The physical and living aspects of the global environment interact to produce the extraordinary variety of landscapes, ecosystems and species that occupy this planet. This unit highlights the interplay and conservation of controlling processes so that they continue to maintain Earth's ecosystems and inspire future generations. Earth, Climate and Life develops intermediate understanding of factors controlling geomorphological distinctiveness of earth surface features, weather and climate processes from global to local scales, and distributions and habitats of plants and animals and how they interact within ecosystems. These topics are integrated across various time and space scales, emphasising distinctive biomes including island places, and will help students understand reasons for the variety in attributes of landforms and plant and animal species. The unit prepares students for a number of third year units in the School, and develops key skills in demand among employers, including analysis of multiple factors that may be in operation, and presentation of convincing reports.