Year 10 Program

The proficiency strands understanding, fluency, problem-solving and reasoning denote the degree of complexity in how students will engage with the mathematical concepts. In Year 9 the conceptual complexity is as follows:

• understanding includes applying the four operations to algebraic fractions, finding unknowns in formulas after substitution, making the connection between equations of relations and their graphs, comparing simple and compound interest in financial contexts and determining probabilities of two- and three-step experiments
• fluency includes factorising and expanding algebraic expressions, using a range of strategies to solve equations and using calculations to investigate the shape of data sets
• problem-solving includes calculating the surface area and volume of a diverse range of prisms to solve practical problems, finding unknown lengths and angles using applications of trigonometry, using algebraic and graphical techniques to find solutions to simultaneous equations and inequalities and investigating independence of events
• reasoning includes formulating geometric proofs involving congruence and similarity, interpreting and evaluating media statements and interpreting and comparing data sets.

In Year 10, students interact with peers, teachers, individuals, groups and community members in a range of face-to-face and online/virtual environments. They experience learning in familiar and unfamiliar contexts, including local community, vocational and global contexts.

Students engage with a variety of texts for enjoyment. They interpret, create, evaluate, discuss and perform a wide range of literary texts in which the primary purpose is aesthetic, as well as texts designed to inform and persuade. These include various types of media texts, including newspapers, film and digital texts, fiction, non-fiction, poetry, dramatic performances and multimodal texts, with themes and issues involving levels of abstraction, higher order reasoning and intertextual references. Students develop critical understanding of the contemporary media and the differences between media texts.

Literary texts that support and extend students in Year 10 as independent readers are drawn from a range of genres and involve complex, challenging and unpredictable plot sequences and hybrid structures that may serve multiple purposes. These texts explore themes of human experience and cultural significance, interpersonal relationships, and ethical and global dilemmas within real-world and fictional settings and represent a variety of perspectives. Informative texts represent a synthesis of technical and abstract information (from credible/verifiable sources) about a wide range of specialised topics. Text structures are more complex and include chapters, headings and subheadings, tables of contents, indexes and glossaries. Language features include successive complex sentences with embedded clauses, a high proportion of unfamiliar and technical vocabulary, figurative and rhetorical language, and dense information supported by various types of graphics and images.

Students create a range of imaginative, informative and persuasive types of texts including narratives, procedures, performances, reports, discussions, literary analyses, transformations of texts and reviews.

In the Year 10 curriculum students explore systems at different scales and connect microscopic and macroscopic properties to explain phenomena. Students explore the biological, chemical, geological and physical evidence for different theories, such as the theories of natural selection and the Big Bang.

Students develop their understanding of atomic theory to understand relationships within the periodic table. They understand that motion and forces are related by applying physical laws. They learn about the relationships between aspects of the living, physical and chemical world that are applied to systems on a local and global scale and this enables them to predict how changes will affect equilibrium within these systems.

In Year 10 Humanities and Social Sciences consists of Civics and Citizenship, Economics and Business, Geography and History.

Students develop increasing independence in critical thinking and skill application, which includes questioning, researching, analysing, evaluating, communicating and reflecting. They apply these skills to investigate events, developments, issues and phenomena, both historical and contemporary.

Students continue to build on their understanding of the concepts of democracy, democratic values, justice, and rights and responsibilities by exploring Australia’s roles and responsibilities at a global level and its international legal obligations. They inquire in to the values and practices that enable a resilient democracy to be sustained.

Students are introduced to the concept of economic performance and living standards while continuing to further their understanding of the concepts of making choices, interdependence, specialisation, and allocation and markets through examining contemporary issues, events and/or case studies delving into the reasons for variations in the performance of economies. They explore the nature of externalities and investigate the role of governments in managing economic performance to improve living standards. They inquire into the ways businesses can manage their workforces to improve productivity.

The concepts of place, space, environment, interconnection, sustainability and change continue to be developed as a way of thinking, through an applied focus on the management of environmental resources and the geography of human wellbeing at the full range of scales, from local to global and in a range of locations.

