History / Year 9 / Historical Skills / Analysis and use of sources

Curriculum content descriptions

Evaluate the reliability and usefulness of primary and secondary sources (ACHHS171)

Elaborations
  • understanding that the reliability and usefulness of a source depends on the questions asked of it (for example, an account may be one-sided; however, it may still be useful in revealing past prevailing attitudes)
General capabilities
  • Literacy Literacy
  • Critical and creative thinking Critical and creative thinking
ScOT terms

Historical sources,  Reliability

Online

World War I - the Western Front

In this learning activity students locate and sequence the places where Australians fought and describe the nature of warfare during the Gallipoli campaign. Students and teachers are provided with links to a rich collection of diaries, letters, maps, photographs, artworks, posters and newspapers on the Great War. Students ...

Interactive

Invictus Games Sydney 2018 – HSIE/English Stage 5 – Veteran wellbeing

This Stage 5 HSIE/English resource examines Australia’s roles in war, including their involvement in WWI and WWII and highlights Australia’s role in the global context during the twentieth century. Students will examine the historical context of the wars and the perceptions that existed during the twentieth century regarding ...

Online

Research and adopt a veteran

This resource guides teachers through the process of researching the historical records of a Australian First World War veteran. School communities are encouraged to 'adopt' a local veteran. Part of the Bringing communities together series in response to the NSW State ANZAC Centenary.

Interactive

Syllabus Bites: Explore a source

This resource is a webpage with information, study guide and resources on the process of analysing and evaluating historical sources to support Stage 3, 4 and 5 HSIE and the Australian Curriculum: History.

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Sikh and Indian Australians: Year 9 Teaching Resource

This resource aims to challenge some traditional views of the Anzac legend and explore its changing nature. Evidence about ethnically diverse Anzacs such as Chinese, Indigenous and Sikh soldiers provides students with the opportunity to develop the “big picture” on the nature of the Anzac story. The five main activities ...

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Becoming Kirrali Lewis: Unit of work

This unit of work has been written to support the novel Becoming Kirrali Lewis. The novel follows the journey of a young Aboriginal teenager as she leaves her home town in rural Victoria to go to university. It explores the themes of Aboriginal history and culture, acceptance, adoption, belonging, coming of age, government ...

Online

Chinese Anzacs

This is a website about the experiences of Chinese-Australian soldiers in World War I. It includes: historical facts; a collection of 12 story objects that tell the stories of individuals, events and artefacts; and a Chinese Anzacs Education kit. The kit is comprehensive. The learning activities are presented in five parts, ...

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Western Australia at War 1914 Year 9 Learning sequence

Students choose to research one of the following and its significance in the history of Western Australia: the training camp at Blackboy Hill, the 11th Battalion, the 8th Field Artillery Battery, the first convoy, the sinking of the SMS Emden, the Gallipoli Campaign or the story of an individual Western Australian soldier. ...

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Legendary Tales of the Australian Aborigines: Unit of work

This unit of work has been written to support the text titled Legendary Tales of the Australian Aborigines. David Unaipon created the original collection of stories, drawing from traditional Aboriginal stories from around South Australia including his own Ngarrindjeri people. This unit provides practical teaching ideas, ...

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Nici Cumpston, 'Campsite V, Nookamka Lake', 2008

This is a photographic print by Barkindji/Paakintji artist Nici Cumpston (b1963) depicting Nookamka, a freshwater lake situated in the Riverland region of South Australia. The work is shown as an enlargeable image. Text onscreen gives information about the Murray-Darling River system’s degradation, and a description of ...

Video

ABC Open: Observing a minute's silence on Anzac Day

Why do we observe a minute's silence during Anzac Day ceremonies? Remembrance on Anzac Day has been an important part of Australian culture since the first Anzac Day was observed in 1916. In this clip, residents of Queensland's Gold Coast were asked what they think about during the minute's silence.

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Untold Stories, Ep 12: The submarine that ran amok at Gallipoli

Alec Nichols was a farm boy from the Sunshine Coast who joined the navy at the age of 18. During World War I, he was one of 35 men on the AE2 submarine that broke through enemy lines in the Dardanelles strait. After five days of sustained attacks from the Turkish navy, the submarine had to surface. The men were captured ...

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ABC Open: World War I: The dead man's penny

Imagine the feelings of a family when they learn of the death of a son during World War I. How might they react to receiving a giant penny for a life sacrificed? This ABC Open program explores the role of the 'dead man's penny', the token given by the British government to many families of British and Commonwealth troops ...

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ABC Open: The changing roles of women on Anzac Day

How have the stories and observances of Anzac Day changed to include women alongside men? During World War I and the years that followed, women had little involvement in Anzac Day events. In some instances, they were deliberately excluded! This has changed dramatically in recent decades. In this clip, women and men from ...

Video

Gold rush

Walk through the streets of 1850s Ballarat at Sovereign Hill and learn about how the discovery of gold shaped the development of this region. What were the three distinct but overlapping eras of gold mining in Ballarat? How do staff at Sovereign Hill know what life was like for people during this time? Find out how the ...

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World’s first bakers?

When did humans begin grinding seeds to make flour? Many people believe bread-making began in Egypt or Mesopotamia as long as 17,000 years ago. Archaeologists have recently found evidence that Indigenous Australians were producing flour 65,000 years ago. Were they the world’s first bakers?

Online

Archives ACT: find of the month

This topic-based collection of primary source material provides a rich and varied source of official documents, guides and background information on the civic history of Canberra and the Australian Capital Territory. Produced monthly, this eclectic collection covers topics including the history of monuments, architecture, ...

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Pacific Islander labourers in the Mackay District, late 1800s

This posed black-and-white photograph shows indentured Pacific Islanders by their grass hut homes, probably on a Mackay sugar plantation in Queensland. Some are seated on logs or rough timber benches and one woman can also be seen. They are dressed in Western-style clothes. More huts can be seen on the cleared rise in the ...

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Pacific Islander labourers hoeing a cane field, c1902

This black-and-white photograph shows indentured Pacific Islanders methodically hoeing weeds from a large sugar-cane field at Herbert River in north-eastern Queensland. They wear Western-style clothes and hats. A white man, only just visible on the left and facing the Islanders, stands in front of the line of labourers, ...

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Pacific Islander labourers planting sugar cane, Mackay, 1870s

This is a black-and-white photograph showing large groups of poorly dressed indentured Pacific Islanders planting sugar cane on a plantation at Mackay in Queensland. Fourteen or more Pacific Islanders are manually placing sugar-cane cuttings at regular intervals in long furrows. Two mounted white men oversee their work ...