Kathryn Berg

The 2011 Geography's Big Week Out was held from 2 to 7 October on the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria. The 16 participating students had won their places through outstanding performances in the National Geographic Channel Australian Geography Competition. On offer was selection into the team which will represent Australia at the International Geography Olympiad in Cologne, Germany, 21-27 August 2012.

Your task As an expert in the field of tourist developments in coastal areas, and with local knowledge of the Mornington Peninsula, you have been appointed by Big Week Out (BWO) national developers and operators to evaluate two sites. You are to make a recommendation as to which one should be put forward to the Mornington Peninsula Shire Council for consideration, as well as any modifications that should be made to the existing plans.

Exciting, fun, great, fantastic, beyond amazing, life changing - these are just some of the words used by students to describe a week of geography fieldwork. Admittedly, they were special students, selected from their outstanding performances in the National Geographic Channel Australian Geography Competition, and the fieldwork was special as well, the 2010 Geography's Big Week Out. It took place in Perth and Rottnest Island from 5 - 10 December. On offer was selection into the team which will represent Australia at the Asia Pacific Regional Geography Olympiad in Mexico, 4 - 9 July 2011.

The Australian Geography Competition (AGC) was established in 1995 by the Royal Geographical Society of Queensland (RGSQ) and the Australian Geography Teachers’ Association to promote the study of geography in Australian secondary schools and to reward student excellence in geographical studies. Initially focusing on students at the lower secondary level, the Competition expanded in 2005 to include students up to Year 12. In 2013, the number of students participating nationwide in the AGC was 74,498. This paper firstly gives an overview of national participation by Australian students in the Competition over the 2004–2013 period. Secondly, more detailed analysis of the 2012 and 2013 competitions is presented in terms of overall results in the three age groups, the types and levels of difficulty of questions, and gender differences in achievement. Some concluding observations are made relating to the scope and significance of the AGC in the context of the introduction of the national...

... selected.from.our.2011.Competition.via.Geography's.Big. Week.Out. Kathryn.Berg Competition.Coordinator admin@rgsq.org.au Representing Australia at the National Geographic World Championship (L to R) Jesse Tong, Michael Gu and Riley Kernaghan