Explain how the Greenway contributes to the sustainability of the Inner West.