Clarification details
Updated May 2015. This document has been updated to address the Ministry of Education review of all Education for Sustainability Achievement Standards.
Biophysical environment
Students are required to explain the biophysical systems that affect or are affected by the human activity. This means that the ecosystems of the area must be described to cover the "bio" part.
For example:
- fish farming - describe the food web that would normally occupy that part of the harbour, hydrological systems (water flow, clarity etc.) and/or probable geology and/or land use
- farming - describe ecosystems affected by the farm and whatever systems impacted most on the farm. This would be different for a Canterbury dairy farm compared to an East Coast North Island sheep station.
Active and on-going monitoring of sites helps to inform good explanations of the biophysical environment. Reporting of the biodiversity of the system, e.g. streams and/or the riparian margins, including the animal species present, may be found from resources available from the Department of Conservation and the Regional Council.
Consequences for a sustainable future
The ability to move beyond explaining, to discussing consequences, would be facilitated by using resources from different interested parties, e.g. from iwi and conservation groups such as Forest and Bird, as well as from government and industry organisations. Such sources are not required, but may give more diversity of resource material to increase student ability to discuss consequences to Excellence level.