Undergraduate - UnitATS1301 - Australian physical environments: Evolution, status and management

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2014 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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6 points, SCA Band 2, 0.125 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered, or view unit timetables.

Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Arts
Organisational Unit	Physical Geography
Monash Passport category	Research Challenge (Investigate Program)
Offered	Clayton Second semester 2014 (Day)
Coordinator(s)	Dr Vanessa Wong (Clayton); Dr Ailie Gallant; Dr Simon Connor; Associate Professor David Dunkerley

Notes

Previously coded GES1020

Synopsis

This unit provides an understanding of the landscape, vegetation and climate characteristics of the Australian environment as a foundation for more advanced study in geography and related disciplines. It explains present patterns of landform, soil, biota and climate through an understanding of past environments and events. The focus on change is carried over into future environmental management issues.

Outcomes

On successfully completing the unit students will:

Be familiar with major ideas concerning the evolution of the Australian landscape, its biota and climate patterns;
Be aware of competing ideas and theories in the relevant literature;
Be able to synthesise and interpret relevant material and to communicate ideas to others in a coherent manner, by either written or verbal means;
Be familiar and proficient with some simple techniques for analysing basic geographic and physical environmental information;
Appreciate the importance of field work in studying the natural environment and the problems associated with making field measurements of natural phenomena.