Lesson six: Daily life in Australia

Contrasting places RURAL Rural areas are less densely populated than urban areas. They have fewer buildings, services and are less accessible. URBAN Urban areas are more densely populated. They have more homes, offices, services and roads. Places can be described as ‘rural’ or ‘urban’.

Lots of people living in Australia work in the service sector in cities. The capital city of Australia is Canberra. Mining and farming are also important in Australia, but these industries are often done by machine now so fewer people work in these industries. Industry in Australia: What do people do for work? © Dr Andrew Lee

Changes in Industry Australia has lots of natural resources and so still depends a lot on farming and mining, however fewer and fewer people work in these industries as more machinery does the work. © Dr Andrew Lee

Working in Australia Services Information technology and communications jobs. Agriculture Growing crops and raising livestock. Media Many people work for TV companies, newspapers and magazines. Education Many teachers work in Australia, and Australia even attracts teachers from abroad. Do you think these jobs are in rural or urban areas?

Tourism Many Australians work in the tourism industry for hotels, travel tour companies, and restaurants. Mining Coal and diamonds are natural resources in Australia. They are mined and exported to other countries. Finance Jobs in the banking are located in offices in the largest cities. Manufacturing This area of work is declining in Australia as this industry moves to countries in Southeast Asia. Are the jobs in Australia similar or different to jobs in the UK? Does the UK also have the natural resource diamonds?

Unemployment Australian Capital TerritoryAustralian Capital Territory 3.7% Western Australia 5.0% Northern Territory 5.5% Victoria 5.7% New South Wales 5.9% Queensland 6.0% South Australia 6.8% Tasmania 8.3% What percentage of the total population of each state are unemployed?

Think about the risks facing people in Australia. How do these compare with the UK? Risks in Australia Backburning © robdownunder, Flickr Box jellyfish © Will Fisher, Flickr VIIRS Captured Tropical Cyclone Nathan (March 2015) © NOAA Satellites, Flickr

Activities in Australia How does the geography of Australia influence the types of activities people do? Do we do the same activities in the UK? Great Barrier Reef, Eddy Reef off Mission Beach © Paul Toogood, Flickr Cricket At Loxton, South Australia(1) Dwayne Madden, Flickr Source: BBC sport

Comparing Australia to the UK LocationWeatherSchoolsCoastTravelWaterEnvironmentsIncome UK Fine, moderate but often cool Local schools Large coast as it is an island Travel is easy as distances are small Plentiful Coastal areas, hills and mountains, flat land. Wealthy country AustraliaDepending on location, but often consistently warm Schools might be distant Extremely long coastline as it is a large island. Travel takes a long time as distances are large Supply can be difficult in some areas Many large landscapes of varying kinds (rainforests, reefs, deserts etc.) Wealthy country Consider: What types of work do people do? What activities do people enjoy? What is the weather, climate and landscape like?

Main Activity: Comparing rural and urban Australia Watch the video interviews with children living in Australia to learn more about their daily lives. Consider similarities and differences between the lives of the children living at the two contrasting places in Australia: urban Sydney and rural Picola. Fill in the Daily Life Activity sheet with your answers.

Extension activity Construct compound sentences with one positive and one negative thing about living in Australia Example: "The good thing about living in Australia is the amount of sunshine but the bad thing is how often there are bushfires." Remember to keep both positive and negative ideas in the same sentence.

Plenary There are similarities and differences between places within one country (inland and coastal Australia, rural and urban Australia) and between different countries (Australia and UK). Sometimes life elsewhere can be very different to our own in the UK and sometimes it can be remarkably similar.

End of Unit Assessment How much have you learned about the geography of Australia? Complete the End of Unit quiz to find out! What have you learned about Australia that interests you the most?