Humanities and social sciences / Year 4 / Knowledge and Understanding / History

Curriculum content descriptions

Stories of the First Fleet, including reasons for the journey, who travelled to Australia, and their experiences following arrival (ACHASSK085)

Elaborations
  • investigating reasons for the First Fleet journey, including an examination of the wide range of crimes punishable by transportation, and looking at the groups who were transported
  • investigating attitudes to the poor, the treatment of prisoners at that time, and the social standing of those who travelled to Australia on the First Fleet, including families, children and convict guards
  • investigating daily life in the Botany Bay penal settlement and challenges experienced by the people there and how they were managed
General capabilities
  • Critical and creative thinking Critical and creative thinking
  • Intercultural understanding Intercultural understanding
ScOT terms

Convicts,  Penal transportation,  Colonies,  First contact

Video

BTN: First Fleet

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Video

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Video

My Place - Episode 21: 1808: Sarah, Seashells

This 2-minute film clip is from the ABC My Place series. The clip is set in 1808. It shows the interactions between a young white settler, Alice, and Sarah, who is a young servant girl working for Alice’s family. After watching the clip, students unpack what is understood by the term 'classless society' and which features ...

Video

My Place - Episode 21: 1808: Sarah, Sarah's life

This 3-minute film clip is from the ABC My Place series and is set in 1808. It traces the experiences of Sarah, who is a young servant girl working for a family out on a farm. Sarah is an assigned convict. Downloadable activities include having students find out more about the type of work that Sarah is expected to do each ...

Video

My Place - Episode 20: 1818: Charles, The convict

This 3-minute film clip is from the ABC My Place series and is set in 1818. It is about the experiences of Liam, an escaped convict, and Charles, a young boy who assists Liam in his attempt to attain freedom. The topic of emancipation of convicts is explored within the downloadable learning activities. English activities ...

Video

My Place - Episode 20: 1818: Charles, Fencing

This 3-minute film clip is from the ABC My Place series and traces the fictional experiences of Charles, a young boy in 1818 in Australia. In this clip, Charles is building a fence on the farm when he encounters Liam, a convict who is on the run. There is an accompanying set of downloadable worksheets. One history-related ...

Video

My Place - Episode 19: 1828: Alice, Pig forgery

This 3-minute film clip is from the ABC My Place series and follows the fictional experiences of Alice, a young girl in 1828 in Australia. In this clip, she learns about the convict history of Freddie as she and Freddie work to ‘fix’ a pig race. There is an accompanying set of downloadable worksheets. One history-related ...

Audio

Hey History Episode 3: Convict kids

Why did kids get transported from Britain to Australia? What were their crimes? Did they miss their families? What was life like as a convict in Van Dieman’s Land, an open air prison on Palawa land? Students from Princes Street Primary School in Hobart tell us what they know about convict kids. Find out more about the ...

Text

Dirk Hartog 1616 – 2016: A Resource for Year 3 and 4 History Teaching

This resource uses the story of Dirk Hartog, in the context of the Dutch East India Company and journeys to the Spice Islands, to develop historical inquiry skills as well as sequencing and use of historical terms. A shorter resource has also been included to support Year 3 teachers to explore the significance of Hartog's ...

Interactive

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Gold rush: level 1

Dig for gold on the Ballarat goldfields in 1865. Try your luck at alluvial or shaft mining. Buy a miner's permit, tools and enough supplies to last a month. Discover how hard life was on the goldfields. Explore a map showing the countries migrants left to join the gold rush in Australia. Find out which towns developed due ...

Interactive

Gold rush: level 2

Dig for gold on the Ballarat goldfields in 1865. Try your luck at alluvial or shaft mining. Buy a miner's permit, tools and enough supplies to last a month. Discover how hard life was on the goldfields. Explore a map showing the countries migrants left to join the gold rush in Australia. Find out which towns developed due ...

Image

'A ship's boat attacking a whale', c1813

This is a hand-coloured aquatint (a print made from an engraving on copper) showing a boat's crew from a British whaling ship about to harpoon a whale. Measuring 18 cm x 22.8 cm, the print appeared in a book entitled 'Foreign field sports, fisheries, sporting anecdotes ...'

Video

Impact of European settlement on Aboriginal Tasmanians video

Aboriginal Tasmanians had inhabited Tasmania for over 40,000 years before the arrival of European settlers. What do you think life was like for Aboriginal Tasmanians before then? Why might have they embarked on a war, called the 'Black War', once settlers began arriving in Tasmania, despite existing relatively peacefully ...

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A collection of digital resources for primary school teachers and students to support teaching and learning from home, with a particular focus on geography, science and history. The resources were developed by Department of Education teachers from 25 Environmental and Zoo Education Centres in NSW and include Google Sites, ...

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Touring possible sites for the federal capital, 1902

This is a black-and-white photograph, measuring 18.8 cm x 24.0 cm, taken in 1902 during a tour of inspection by senators from the Federal Parliament of possible sites for the proposed federal capital. Having alighted from a horse-drawn stage coach, five members of the party en route to Tumut, New South Wales, are standing ...

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Prison hulks at Portsmouth, England, c1814

This is an oil painting on canvas, measuring 50.4 cm x 98.6 cm, of at least a dozen hulks moored at Portsmouth Harbour, England, around 1814.

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Logging trucks blockade Parliament House, Canberra, 1995

This is a black-and-white photograph measuring 16 cm x 21 cm, taken by Reg Alder in January 1995, of logging trucks involved in a blockade of Parliament House in Canberra. The trucks are large articulated units and one has a banner attached referring to the timber industry. The protest was a reaction against the Australian ...

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Sheet music cover for 'Australia draws her maiden sword', 1885

This is the damaged front cover of a three-page score for the song 'Australia Draws her Maiden Sword'. It depicts Australia as a maiden drawing her long sword and preparing for imminent conflict. Behind her, troops are shown marching out of their encampment. On the bottom of the cover in copperplate are the words 'WRITTEN ...

Image

Convicts at work, Norfolk Island, 1840s

This is a hand-coloured wood engraving, measuring 10.3 cm x 24 cm, used to illustrate a newspaper article published on 12 June 1847. It shows a group of convicts undertaking hard physical work, making a bridge over a shallow stream. Uniformed and armed guards are evident, although the convicts appear to be working under ...