Quantum particles, like happy families, are all the same. In fact, not only are they the same. They are literally indistinguishable. This has deep and important consequences that are fleshed out in this chapter.

The real fun of the Maxwell equations comes when we understand the link between electricity and magnetism. A changing magnetic flux can induce currents to flow. This is Faraday’s law of induction. We start this chapter by understanding this link and end this chapter with one of the great unifying discoveries of physics: that the interplay between electric and magnetic fields is what gives rise to light.

In this chapter, we explore how electric and magnetic fields behave inside materials. The physics can be remarkably complicated and messy but the end result are described by a few, very minor, changes to the Maxwell equations. This allows us to understand various properties of materials, such as conductors.

What is the essence of quantum mechanics? What makes the quantum world truly different from the classical one? Is it the discrete spectrum of energy levels? Or the inherent lack of determinism? The purpose of this chapter is to go back to basics in an attempt to answer this question. We will look at the framework of quantum mechanics in an attempt to get a better understanding of what we mean by a “state”, and what we mean by a “measurement”. A large part of our focus will be on the power of quantum entanglement.

In this chapter, we focus on the implementation of the planning cycle in infant and toddler settings and how it might be co-constructed, documented and shared with key stakeholders. Throughout this book, we have examined how the first three years constitute a foundational period with particular competencies, vulnerabilities and opportunities for growth and learning. Infants and toddlers deserve, and indeed have a right to experience, curriculum that is specifically designed to nurture their unique ways of being, belonging and becoming. At the same time, very young children are not a homogenous group but individuals with their own interests, dispositions, strengths and challenges. Quality curriculum is planned to be responsive to these individual differences. Planning curriculum is an important professional practice requiring educators to act with what the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) calls intentionality, meaning their curriculum and practice is deliberate, thoughtful and purposeful.

Describe some important features of infant–caregiver relationships; evaluate the role of early life experiences on later development; understand what emotions are for and how they develop.

Infants and toddlers are immersed in the social culture of their family, community and society from before they are born. Every family has distinct social practices and ways of interacting which shape very young children’s holistic physiological, cognitive and emotional learning, development and wellbeing. These practices reflect the values, beliefs, norms and expectations of their community and culture. Over time, through repeated social encounters and experiences, the social culture of their family and community is passed on as infants and toddlers become socialised into these specific ways of engaging with others. Social practices and interactions thus form the basis of the relationships that infants and toddlers form with significant others. As a result, the social opportunities that very young children experience and participate in during their everyday existence have far-reaching consequences for their sense of identify and belonging.

Chapter 13 evaluates the challenges of SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production, which aims to reduce economies’ material footprints and related waste emissions to support a shift toward more environmentally responsible practices. Global trends in material resource extraction and waste emissions are reviewed, highlighting increasing per capita resource use, rising resource intensity, and escalating waste emissions. Water, land, and air pollution can impose significant economic costs due to their impacts on human health and well-being and degradation of the stock of natural capital, including ecosystems. Policy options for reducing waste emissions are compared and contrasted. Market-based mechanisms, like taxes or tradable permits, offer cost-effectiveness but may not ensure sufficient environmental protection in uncertain conditions. Conversely, regulations enforced by penalties may be necessary for meeting standards, particularly for hazardous waste, although they can introduce uncertainty about producer costs. Other strategies, such as liability for compensation and environmental assurance bonds, aim to encourage waste reduction, reuse, and recycling.

Chapter 3 explores how economics approaches the problem of allocating and distributing scarce environmental goods and services between competing ends. It examines the trade-offs the decision-makers involved in consuming and producing these goods and services face. In a model of the market allocation of a single environmental good or service, two building blocks are established: consumer demand and producer supply. Demand is the willingness of consumers to purchase specific quantities at different prices over a given period, which depends on the economic value they place on that environmental good or service. Supply is the willingness of producers to provide specific quantities to the market at different prices over a given period, which depends on the cost of inputs needed to provide that environmental good or service. Buyers and sellers interact in a market to determine the quantity and the price of an environmental good or service being exchanged and respond to a shortage or surplus. The economically efficient and optimal allocation of an environmental good or service is established in the marketplace, which has economic welfare, sustainability, and social equity implications.

The study of civil wars and intrastate armed conflict transcends single academic disciplines. While political science and international relations are often seen as the natural “home” of civil war studies, various academic approaches (such as sociology, history, geography, anthropology, and others) also make valuable contributions. This chapter explores approaches to researching and studying civil war by looking at how different disciplines engage with organized violence, and some of the debates that exist within and across these disciplines. The key questions addressed in this chapter are: How do different disciplines explore the subject of civil war? What are the differences between them in terms of their epistemology and the foundations of reliable knowledge about civil war? How is civil war defined according to different approaches, and what is their scope of analysis? What are the key debates within and between disciplines in relation to civil war topics? Is an interdisciplinary approach to civil war studies – which combines different disciplinary approaches – possible?

Chapter 4 examines when the efficient and optimal allocation of marketed goods may not apply to environmental goods and services. Market failures can cause environmental misuse and overuse due to the lack of a fully functioning market or when the markets do not function under perfectly competitive conditions necessary for an economically efficient outcome. For example, due to environmental externalities, user costs, open access, public goods, imperfect market structures and power. When the market is not at its socially optimal equilibrium, there is a deadweight loss that reflects the inefficiency occurring and represents a loss of total welfare to society, along with implications for environmental sustainability and social equity. Government policy failures, such as poor-quality institutions and governance, unintended policy impacts, and failure to correct pervasive market failures, also contribute to environmental misuse. Correcting market and policy failures is critical for economic efficiency, environmental sustainability, and social equity.

The September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States further propelled the global focus on terrorism. Despite international efforts, the threat of terrorism remains throughout the world. In this chapter, the challenges in defining and analyzing terrorism are established by articulating the characteristics, structures, and motivations of groups that terrorize others. These definitions of terrorism, and the features of relevant groups, are then placed within the wider context of intrastate conflict. Key questions addressed include: Why does terrorism more frequently occur in war-torn countries? And how does its occurrence lower prospects for sustainable peace? This analysis is then used to inform modern counterterrorism methods, and how their evolution is critical for future international and national security along with peace mediation studies.

Like reading, writing is an essential part of academic studies and professional work. Through writing, we form and communicate clear thoughts so that we can collaborate with each other and refine critical understandings. In the Australian Curriculum, writing is about students using expressive language and composing different types of texts for a range of purposes as an integral part of learning in all curriculum areas. Different text types include ‘spoken, written, visual and multimodal texts’, while students can also create ‘formal and informal’ written, visual and multimodal texts for presentation.