Level 1 Geography: Aotearoa and the Pacific (GEO101)

Geography is the study of te taiao (natural and cultural environments) and the interconnections within. We consider the question "What Is Where, Why There, and Why Care?" (Charles F. Gritzner (2002), Journal of Geography, 101:1, 38-40) so we can make sense of place.

Te taiao consists of all things that make up the surrounding environment. This includes features such as rivers, mountains, people, buildings, and infrastructure.  Te taiao can exist at different scales and can be located wherever we place ourselves.  Students who are interested in learning more about our natural environment shapes society both here in and in the Pacific Islands would enjoy this course.  By understanding how the environment shapes the Pacific, students are better able to understand and explore solutions to the challenges faced in the 21st century.

In this course, you will get a chance to explore the natural environment through two field trips to Wellington bases sites.  Features of te taiao are all closely interconnected, including people. We stand in te taiao and are all part of it. Therefore, in Geography, we attempt to consider geographic issues holistically.

Case studies may include:

• Our wild weather: impact of the climate on NZ coastal communities and the  Pacific Islands e.g. cyclones on the East Coast, cyclones in the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, 
• Our rising seas: sea level rises in Kirbaiti, Tuvalu and the Marshall Islands
• Our shaky isles – investigations  of earthquakes, volcanoes, and tsunamis including a case study of the 2009 Samoa earthquake and tsunami, and the  2022 Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai eruption 

This course is fully internally assessed and students will complete 10 credits from Geography achievement standards and 5 credits from Pacific Studies unit standards. Feel free to talk to your Social Studies teacher, or Mr Findlay in E18, about this course.