Environment and Nature is one of a suite of courses designed to provide basic skills to learners with high needs, many of whom have a learning difficulty or disability
Some learners may need the full suite of courses for study in both Years 11 and 12, some may need it for only part of their course load, and other learners may need only some courses in Year 11 before moving to other programs for Year 12. Environment and Nature is designed to provide learners with very basic knowledge of nature and the environment. Students will learn the basics of sustainability, and about some issues relating to the care of native and domestic animals.
Environment and Nature provides basic information, knowledge and skills required to prepare learners for an understanding of the natural world, plants, animals and resources.
It provides learners with opportunities to develop their awareness, understanding and involvement in resource management. Learners will identify and value the way plant use can sustain the environment, and produce crops, and they will care for animals.
Environment and Nature is one of a suite of courses designed to provide basic skills to learners with high needs, many of whom have a learning difficulty or disability.
Some learners may need the full suite of courses for study in both Years 11 and 12, some may need it for only part of their course load, and other learners may need only some courses in Year 11 before moving to other programs for Year 12.
Environment and Nature is designed to provide learners with very basic knowledge of nature and the environment. Students will learn the basics of sustainability, and about some issues relating to the care of native and domestic animals.
On successful completion of this course, learners will:
This course provides a very basic introduction to environmental and animal studies.
It can serve as a preparation course to vocational education and training (VET) qualifications in animal care, agriculture and horticulture.
All learners have a right to an education that meets their needs through full participation and engagement with learning. Teachers need to enhance the quality of all students’ learning through responsive and planned learning programs that optimise achievement using inclusive practices.
Learners should have access to appropriate resources such as professional support staff; or adult assistance, and equipment such as assistive technology or modified facilities, as required. The Disability Standards for Education, 2005 outline the obligations that educational providers must meet in supporting the needs of students with disability through reasonable adjustments.
Adjustments include a range of supports and accommodations including but not limited to: supportive learning environments, tailored delivery models, visual and organisational supports, multimodal learning and assessment opportunities, varying levels of prompting and adult assistance. In the instance of online, distance or flexible delivery, adjustments may be made to the courses by teachers to suit the individual student’s learning environment. This may involve adaptation of the course to reflect the resources readily available to the learner within their home or community.
This course has a complexity level preliminary to Level 1.
This course has a size value of 15.
Tasmanian Certificate of Education: The qualifications available have a level of complexity preliminary to that of Level 1. Achievement of the qualifications does not, therefore, contribute credit points towards meeting the participation and achievement standard of the Tasmanian Certificate of Education qualification.
Qualifications Certificate: The qualifications available can be listed on the Qualifications Certificate issued by TASC.
There are four (4) Units in this course. Learners will complete all four Units. Each Unit will be given approximately equal delivery time. The order in which Units and their topics (noted as dot points below) are delivered is not mandated. In some cases Units/topics might be delivered concurrently (e.g. safety and use of personal protective equipment (Unit 1) might be learnt within the context of safe use of chemicals and equipment (Unit 2) and/or safety when working with animals (Unit 3)). Similarly topics in Unit 4 may be explored within the context of studies undertaken in Units 2 and 3.
UNIT 1: Sustainability and resource management
UNIT 2: Plant care
UNIT 3: Animal care
UNIT 4: Ecosystems: relationships between plants and animal
NOTATION ON EVIDENCE OF LEARNING
Some of the criteria standard elements (see below) use the terms ‘identify’ or ‘describe’.
In the context of this preliminary level course, ‘identification’ might be done via methods such as:
‘Selecting’ might be done by methods such as: pointing; nodding; circling with a pen; or matching (e.g. picture with corresponding name card).
In the context of this preliminary level course, ‘describing’ might be done via methods such as:
Criterion-based assessment is a form of outcomes assessment that identifies the extent of learner achievement at an appropriate end-point of study. Although assessment – as part of the learning program – is continuous, much of it is formative, and is done to help learners identify what they need to do to attain the maximum benefit from their study of the course. Therefore, assessment for summative reporting to TASC will focus on what both teacher and learner understand to reflect end-point achievement.
