All You Need to Teach - Info Literacy 10+

Lesson Bank
Birth of a Nation
Learning for Life
Focus Questions
V Information about how people lived in the
past is obtained from a variety of sources, such
as archaeological finds, artefacts, artworks,
documents, letters and literature.
V Historical fiction can provide insight into the
lifestyle, beliefs and values of the past.
How might we know if a work of historical fiction
provides an accurate insight into life at that time?
How has life changed since the days of early
European settlement?
How and when did we create the Parliament of
Australia?
Resources
V ‘Waltzing Matilda’, by A.B. Paterson
V calculator
Other Useful Resources
V software, such as:
–Microsoft Photo Story 3
V websites, such as:
–VoiceThread
www.voicethread.com
–Aboriginal Australia map
www.aiatsis.gov.au/aboriginal_studies_press/
aboriginal_wall_map/map_page
–Indigenous Australia
www.dreamtime.net.au
–Picture Australia
www.pictureaustralia.org
–Parliament of Australia–Education
www.aph.gov.au/parl.htm#parlsys
–Royal Commission of Assent for the
Commonwealth of Australia
www.foundingdocs.gov.au/item.asp?sdID=83
Learning Activities
Traditional owners
Explain to students that Indigenous Australians
are believed to have inhabited this continent for
approximately 60 000 years.
If we were to construct a time line of the human
habitation of Australia, with 1 cm representing
each 200 years, how long would that line be?
Use a calculator if you need to.
How much of that line represents the time that
Europeans have been here?
If possible, have students investigate the traditional
owners of the land in your area.
What beliefs and practices do, or did, the
traditional owners of the land observe?
Can you describe their relationship with the land?
Discuss how we know what happened in the past.
How is the information gathered?
How is it dated?
Ask students to search printed and online resources
for pictures of Indigenous Australian art and cultural
artefacts.
What do these pictures reveal about Indigenous
Australian culture?
Six colonies
Have students investigate the origins of your state
and then create a documentary using software,
such as Photo Story or VoiceThread.
What was the reason for the establishment of
your state?
Who were the significant people involved in its
establishment?
Why were they significant?
How were the state’s boundaries defined?
Who explored it?
What areas were opened up as a result of these
explorations?
How was the name of the state’s capital city
decided?
What is the significance of its symbols, such as its
flag and coat of arms?
The pioneers
Use the resources available online, or in your state
library, to help students understand what life was
like for early settlers. Locate historical fiction set in
your city, region or state, and set this as a text for
students to read.
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