Humanities and social sciences / Year 5 / Knowledge and Understanding / History

Curriculum content descriptions

The nature of convict or colonial presence, including the factors that influenced patterns of development, aspects of the daily life of the inhabitants (including Aboriginal Peoples and Torres Strait Islander Peoples) and how the environment changed (ACHASSK107)

Elaborations
  • investigating colonial life to discover what life was like at that time for different inhabitants (for example, a European family and an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander language group, a convict and a free settler, a sugar cane farmer and an indentured labourer) in terms of clothing, diet, leisure, paid and unpaid work, shopping or trade, language, housing and children’s lives
  • mapping local, regional and state/territory rural and urban settlement patterns in the 1800s, and noting factors such as geographical features, climate, water resources, the discovery of gold, transport and access to port facilities that shaped these patterns
  • discussing challenges experienced by people in the colonial era and the enterprising or sustainable responses made to these challenges (wind energy, food preservation, communication, accessing water)
  • exploring how the colony was governed and how life changed when Governor Macquarie established the rule of law
  • investigating the impact of settlement on the local environment and its ecosystems (for example, comparing the present and past landscape and the flora and fauna of the local community)
General capabilities
  • Critical and creative thinking Critical and creative thinking
  • Intercultural understanding Intercultural understanding
Cross-curriculum priorities
ScOT terms

Social history,  Lifestyles,  Human impact,  Colonies,  Human settlements

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