Teach HSIE Stage 2 Unit 3: What Are Places Like? with a comprehensive student-facing PowerPoint that integrates the history and geography content of the NSW Syllabus (2024) into one ready-to-teach sequence.

The unit includes 253 slides across all 16 lessons, plus 4 optional consolidation activities, providing a clear visual sequence for introducing concepts, guiding class discussion, modelling geographical thinking, checking understanding and supporting independent application. The slides are designed for display on an interactive whiteboard, smartboard or classroom screen, and present the unit in a consistent, structured and student-friendly format.

What students learn

• how Aboriginal Peoples map Country and Place, showing connection and responsibility
• cultural exchange and trade networks across NSW
• archaeological evidence of Aboriginal Peoples' long history, including Lake Mungo
• significant natural and cultural environments of the world
• interpreting satellite images to describe settlement patterns in Australia
• how climate influences where and how people live
• comparing the natural and human features of Australia and Indonesia
• using geographical evidence to justify where people live

What's included

• 253 editable slides in one PowerPoint file covering all 16 lessons and 4 consolidation activities
• 99 click-to-reveal answers plus an interactive click-to-reveal matching game
• linked contents page and INDEX buttons for one-click navigation to any lesson
• 60+ embedded maps, photographs, worksheets and primary sources, including Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) climate maps and satellite views
• live links to every video, website, Google Earth view and interactive map used in the unit
• modelled worksheet examples completed on screen, ready to demonstrate
• learning intentions, success criteria and key vocabulary for every lesson

How it's designed to be used

Each lesson follows the same structure: learning intentions and success criteria, key vocabulary, activating prior knowledge, explicit teaching with discussion questions and click-to-reveal answers, video and map exploration, student tasks, extension challenges and a concluding review. Check-for-understanding prompts appear throughout, so formative assessment is built into every lesson.

The consistent lesson structure helps students understand what they are learning, participate in meaningful discussion and apply new knowledge throughout the unit.

Curriculum alignment

Written for the NSW HSIE K–6 Syllabus (2024), Stage 2. Outcomes addressed: HS2-GEO-01, HS2-HIS-01, HS2-SCH-01 and HS2-ACH-01.

Perfect for

• NSW Department of Education teachers delivering HSIE Stage 2 Unit 3
• Year 3 and Year 4 history and geography lessons
• whole-class explicit teaching on an interactive whiteboard
• low-prep unit planning across a full term
• casual and relief teachers in NSW public schools who need a ready-to-teach sequence
• teaching Aboriginal histories, climate, settlement patterns and Australia–Indonesia comparisons

Please note

This PowerPoint requires the NSW Department of Education HSIE Stage 2 Unit 3 sample unit materials, which are available only to NSW Department of Education employees. It supports the delivery of that unit and does not replace the teacher guidance, lesson notes, source materials or printable resources provided with the original unit.

An internet connection is required for the linked videos, websites and interactive maps. This resource is adapted from the NSW Department of Education HSIE Stage 2 Unit 3 sample unit, used under CC BY 4.0, with changes made. It is independently created and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the NSW Department of Education or NESA.