Year 7 students have donned their ‘Geographers’ Hats’ and armed themselves with their clipboards and Data Collection Booklets to investigate the ‘liveability’ of their suburb. Their introduction to this concept has been enlightening and has opened up a whole world of looking at scenarios not only from a geographer’s perspective but also how different people from the community have different reasons for choosing to live where they live.

They have been introduced to the Australian Bureau of statistics to create a population profile of Zillmere, a suburb in Brisbane where they looked at analysing the graph to summarise the demographics of that area.

As this is the CENSUS year, it will be even more meaningful to them. I encourage families to involve their children in discussions and conversations surrounding this survey on August 10.

They have brainstormed factors that influence people’s decision to live in a certain area and conducted surveys, observations and interviews to determine and substantiate their findings for the Investigation Inquiry question: ‘How liveable is your suburb?’

This week the students are now applying their new found knowledge and data to formally answer their inquiry question. After evaluating the liveability of their own place they will be noting an area that would benefit an improvement and see how they can take action in their community to make a difference.

They now have a better understanding that places provide us with the services and facilities needed to support and enhance our lives, and that spaces are planned and managed by people for a variety of reasons and needs.

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