Year 10 Subjects: Humanities

Courts, Parliaments and Markets

Overview: The unit will enable students to understand fundamental economic concepts. They explore the allocation of resources to meet the wants and needs of consumers and investigate strategies governments use to improve people's living standards. Students also investigate the purpose and impact of the legal system, evaluating the effectiveness of the court system and the role of policing. This unit leads into VCE Legal Studies.

Areas of Study:

• Economics: the study of choice and how to make people better off in terms of their living standards
• Legal Studies: Develop an understanding of the impact of the legal system on the lives of citizens and the implications of legal decisions and outcomes on Australian society.

Assessments (suitable tasks may include):

• Research tasks
• Practical tasks
• Structured questions
• Tests
• Folio of class work
• Semester examination 

Finance and Enterprise

Overview: This unit will enable students to understand aspects of personal and business financial management. Students will record and report financial information, they will explore various business structures and learn a range of marketing and advertising techniques. Project work will allow students to experience the process of marketing a product to make decisions on pricing and to develop a range of promotional materials. This unit leads into VCE Business Management and VCE Accounting. 

Areas of Study:

• Accounting: the recording, reporting, and understanding of accounting information
• Business: the application of business concepts to a range of businesses

Assessments (suitable tasks may include):

• Research tasks/Inquiry task
• Practical tasks
• Structured questions
• Tests
• Folio of class work
• Semester examination 

Geography

Overview: In this unit, the focus is on the challenges of managing environmental change together with how people live in their environments. These concepts are explored at the local, regional, and global scale. The first unit explores the challenges to the environment. Students explore the factors that contribute to environmental change at local, national and global scales. Human wellbeing varies considerably across the world and the second unit explores the geographies of human wellbeing. Students explore the factors that contribute to the variation in human wellbeing, the reasons for variation in wellbeing between India and Australia, and organisations responsible for supporting development. The unit will expand and develop student’s practical skills together with developing research skills on locating and processing information. Their fieldwork skills are enhanced through the fieldwork component of this unit. The unit provides a link to VCE Geography, VCE Health and Human Development and VCE Environmental Science.

Areas of Study:

• Unit 1: Environmental Change and Management
• Unit 2: Geographies of Human Wellbeing

Assessments (suitable tasks may include):

• Practical tasks
• Research tasks
• Structured questions
• Fieldwork report
• Semester examination 

History: Australia & the World (Core)

Overview: This semester-length unit provides a study of the modern world and Australia from 1918 to the present, with an emphasis on Australia in its global context. The 20th Century became a critical period in Australia’s social, cultural, economic, and political development. The transformation of the modern world during a time of political turmoil, global conflict and international cooperation provides a necessary context for understanding Australia’s development, its place within the Asia-Pacific region, and its global standing. By the end of this unit students will have successfully demonstrated their historical knowledge and understanding by examining societies and individuals, analysing Australia’s impact on world events, and evaluating the significance of social and political changes. Students will also develop and strengthen their historical skills. This unit leads into VCE History.

Areas of Study:

• The Interwar Years
• World War II and Australia’s Involvement
• Rights and Freedoms in a Globalised World

Assessments (suitable tasks may include):

• Extended response
• Written and visual source analysis
• Historical inquiry
• Essays
• Semester examination