YEAR 12 LEGAL STUDIES

UNIT:Family and the Law

UNIT OVERVIEW:This unit covers the basics of family law in Australia and deals with topics such as marriage, divorce, child abuse, surrogacy and de-facto couples.

ASSESSMENT:Students will complete two assessment pieces.

  • Extended Written Response (1000 – 1500 words)
  • Extended Response Test – Unseen Question (600 – 800 words)

UNIT DETAILS:

No / Learning Goal / Success Criteria/Activities
(I Know I’ve got it when I can …)
1 / *Start of year introductory and housekeeping lesson* / None
2 - 3 / Students will define what a modern day ‘family’ is and identify legal issues relating to family law. / Correctly answer activities 8.1.1 and 8.1.2 and construct a glossary with student friendly definitions for common words and legislation.
4 - 5 / Students will explain how the law regulates marriage and other types of personal relationships. / Correctly answer activity 8.2.1.
Adequately and succinctly answer the questions on the worksheets, ‘Union of a Man and Woman’, ‘Excluding Others’ and ‘For Life’.
6 - 7 / Students will identify how the law regulates marriage and other types of personal relationships. / Effectively convey their opinions about same-sex marriage and whether or not everyone should have the same legal rights.
Answer, in paragraph form, the questions on the ‘Family Law’ PowerPoint that relate to same sex relationships.
8 / Students will explain how the law deals with the dissolution of family relationships. / Correctly answer activities 8.3.1 and 8.3.2.
Copy and remember, without referencing it for help, the diagram of how to end a marriage.
9 / Students will determine and evaluate the rights and obligations of parents and children. / Correctly answer activities 59 and 60 on page 67 of Legal Studies in Action Two.
Effectively summarise the rights and obligations of parents and children and identify how, in today’s society, some of these are not met.
10 / Students will highlight and discuss how the law deals with issues arising with children such as child abuse and domestic violence. / Provide organised and well researched information about the types of child abuse and the effect of child abuse on children.
11 - 12 / Students will examine the legality of surrogacy in Australia and discuss how surrogacy fits in with the traditional image of a ‘family’. / Complete the viewing worksheet for, ‘Australia Story – The Story of Sydney’, which asks the students to share their thoughts on surrogacy.
13 - 21 / Students will construct the rough copy, and a final submission of the assignment. / Submit an assignment that conforms to the given structure and adequately answers the assessment question.
22 / Students will deconstruct the structure for the exam and highlight the crucial elements they must address. / Construct a mind map which breaks the task down into manageable sections.
Research each section to gain further understanding.