Learning Map
ScienceWeather & Climateusually ages 9–11

Climate Change Basics

Understand the basics of climate change: Earth’s atmosphere traps some of the Sun's heat (the greenhouse effect), burning fossil fuels adds extra greenhouse gases (especially CO₂), this is making Earth gradually warmer, and this warming changes weather patterns, melts ice, and raises sea levels

How to tell they’ve got it

Tick these off as you see them — no test required.

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Try this together

Can your child explain the greenhouse effect in simple terms and describe how burning oil, gas, and coal adds extra CO₂ to the air, making Earth warmer and changing weather patterns?

Where this sits on the map

Stuck here? Check the skills it builds on first. Confident? Here’s what it unlocks.

Builds on
Weather vs Climateages 7–9Climate change requires understanding what climate is
The Atmosphereages 9–11Greenhouse effect requires understanding the atmosphere
Climate Zonesages 9–11Climate change impact clearer with climate zones context
Natural resourcesages 9–10Climate change connects to curriculum energy/fuels and environmental impact
Oceans & Climateages 9–11Climate change understanding enriched by knowing ocean absorbs heat and CO2
Sun-Driven Weather Systemsages 9–11Climate change understanding benefits from knowing Sun drives weather
Climate Change Basicsthis skill · ages 9–11
Unlocks
Reading Ancient Climate Recordsages 12–14Climate science methodology depends on climate change basics
AI and the Environmentages 9–11Cross-domain: climate change awareness (Weather & Climate) enriches understanding of AI's environmental costs and benefits
Climate Change at the Polesages 9–11General climate change understanding enriches polar-specific climate change topic (Weather 9-11 -> Polar 9-11)
Endangered & Extinct Speciesages 9–11Climate change is a major cause of species endangerment
Rainforests & Global Climateages 9–11Understanding climate change basics enriches the rainforests-and-climate topic (Weather 9-11 -> Rainforests 9-11)

solid = must come firstdashed = helps

Curriculum alignment

Candidate matches to official curriculum codes — machine-suggested, unreviewed (v0.1).

Show candidate curriculum codes · 2 ACARA · 1 NSW · 2 VIC

Australian Curriculum v9 candidate

AC9S5U02low confidenceYear 5 · Science understanding

describe how weathering, erosion, transportation and deposition cause slow or rapid change to Earth’s surface

AC9S6U02low confidenceYear 6 · Science understanding

describe the movement of Earth and other planets relative to the sun and model how Earth’s tilt, rotation on its axis and revolution around the sun relate to cyclic observable phenomena, including variable day and night length

NSW syllabus codes & stages only

ST2-SCI-01low confidenceScience and Technology K-6 · Stage 2

Victorian Curriculum 2.0 codes & levels only

VC2S4U08medium confidenceScience · Levels 3 and 4 · Science Understanding strand
VC2S6U06low confidenceScience · Levels 5 and 6 · Science Understanding strand

These are candidate alignments generated by semantic matching — machine-suggested and unreviewed (v0.1), not official or verified mappings. For official curriculum content see australiancurriculum.edu.au, curriculum.nsw.edu.au and f10.vcaa.vic.edu.au. Don’t rely on them for registration or compliance purposes.

Nearby on the map

Climate Zonesages 9–11 Extreme Weather Eventsages 9–11 Natural resourcesages 9–10 Reading Weather Mapsages 9–11

All Weather & Climate skills →