Australia · ACARA Content Descriptions
Year 4 HASS
Year 4 HASS: first contacts, European exploration, environments and sustainability, and world cultures. Students examine the impact of exploration on First Nations peoples and the wider world.
First Contacts and Ancient Cultures
Students investigate the stories of first contacts between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and European explorers, and the nature of First Nations societies before 1788.
How Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples lived, traded, and managed Country for tens of thousands of years before European arrival.
The stories of early European visitors and settlers, including Dutch, British, and French explorers, and the impact of their arrival on First Nations peoples.
Understanding that first contact is told from different perspectives, examining both European and First Nations accounts of the same events.
The consequences of European settlement for First Nations peoples, including dispossession, disease, and resistance.
The history of trade between the Macassan people from Indonesia and the Yolngu people of Arnhem Land before British settlement.
The Journey of Exploration
Students investigate stories of world exploration: why people navigated the oceans, what they found, and how it changed global maps.
The reasons behind the Age of Exploration, including trade, curiosity, religion, and competition between nations.
Following the journeys of key explorers, including their ships, routes, hardships, and what they encountered.
How European exploration affected Indigenous peoples around the world, including the clash of cultures and displacement.
How exploration led to new maps and a changing understanding of the world, from flat maps to globes.
The tools used by explorers to find their way across oceans, from the astrolabe to the modern GPS.
Environments and Resources
Exploring Australia's diverse environments, how they are used, and the importance of sustainable management.
Australia's diverse environments, including rainforests, deserts, coasts, and grasslands, and the life they support.
How Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have sustainably managed environments for thousands of years.
What sustainability means and why it matters for future generations.
The challenges facing Australian environments, including drought, bushfires, and habitat loss.
The relationship between the type of vegetation in a place and the climate of that region.
Rules and Responsibilities
Investigating how groups make decisions, the role of local government, and the importance of rules in society.
Exploring the purpose of rules and laws in keeping communities safe and fair.
The role of local government in providing services like libraries, parks, and waste collection.
How groups of people, including First Nations communities, make decisions together.
The ways individuals can contribute to their community and influence change.
World Cultures and Diversity
Exploring Australia's connection to the Asia-Pacific region and the diversity of people within Australia.
Australia's place in the Asia-Pacific region, including our closest neighbours and connections.
How migration has shaped Australia into a multicultural nation.
The different ways people express their culture and identity through food, festivals, and language.
How Australia connects to the world through trade, sport, and technology.
Resources and Choices
An introduction to economics, focusing on how people use resources and make choices to satisfy needs and wants.
Distinguishing between the things we must have to survive and the things we would like to have.
Exploring natural, human, and capital resources used to produce goods and services.
Understanding that resources are limited and how this forces people to make choices.
The different types of work people do and how they contribute to the community.
Connecting economic choices to environmental impacts and the importance of recycling and reusing.