Students develop their historical understanding through key concepts, including evidence, continuity and change, cause and effect, perspectives, empathy, significance and contestability. These concepts are investigated within the historical context of the modern world and Australia from 1918 to the present, with an emphasis on Australia in its global context.

In Year 10, the content provides students with the opportunity to begin to focus on issues that affect the wider community. They study external influences on health decisions and evaluate their impact on personal identity and the health of the broader community. Students continue to develop and refine communication techniques to enhance interactions with others, and apply analytical skills to scrutinise health messages in a range of contexts.

In continuing to improve performance, students transfer learned specialised movement skills with increasing proficiency and success across a variety of contexts. They use feedback to improve their own and others’ performance with greater consistency, and critically evaluate movement responses based on the outcome of previous performances. Through the application of biomechanical principles to analyse movement, students broaden their understanding of optimal techniques necessary for enhanced athletic performance.

Students self-assess their own and others’ leadership styles and apply problem-solving approaches to motivate participation and contribute to effective team relationships. They are also provided with opportunities to assume direct control of physical activities in coaching, coordinating or officiating roles.

The Health and Physical Education curriculum provides opportunities for students to develop, enhance and exhibit attitudes and values that promote a healthy lifestyle.

In Year 10, students have opportunities to learn about technologies in society at least once in the following technologies contexts: Engineering principles and systems; Food and Fibre production; Food Specialisations; and Materials and Technologies Specialisations. Students are provided with opportunities to design and produce products, services and environments.

Students have opportunities to use design and technologies knowledge and understanding, processes and production skills, and design thinking, to produce solutions to identified needs or opportunities. Students work independently and collaboratively. They have opportunities to understand the complex interdependencies involved in the development of technologies and enterprises. The focus is on students designing solutions, taking into account ethics; legal issues; social values; economic, environmental and social sustainability factors; and using more sophisticated strategies. They use creativity, innovation and enterprise skills with confidence, independence and collaboration.

Using a range of technologies, including a variety of graphical representation techniques, students have opportunities to generate and represent original ideas and production plans in two-dimensional and three-dimensional representations using a range of technical drawings, including perspective, scale, orthogonal and production drawings with sectional and exploded views, appropriate to their designs.

Students identify the steps involved in planning the production of designed solutions. They develop detailed project management plans incorporating elements, such as sequenced time, cost and action plans to manage a range of design tasks safely. Students apply management plans, changing direction when necessary, to successfully complete design tasks. They continue to identify and establish safety procedures that minimise risk and manage projects maintaining safety standards and management procedures to ensure success. Learning experiences require students to transfer theoretical knowledge to practical activities across a range of projects.

In Year 10, learning in Digital Technologies focuses on further developing understanding and skills in computational thinking, such as precisely and accurately describing problems; and the use of modular approaches to solutions. It also focuses on engaging students with specialised learning in preparation for vocational training or learning in the senior secondary years.

Students have opportunities to analyse problems and design, implement and evaluate a range of solutions, such as database-driven websites, artificial intelligence engines and simulations.

Students consider how human interaction with networked systems introduces complexities surrounding access to, and the security and privacy of, data of various types. They interrogate security practices and techniques used to compress data, and learn about the importance of separating content, presentation and behavioural elements for data integrity and maintenance purposes.

Students explore how bias can impact the results and value of data collection methods, and use structured data to analyse, visualise, model and evaluate objects and events.

Students learn how to develop multilevel abstractions; identify standard elements, such as searching and sorting in algorithms; and explore the trade-offs between the simplicity of a model and the faithfulness of its representation.

When defining problems, students consider the functional and non-functional requirements of a solution through interacting with clients/stakeholders and regularly reviewing processes. They consolidate their algorithmic design skills to incorporate testing and review, and further develop their understanding of the user experience to incorporate a wider variety of user needs. Students develop solutions to complex problems and evaluate their solutions and existing information systems, based on a broad set of criteria, including connections to existing policies and their enterprise potential. They consider the privacy and security implications of how data are used and controlled, and suggest how policies and practices can be improved to ensure the sustainability and safety of information systems.