The standard of achievement each learner attains on each criterion is recorded as a rating of ‘C’ (satisfactory standard) according to the outcomes specified in the standards section of the course document.
A ‘t’ notation must be used where a learner demonstrates any achievement against a criterion less than the standard specified for the ‘C’ rating. The ‘t’ notation is not described in course standards.
A ‘z’ notation is to be used where a learner provides no evidence of achievement at all.
Internal assessment of all criteria will be made by the provider. Assessment processes must gather evidence that clearly shows the match between individual learner performance, the standards of the course and the learner’s award. Providers will report the learner’s rating for each criterion to TASC.
The following process will be facilitated by TASC to ensure there is:
Process – Each provider is responsible for ensuring the integrity and validity of their assessment results against the requirements of the course, including standards, and for maintaining records and documentation that will demonstrate the integrity, accuracy and validity of the award decisions they make each year.
Where TASC identifies sufficient potential for concern about the integrity or validity of a provider’s award decisions it will undertake an investigation. After such an investigation is completed, TASC may take action under Section 33 of the Office of Tasmanian Assessment Standards and Qualifications Act 2003 as it considers appropriate, including but not limited to:
The assessment for Environment and Nature (PRE015415) will be based on whether the learner can:
The learner will:
| Rating C |
|---|
| identify some energy saving practices (e.g. turning off lights when leaving the room, interpreting the energy ratings on electrical appliances) |
| contribute to recycling (e.g. use recycle bins) |
| identify some basic causes and effects of pollution (e.g. chemicals in the water supply, smoke in the atmosphere). |
The learner will:
| Rating C |
|---|
| name/recognise some common and/or local plants |
| identify some purposes of plants in the environment (e.g. for food, for fibre, as ornamentals) |
| grow selected plants (e.g. vegetables, flowering plants) |
| apply basic skills in garden maintenance (e.g. weeding, clipping) |
| identify some harmful commonly used chemicals (e.g. pesticides) |
| use basic gardening equipment safely (e.g. hoes, clippers, fork). |
* The provider will select the most suitable plant species based on issues such as local soils, weather and seasonal availability.
The learner will:
| Rating C |
|---|
| identify some native and domestic animals |
| undertake some basic animal care (e.g. grooming, feeding, caging of domestic pet) |
| identify agencies that rescue animals |
| identify agencies that care for abandoned or injured animals |
| describe some farming practices involving animals. |
The learner will:
| Rating C |
|---|
| describe aspects of some symbiotic relationships between selected plants and animals |
| describe simple food chains in selected ecosystems |
| identify the aims and methods of selected conservation programs (e.g. Landcare Australia) |
| describe the significance of sound management of natural environments. |
Environment and Nature (PRE015415) (with the award of):
SATISFACTORY ACHIEVEMENT (SA)
PRELIMINARY ACHIEVEMENT (PA)
The minimum requirements for an award in Environment and Nature are as follows:
SATISFACTORY ACHIEVEMENT (SA)
4 ‘C’ ratings
PRELIMINARY ACHIEVEMENT (PA)
2 ‘C’ ratings
The Department of Education’s Curriculum Services will develop and regularly revise the curriculum. This evaluation will be informed by the experience of the course’s implementation, delivery and assessment.
In addition, stakeholders may request Curriculum Services to review a particular aspect of an accredited course.
Requests for amendments to an accredited course will be forwarded by Curriculum Services to the Office of TASC for formal consideration.
Such requests for amendment will be considered in terms of the likely improvements to the outcomes for learners, possible consequences for delivery and assessment of the course, and alignment with Australian Curriculum materials.
A course is formally analysed prior to the expiry of its accreditation as part of the process to develop specifications to guide the development of any replacement course.
Version 1 – Accredited on 2 April 2014 for use in 2015 to 2018. This course replaces Environment and Nature (PRE012410) that expired on 31 December 2014.
Version 1.a – Minor amendments to course content and Criterion 4 standards. 20 December 2017.