Free Resources - Environmental Science

Teaching & Learning tips, general information and updates

2022-26 VCAA CURRICULM VCE ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE YEAR 12 – UNITS 3/4

Area of Study 1 - Why is maintaining biodiversity worth a sustained effort?

Key Knowledge - How can biodiversity and development be sustained?

  • the definition and categories of biodiversity: genetic, species and ecosystem
  • the importance of genetic diversity within a species or population experiencing environmental change
  • ecosystems as a source of renewable services that impact on human health and well-being:
  • provisioning services: potable water; food; fuel; fibre; and pharmaceuticals
  • regulating services: control of climate and disease; pollination; and water purification
  • supporting services that maintain conditions for life on Earth: cycling of nutrients; soil formation; and photosynthesis
  • cultural services: aesthetic values; recreational benefits; and sense of place

Key Knowledge - Biodiversity changes over time

  • evidence of variation in rate and extent of change in biodiversity over time: significant mass extinctions and periods of rapid species diversification that can be inferred from the fossil record
  • natural changes occurring over different time scales that influence ecosystem diversity, species endemism, the formation of diversity hotspots, and rate of extinction: volcanic eruptions; fire; El Niño; tectonic plate movement; and evolution

Key Knowledge - Assessing changes in species diversity

  • practical techniques used for assessing species diversity: sampling with grids, transects and different shaped quadrats, including consideration of edge effects and mark-recapture
  • measurement of species diversity, including species richness, endemism and the application
    of Simpson’s Index of Diversity (SID):

SID =

  • conservation categories for ranking species according to their risk of extinction: extinct in the wild; critically endangered; endangered; vulnerable; near threatened; and least concern
  • qualitative assessment of conservation status to identify the species most in need of conservation action: changes in availability of suitable habitat, geographic distribution, and population size

Key Knowledge - Threats to biodiversity

  • human and non-human threats to biodiversity: creation and isolation of small populations through habitat loss and over-exploitation; inbreeding due to small population size; loss of pollinators, dispersal agents, host species or symbionts that affect reproduction and persistence of species; bioaccumulation that concentrates some persistent pollutants within organisms and biomagnification along a food chain; climate change; disease; and introduced species that compete for shelter, food and water
Area of Study 2 -When is development sustainable?

Key Knowledge -Sustainability principles

  • the relationship between ecological, economic and sociocultural dimensions of sustainable development and principles of sustainability
  • sustainability principles as they apply to environmental management: conservation of biodiversity and ecological integrity; efficiency of resource use; intergenerational equity; intragenerational equity; precautionary principle; and user pays principle
  • challenges to upholding sustainability principles,including population, food, water and energy

Key Knowledge - Environmental decision-making and management

  • circular economy thinking and tools for integrated sustainability assessment, including qualitative risk analysis, and cost-benefit analysis
  • interconnections and tensions between factors that influence responsible decision-making, including diverse stakeholder values, knowledge and priorities, regulatory frameworks that inform environmental management strategies, use and interpretation of historical and current scientific data, and application of new technologies
Area of Study 1 - How can we respond to climate change?

Key Knowledge - Major factors that affect Earth’s climate

  • identification of natural phenomena and anthropogenic factors that affect Earth’s energy balance: volcanic eruptions; solar variability; and changes in atmospheric gas composition due to human activities
  • the interactions between solar energy that is absorbed, re-emitted and reflected by atmospheric gases and other matter, including the albedo effect, the natural greenhouse effect, and ocean circulation
  • carbon sequestration in land and water that results in short-term (less than 100 years) and long-term (more than 1000 years) changes in the carbon cycle

Key Knowledge - Understanding climate change

  • the differences between natural and enhanced greenhouse effects
  • altered greenhouse gas concentrations over different time periods – seasons, years, centuries and millennia – due to natural events, and human activities associated with the combustion of fossil fuels, cement production, agriculture and land use changes
  • greenhouse gas warming potential as a measure of the infrared radiation the gas will tend to absorb over its lifetime in the atmosphere
  • methods used for measuring past and present changes in the atmosphere: ice core sampling; use of palaeoclimate records; and atmospheric and ocean temperature monitoring
  • data accessed through direct measurements and from modelling in assessing the rate of local, global and regional past and future climate variability: global average temperatures; local climate extremes; sea level rise; and snow and ice coverage
  • climate change projections: comparison of observed and simulated current and past climate; and rating of confidence in global, regional and local climate projections expressed as very high, high, medium, low or very low, based on Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) guidelines

Key Knowledge - Managing climate change

  • the risks and opportunities associated with climate change for humans and ecological systems at a selected region or location: increase in range of exotic species; changes in length of plant growing seasons and animal breeding cycles; phenological changes for plant-pollinator interactions; increasing risks to coastal infrastructure from continuing sea level rise; reduction in agricultural production due to warmer and drier conditions
  • mitigation options for reducing net greenhouse emissions to slow climate change
  • adaptation options for building resilience to the effects of unavoidable climate change at a selected region or location
  • interconnections and tensions between factors that influence responsible decision-making around managing climate change: diverse stakeholder values, knowledge and priorities, regulatory frameworks that inform environmental management strategies, use and interpretation of historical and current scientific data, and application of new technologies.
Area of Study 2 - What might be a more sustainable mix of energy sources?

Key Knowledge - Comparison of different energy sources

  • non-renewable energy sources: oil, coal, natural gas, coal seam gas and nuclear
  • renewable energy sources: biomass, biofuels, solar, hydro-electric, wind, tidal and geothermal
  • the consequences of fossil fuel combustion for the carbon cycle
  • changes in the rate of the use of fossil fuels over time and the concept of peak oil
  • energy efficiency calculations of single and multi-step conversions between different forms of energy, including potential, mechanical, kinetic, thermal, and chemical energy, to generate electricity
  • the implications of the first and second laws of thermodynamics in making energy choices
  • sustainability principles as they apply to accessing, extracting, processing, transporting, and using energy resources: conservation of biodiversity and ecological integrity; efficiency of resource use; intergenerational equity; intragenerational equity; precautionary principle; and user pays principle

Key Knowledge - Managing the impacts of human energy use

  • mechanical and biological processes involved in rehabilitating sites from which energy has been sourced
  • the extent to which different energy sources can supply current and projected base and peak load energy needs, and how these can be met at individual and societal levels
  • options for building a sustainable energy future that produces lower greenhouse gas emissions and supplies reliable and affordable energy services: improving resource efficiency; increasing the efficiency of energy conversion devices; replacing fossil fuels with non-fossil fuel energy sources; and reducing personal energy consumption
  • interconnections and tensions between factors that influence responsible decision-making around building a sustainable energy future, including diverse stakeholder values, knowledge and priorities, regulatory frameworks that inform environmental management strategies, use and interpretation of historical and current scientific data, and application of new technologies.
Free Environmental Science Worksheet Downloads
Contact Info
  • 2/81 Main South Road, Drouin 3818
  • 0448 003 966
  • info@learningmaterials.com.au