SUBJECTS: English
YEARS: 9–10
Discover the lush beauty and extraordinary wildlife of Christmas Island, a tropical paradise in the Indian Ocean more than 1,500 kilometres off the Western Australian coast.
In this Heywire audio story, Isabelle Bolland shares some of her experiences of life on Christmas Island and reminds her audience that there is far more to her home than what is reported in the news.
Could you write or record a similar story about yourself and/or your community?
The ABC's Heywire competition calls for stories from 16-22 year olds in regional Australia. Enter to get your story featured on the ABC and score an all-expenses-paid trip to the Heywire Regional Youth Summit in Canberra. More: https://www.abc.net.au/heywire/
Things to think about
- 1.What do you know about Christmas Island? Are you familiar with its location? Do you know which country it is closest to? What do you imagine life is like for its residents?
- 2.How does Isabelle create a sense of tension at the beginning of her audio story? Is this is an effective way of grabbing the audience's attention? What misconceptions about Christmas Island does Isabelle address? As you listen to her story, make a note of the word pictures Isabelle paints with words. What kind of image of the island does she create for us?
- 3.What do you think is the intention of Isabelle's Heywire story? What key messages does she convey? What elements of the presentation inform your conclusion? How does Isabelle use sound effects, including silence, to make her story more effective?
- 4.Find appropriate sources for information about Christmas Island's location, climate, vegetation, wildlife, industries, population and lifestyle. Create a presentation about Christmas Island using images, text, maps and music. Consider how to engage your audience for the duration of your presentation. Make sure to cite your references appropriately.
Date of broadcast: 31 May 2013
Copyright
Metadata © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia Ltd 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). Digital content © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). Video © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). All images copyright their respective owners. Text © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).