HSIE Geography Resources for Primary Teachers

HSIE Geography: Teaching Places, Environments & Sustainability

Geography is one of the core strands of HSIE (Human Society and Its Environment) in the NSW syllabus — and a key component of the Australian Curriculum's HASS learning area. From Kindergarten through to Year 6, geography helps students understand the world around them: how places are shaped by natural and human processes, why people connect to places, and how environments can be managed sustainably.

Whether you're looking for mapping activities, place-based inquiry units, or sustainability projects, TeachBuySell has teacher-created geography resources designed for Australian primary classrooms.

Geography develops skills and knowledge that students use throughout their lives. It builds spatial thinking, environmental awareness, and an understanding of how human decisions shape the world.

Spatial Thinking and Mapping Skills

Geography teaches students to read, create, and interpret maps — from simple classroom plans in Kindergarten to topographic maps and digital mapping tools in upper primary. These spatial skills transfer across learning areas and into everyday life.

Environmental Awareness and Sustainability

Through geography, students learn about the relationship between people and environments. They investigate how natural processes shape landscapes, how human activity changes environments, and what sustainable management looks like in practice. This is increasingly important as schools embed sustainability as a cross-curriculum priority.

Understanding Diverse Places and Perspectives

Geography broadens students' worldview by exposing them to places beyond their immediate experience. Students explore how people in different regions live, work, and connect to their environments — building empathy and intercultural understanding.

Inquiry and Critical Thinking

The geographical inquiry process — observing, questioning, collecting and analysing data, and communicating findings — develops critical thinking skills that transfer across all learning areas.

Australian Curriculum Alignment

In the Australian Curriculum v9, Geography sits within HASS (Humanities and Social Sciences) for primary years. The NSW HSIE syllabus covers equivalent content with a geography strand at each stage. Resources on TeachBuySell support both frameworks. You can also explore the national Australian Curriculum v9 for HASS geography content.

Start with the Local, Expand to the Global

The best geography teaching begins with what students know — their classroom, school, neighbourhood, and local area. Once students have developed skills and concepts in a familiar context, extend their learning to unfamiliar places in Australia and the world.

Use Real Data and Authentic Resources

Geography comes alive when students work with real data: weather observations, population statistics, satellite imagery, and local council plans. Even young students can collect and interpret simple data sets about their school environment.

Fieldwork Is Essential

Fieldwork — observing, measuring, and recording in the real world — is a core geographical skill. It doesn't need to be complex. A walk around the school grounds to map natural and human features, or a survey of how a local space is used, provides rich learning opportunities.

Integrate Mapping Throughout

Don't save mapping for a standalone unit. Build mapping skills progressively by using maps and spatial representations regularly:

• Early Stage 1 & Stage 1: Simple maps, aerial photos, directional language
• Stage 2: Grid references, legends, scale, compass directions
• Stage 3: Topographic maps, digital mapping, thematic maps

Connect Geography to Sustainability

The Australian Curriculum identifies sustainability as a cross-curriculum priority. Geography provides natural opportunities to explore sustainability through case studies of environmental management, land use, and the impact of human activity on ecosystems.

Early Stage 1 (Kindergarten) — People Live in Places

Students explore their personal world: home, school, and local area. They learn about the features of familiar places, how places can be cared for, and begin using simple locational language (near, far, beside, between).

Stage 1 (Years 1–2) — People Are Connected to Places

Students investigate the natural and human features of places and how people are connected to places locally and globally. They develop basic mapping skills using simple maps and aerial photographs, and explore how spaces can be rearranged for different purposes.

Stage 2 (Years 3–4) — Places Are Both Similar and Different

Students compare places in Australia with places in other countries, examining how natural features and human activity shape places differently. They explore Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander connections to Country and investigate how environments change.

Stage 3 (Years 5–6) — Places Are Organised in Different Ways

Students analyse how the world is divided into regions, how factors like climate and resources shape places, and how places are managed sustainably. They examine Australian and global case studies, use formal mapping skills, and evaluate environmental management strategies.