Students have opportunities to become more skilled at identifying the steps involved in planning solutions and developing detailed plans that are mindful of risks and sustainability requirements. When creating solutions individually, collaboratively and interactively for sharing in online environments, students should comply with legal obligations, particularly with respect to the ownership of information.

In Year 10 students will explore and develop food related interests and skills. They will learn about how food impacts us on the every-day basis and the importance of overall health and wellbeing.

Students will organise, implement and manage food production as well as understand food availability, safety and quality.

In the Automotive course students develop skills and understandings relating to the component parts, accessories, systems and technologies of the automotive vehicle. Students develop the principles underpinning the operation of vehicle systems and subsystems. They also develop the knowledge and skills needed to service, maintain and repair these systems. Students develop effective communication, teamwork skills and environmental awareness when developing solutions to planning and managing automotive vehicle systems.

In Year 10, Drama students will be given opportunities to develop their knowledge and skills to present drama for purposes and wider external audiences, safely using processes, techniques and conventions of drama. Students develop drama based on devised drama processes and taken from appropriate, published script excerpts (e.g. Australian drama post-1960 or world drama), using selected drama forms and styles. Students will have opportunities to research devised drama and read in selected script excerpts in context. Student work in devised and scripted drama is the focus of reflective and responsive processes. Students are encouraged to develop their use of extended answer forms and interviews, using drama terminology, language and different forms of communication, based on their own drama and the drama of others.

Teachers are required to address knowledge and skills in Drama through two or more of the forms and styles below. Other forms and styles may be used in addition to teach knowledge and skills in Drama.

Drama forms and styles for Year 10: Grotowski’s Poor Theatre, Youth Theatre, Contemporary Aboriginal Theatre, Theatre of the Absurd or Butoh.

In Year 10, students are provided with opportunities to explore in more depth the way media work is constructed in different contexts and how it can be used to challenge the values of an audience. They explore past and current media trends on audience use of media.

Students continue to make and respond to their own media productions and professional media work within the selected media type, genre or style studied, using refined media production skills and processes: problem solving, working as a team, or independently; setting and following personal and group timelines; and independently using media equipment safely and responsibly.

Teachers are required to address knowledge and skills in Media Arts through two of the foci and media below. Other foci and media may be used in addition to teach knowledge and skills in Media Arts.

Media foci are: Media Fiction (for example, narrative focused video games, celebrities in media fiction, Hollywood or Bollywood films) and Media Non-Fiction (for example, educational programs, wiki site blogs, photographic essays).

Students are expected to work within, or across, the following media in each year level: film, television, photography, print media, radio or online media.

In Year 10, students use Visual Arts language and artistic conventions, in both written and practical work. They further develop and refine their ideas and techniques to resolve artwork by documenting the design, production and evaluation processes of their artwork. Students will extend their knowledge of art practices, such as, adaptation, manipulation, deconstruction and reinvention techniques, and use their understanding of a variety of art styles in the making of their 2D, 3D and/or 4D artwork. Students extend their knowledge and practise of safe and sustainable Visual Arts practice. Resolved artwork is exhibited and appraised, with consideration to their own artistic intentions, personal expression, and audience.

Students develop greater understanding of how contexts of culture, time and place impact on the development of ideas and production of art forms in the artistic process. They continue to explore artistic influences, while being encouraged to express greater individualism in their application of ideas and materials.

Students are provided with opportunities to reflect on traditional and contemporary artwork using a breadth of critical analysis frameworks, incorporating Visual Arts language, art terminology and conventions.

Teachers are required to address knowledge and skills in Visual Arts through two art forms and one art style below. Other art forms and art styles may be used in addition to teach knowledge and skills in Visual Arts.

Art forms:

2D (painting, printmaking, drawing, photo and digital media, graphics, textiles, collage)

• 3D (ceramics, sculpture, installations, textiles, jewellery)
• 4D (performance art, time-based video, digital animation)

Art styles:

Realism, Modernism (Dadaism, Surrealism, Futurism), contemporary Australian art; Postmodernism, international art.