Sustainable Tourism at the Railway Virtual Excursion

VCE

Join our Education officers on Puffing Billy to investigate the characteristics of tourism in the Dandenong ranges. Students will examine the location of the railway, its interconnectedness, and the impact the railway has on people, places, and environments throughout its history. Issues and challenges to tourism in the the local area, and to the railway, will be discussed, alongside the impact of Puffing Billy on the local, regional, and national environments, economies, and cultures.

Through the lens of ethical tourism, students evaluate the effectiveness of measures taken at Puffing Billy Railway to enhance the positive and/or minimise the negative impact of the Railway on the surrounding environment. They investigate the growth of tourism at Puffing Billy and examine management and techniques being used to ensure Puffing Billy is environmentally, socially, culturally, and economically sustainable.

Students will use fieldwork techniques to gain statistical data from multiple information sources including Puffing Billy Railway staff, volunteers, digital images, streamed videos, and presentations. Students can use this information to inform a fieldwork report back at school analysing the impacts of tourism at Puffing Billy.

Lakeside Visitor Centre's Railway Cafe, with accessible walkways throughout the centre.

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During their virtual visit!

Students will have an opportunity to converse with, survey and hear from Puffing Billy Railway staff and volunteers to discuss the impact of tourism at Puffing Billy Railway and the Dandenong Ranges. Students will research challenges to the railway over time and the importance and historical and financial significance of people and volunteers to the railway. By understanding the characteristics of tourism at the railway students will be able to inform a fieldwork report back at school and use what they have learnt at the railway to brainstorm ways the railway can be sustainable in the future. Immersed in nature throughout their journey, students will think sustainably about the impacts of the railway and future solutions to reduce the environmental impacts of people and technology to biodiversity at the Railway, locally, regionally, and globally.

Students will also be presented statistical data which they will use to investigate the interconnectedness between Puffing Billy Railway, local, domestic, and international tourism.

Curriculum links

VCE

Geographical skills

	SKILL	DESCRIPTION
	Cartography-map creation	Use border, orientation, legend, title, scale, source (BOLTSS) conventions when creating or completing a map
		Use of both primary data collected in the field and secondary data from online databases to create maps and map layers using geospatial technologies. These maps should be at an appropriate scale and follow geographic conventions
	Cross-sections	Analyse and annotate cross-sections with natural features and human activities,
		as appropriate
	Analysing geospacial information	Create simple layers/overlays of data on a map or diagram
		Use a GIS platform to interpret and analyse geospatial information by adding and removing layers of data and viewing at different scales
	Images	Use satellite images and oblique and vertical aerial photographs to interpret and draw conclusions from observed features and to describe relative locations of features and general spatial patterns
		Use a provided or an estimated scale on a vertical aerial photograph and on a satellite image to establish distances and areas
		Create generalised maps using satellite images as a source
	Map use, interpretation and analysis	Compare and interpret different map types (including more specialised complex maps), and scales and maps from different time periods, for the same area to draw accurate conclusions
		Use combinations of remote sensing images and topographic maps to explain change over time
Mathematics	Number operations	Calculate and interpret percentages, ratios, mean and median
	Graphs	Select, construct and interpret line graphs, bar graphs (simple, comparative, compound and divergent) and pie charts
	Tables of data	Interpret specialised graph types (e.g. climate graph, population pyramid)
		Observe and describe trends in graphed time series data in accurate language
	Source and data assessment	Reflect on the validity and reliability of data and information and their sources
	Social surveys and interviews	Consider sample size, location/s of surveying and times and durations of surveying
		in design of survey and analysis of results
		Design and construct survey questionnaires or interview questions for a given purpose
		Undertake surveys and/or interviews with potential for open responses and qualitative recording

fieldwork report

Report section	Guidelines
Definition of topic	A definition of topic contains:
	A clear statement of the research question
	An outline of the geographic context of the question
	A brief hypothesis (expected answer to the research question) and justification of hypothesis
Primary sources and techniques used to collect data	An outline of Primary sources used and techniques used to collect data indicates:
	A brief description of the sources and techniques used to collect primary data. Fieldwork techniques must include the use of geospatial technologies, through the use of GNSS, to indicate what primary data was collected at specific locations
	A justification of how the combination of primary sources and techniques were used to help answer the research question
Secondary sources and techniques used to collect data	An outline of the Secondary sources and techniques used to collect data indicates:
	A brief description of the sources used, including secondary data from online databases
	(e.g. Australian Bureau of Statistics, Atlas of Living Australia)
	A justification of how the combination of secondary sources and techniques were used to help answer the research question
Presentation of processed data and information	The Presentation of processed data and information uses:
	Appropriate conventions
	Techniques most appropriate to the meaning conveyed by the data and information
	Geospatial technologies, through the use of GIS mapping, to create maps from primary data collected in the field and/or secondary data from online databases to answer the research question
	Correct sourcing of the data and information
Analysis of processed data and information	An Analysis of processed data and information should:
	Identify key features
	Describe patterns identified in the processed data and information
	Draw relationships between key features and patterns in the processed data and information
	Relate back to the research question and discuss whether or not the data and information has supported the hypothesis
Conclusion	A Conclusion should:
	Identify the extent to which the analysis has answered the research question
	Note any specific points to be learnt from the investigation


Report section	Guidelines
Evaluation	An Evaluation considers:
	The relative effectiveness (limitations and weaknesses) of the techniques implemented and sources used
	Future possibilities for any subsequent investigation
Referencing	Referencing includes:
	Bibliography with correct and consistent referencing
	Acknowledgement of sources of information and people

Curriculum Resources

Puffing Billy Railway offers a range of pre- and post-excursion curriculum-linked resources to support teaching and learning in the classroom and at home. All resources are based around the topics of Energy/Force/Motion, Past and Present, Design and Technology and Biodiversity.

Pre-Excursion Activities

Post-Excursion Activities

Excursion Workbook

Enquiries

Enquire about our guided excursions via our online form.
Please contact the Education team for any further questions by emailing info@pbr.org.au or calling 03 9757 0700.

Enquire

3 Volunteer Head Conductor On The Lakeside Station Platform

Sustainable Tourism at the Railway Virtual Excursion

During their virtual visit!

Curriculum links

Geographical skills

fieldwork report

Curriculum Resources

Changing Places

Maps in Motion

Train of Thoughts

Interpretation of Data at the Railway

Destination Design

Sus-train-ability

Socio-cultural signals

Fieldwork Investigations

Enquiries

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