Atkins, Samuel, active 1787-1808, [Ships in the Thames], 1790?, nla.obj-135505485
What was life like for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples before the arrival of the Europeans?
Why did the great journeys of exploration occur?
Why did Europeans settle in Australia?
What was the nature of the contact between early colonists and the Eora people of Sydney?
How has European settlement impacted Australia?
Why did Europeans settle in the Hunter/Newcastle region, and how did this impact First Nations people living here (Awabakal and Worimi)?
Convict journals provide a glimpse of convict life on the voyage to Australia, and sometimes accounts of colonial life.
Sydney Cove
Joseph Lycett, Aborigines resting by camp fire, near the mouth of the Hunter River, Newcastle, New South Wales, 1817, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-138500420
This sketch, attributed to Francis Fowkes, a former navy midshipman transported for seven years for theft, was the first published map of the settlement at Port Jackson. The site was inhabited by the Gadigal, Cammeraygal and Wangal peoples of the Eora Nation, who did not cede sovereignty for this settlement. The 11 ships of the First Fleet can be seen in the harbour.
The first convicts, sailors and soldiers who came to Australia had little choice in the matter. Many convicts eventually made the transition from prisoner of the Crown to landowning settler or entrepreneur.
Analysing maps
Show the students Francis Fowkes’ sketch and ask them:
How do you think Fowkes was able to map out the cove without a camera or drone?
Why would Francis sketch a map?
What does the sketch tell us about the land in the late 1700s?
What is missing from the map?
Lesson from the National Library of Australia: Maps
List reasons why Cook, and the subsequent colonists, may not have recognised and/or acknowledged Indigenous agricultural practices.
Goal: Work in your table group to design a creative island map. Everyone must make, draw and write on the final map.
Lets research together!
Where do we find "good" research? What makes something reliable?
How did our early explorers know where to go?
The term ‘Songline’ describes the features and directions of travel that were included in a song that had to be sung and memorised for the traveller to know the route to their destination. Certain Songlines were referred to as ‘Dreaming Pathways’ because of the tracks forged by Creator Spirits during the Dreaming. These special Songlines have specific ancestral stories attached to them.
For Aboriginal people, songlines are a way to navigate the vast Australian landscape. They hold detailed information about the location of water sources, food supplies, and safe places to take shelter. By mentally "singing" these songlines, Aboriginal people can find their way across the country, even in unfamiliar territories.
Using Google docs, create a research paper about one of the major explorers that discovered parts of Australia. Your research must be done on Brittanica School.
Must include:
Explorers name
What country they came from
What did they discover
1 fact you found interesting.
1 Photo
Explore images and objects related to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Trove
Explorers kept detailed journals of their travels which told people back in their home country what they had found. Check out some of Abel Tasmans journal entries.
Books have been bound together for over 2000 years and has been seen in cultures around the globe.
Cover
Signatures
End paper
Spine
Bindings
Lay your A3 paper flat.
Fold it in half (like a big card), and fold it in half again.
Open your paper back up and fold it in half the opposite way.
Carefully cut along the folds to separate the 4 sections.
Stack them neatly inside of each other.
Along the folded edge (spine), mark your holes like this:
First hole: 3 cm from the top
Second hole: 2 cm below that
Third hole: 3 cm below that
Fourth hole: 2 cm below that
Fifth hole: 3 cm below that
Sixth hole: 2 cm below that
👉 This makes a pattern: 3 cm, 2 cm, 3 cm, 2 cm, 3 cm, 2 cm
💡 Tip:
Draw this pattern on a long skinny strip of paper to make a template.
You can line it up on each book to keep your holes neat and even!
Stack all your sections together.
Carefully poke through all layers at once.
Thread your needle.
Start at the bottom outer hole (on the outside of the book).
Stitch in and out through each hole, moving up the spine:
In → out → in → out (like weaving)
When you reach the top, tie it off to the start thread.
👉 This stitch is great because:
You can add more signatures later
Just keep weaving through new sections to make a bigger book!
Fold your cardstock in half.
Make sure it is slightly bigger than your pages.
Place your book inside.
Glue the first page of your signature and the last page and stick to the cover, OR
Poke the same holes and sew through the cover too
You now have your very own book! Add more details like a cover and decorate your book how ever you like.
Look at some more ways you can create a book here:
blog.papercraftpanda.com/easy-beginner-bookbinding-ideas-for-teaching-groups-of-kids/
nofussnatural.com/making-books-with-kids/
www.artfulteachingjoyfullearning.com/blog/bookmaking-with-littles-diy-nature-journal
Students are to create a journal and using their imagination to become an explorer and record the following things in their journal.
Each Journal needs to contain the following:
A comic containing at least 4 panels
A botanical drawing and a leaf rubbing.
A map with labels and features
Diary entry related to the map
A new discovery (piece of plastic)
A self portrait of the author.
Add an example of the navel flag for an explorer. How did the flags change from one explorer to the next? Give examples.
Use ink & a stamp to add details to your journal, i.e. letters, pictures, animals, leaves.
Make a diary entry about your day, ie, life on a ship, life as an Aboriginal woman and idle hours.