History
Concepts for developing understanding
The content in the history sub-strand provides opportunities for students to develop historical understanding through key concepts including sources, continuity and change, cause and effect, perspectives, empathy and significance. The curriculum in this year provides a study of colonial Australia in the 1800s. Students learn about the reasons for the founding of British colonies in Australia and the impact of a development or event on one Australian colony (continuity and change, cause and effect). They examine what life was like for different groups of people in the colonial period (sources), and explore the reasons for their actions (cause and effect, perspectives, empathy). They examine early migration, settlement patterns, people and their contributions, significant events, and political and economic developments (sources, continuity and change, significance, empathy). Students are also introduced to the concept of sources as they analyse sources to compare information and points of view in the past and present (sources, perspectives).
Inquiry Questions
- What do we know about the lives of people in Australia's colonial past and how do we know?
- How did an Australian colony develop over time and why?
- How did colonial settlement change the environment?
- What were the significant events and who were the significant people that shaped Australian colonies?
(source: www.australiancurriculum.edu.au)
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I Am Sorry – Poem and Discussion Questions
A poem to promote thoughtful discussion around issues of reconciliation on National Sorry Day.
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Passport To My Heritage Project Template
Celebrate your students’ diverse cultural heritages with a printable Heritage Project Poster Template.
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Australian Gold Rush: A Digger's Life – Teaching Presentation
A 17-slide teaching presentation that explores the challenges, hardships and glory of a life spent digging on the Australian goldfields.
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The Establishment of Australia's Colonies PowerPoint
A 32 slide editable PowerPoint to use in the classroom when learning about the establishment of British colonies in Australia.
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Impacts of Colonisation on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples Posters
Posters highlighting the main impacts of colonisation on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
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Australian Gold Rush: A Golden Democracy – Teaching Presentation
A 13-slide teaching presentation about the political struggles gold miners faced in their efforts to obtain wealth.
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Australian Gold Rush: That's Gold! – Teaching Presentation
A 13-slide teaching presentation that includes interesting facts about gold, why it is such a prized metal, and how its use shaped modern currency and trade.
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Australian Gold Rush: Gold Fever – Teaching Presentation
A teaching presentation that explores the origins of the Australian Gold Rush.
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Problems in the Australian Colonies PowerPoint
A 19 slide editable PowerPoint to use in the classroom when learning about the problems that took place in the colonies of Australia.
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Gold Rush Writing Prompt – A Letter From the Goldfields
Download this Gold Rush writing prompt where students explain life on the Australian goldfields during 1852.
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Australian Gold Rush: Map Where It's At - Worksheet
A fun mapping activity for students to pinpoint gold finds and gold rush locations between 1851 to 1893 on a map of Australia.
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Australian Gold Rush: Melting Pot – Teaching Presentation
A 10-slide teaching presentation that explores immigration and diversity during the Australian Gold Rush and how it shaped the multicultural Australia we know today.
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Australian Gold Rush: Race to Eureka – Game
An interactive gold-panning game in which students explore scenarios of reward, penalisation and inequality.
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Australian Gold Rush: Living Wax Museum – Project
An inquiry project in which students research personalities from the Australian Gold Rush and portray them as part of a Living Wax Museum.
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Kelly Gang Wanted Posters
Wanted posters providing information about each member of the infamous Kelly Gang.
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Australian Gold Rush: Eureka Stockade – Teaching Presentation
A 16-slide teaching presentation about the events leading up to and including the Eureka Stockade and the positive and negative impacts it had on Australian politics and people.
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Significant Women of Australia's Colonisation Fact Sheets
4 profile posters to display and use in the classroom when learning about significant women in Australia.
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Gold Mining Methods
5 posters outlining gold mining techniques used during the Australian Gold Rush.
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Gold Miners' Bulletin Project
A creative writing newspaper project in which students design and write the front page of an imagined newspaper from the Australian Gold Rush era.
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Australian Gold Rush: First Nations – Teaching Presentation
An 11-slide teaching presentation discussing the impact the Australian Gold Rush had on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
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Australian Gold Rush: Advent Calendar
An advent calendar style poster for students to identify, inquire about and collect information that relates to the Australian Gold Rush.
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British Colonies in Australia - History Word Wall Vocabulary
45 British Colonisation in Australia related vocabulary cards.
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Australian Gold Rush - Timeline Banner
A timeline to display the gold rush in Australia from 1821 to 1867.
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Impacts of Colonisation Word Wall
A Word Wall of the Impacts of Colonisation on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
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Australian Gold Mines: Y-Chart – Template
A Y-chart template students can use to reflect on what working on the goldfields looked like, sounded like and felt like.
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Australian Gold Rush – Flip Book
A flip book designed to integrate interesting facts about Australian history into a unit of learning.
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Australian History Pop Quiz – Teaching Presentation
A teaching presentation that serves as a pop quiz to explore students' knowledge of Australian history and the culture we see today.
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Significant First Nations Australians - Inquiry Task
An inquiry research task to use in the classroom during NAIDOC Week.
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Location of Australian Goldfields Poster and Mapping Task
A set of posters and worksheets to use in the classroom when locating Australian goldfields.
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Celebrating Family Ties - Template
Have students reflect on immigration to Australia while researching their own family ancestry.
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Australian Gold Rush: Native Police Venn Diagram – Template
A Venn diagram template designed to allow students to compare and contrast the pros and cons of Indigenous peoples helping miners and the establishment of the Native Police Force during the Australian Gold Rush.
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From Trade to Currency Comic – Template
A comic strip activity that explores how people progressed from trade to currency.