History / Year 7 / Historical Knowledge and Understanding

Curriculum content descriptions

Significant beliefs, values and practices of the ancient Romans, with a particular emphasis on ONE of the following areas: everyday life, warfare, or death and funerary customs (ACDSEH039)

Elaborations
  • investigating significant beliefs associated with daily life (for example, the evidence of household religion) and practices (for example, the use of public amenities such as baths, and the forms of entertainment in theatres and amphitheatres)
General capabilities
  • Critical and creative thinking Critical and creative thinking
  • Intercultural understanding Intercultural understanding
  • Ethical understanding Ethical understanding
ScOT terms

Beliefs,  Italian history,  Social history,  Lifestyles,  Classical antiquity,  War,  Values (Psychology),  Funerals

Video

Roman Times: Looking for a place to live in ancient Rome?

What was it like to live in a flat in ancient Rome? The majority of the city's population lived in apartment buildings. Discover what features the flats did, and did not, include, and how the lives of their occupants compared with those of the wealthy.

Video

Roman Times: Were ancient Romans slaves to fashion?

What clothing would you have worn to look cool in ancient Rome? Like people today, many ancient Romans felt that they had to follow the latest fashions. Find out why for many men tunics replaced togas, and that in some periods men wore beards and in other times they didn't. See what hairstyle options were available for ...

Video

Roman Times: Keeping ancient Romans clean and healthy

How did people keep clean in ancient Rome when most people lived in small flats with no plumbing or running water? How did they keep healthy in a time when only the rich could afford doctors and medical knowledge was lacking? Discover the extraordinarily advanced world of Roman engineering that produced public baths, toilets, ...

Text

Work sample Year 7 History: Role and achievements of a significant individual

This work sample demonstrates evidence of student learning in relation to aspects of the achievement standards for Year 7 History. The primary purpose for the work sample is to demonstrate the standard, so the focus is on what is evident in the sample not how it was created. The sample is an authentic representation of ...

Video

Roman Times: Eating and entertaining in ancient Rome

Discover a world of ancient Roman entertainment that was, in some respects, remarkably similar to modern times and gruesomely different in others. In this clip, find out about such things as the games children played and the meals they ate. Also explore the types of entertainment they enjoyed at the theatre, Circus Maximus ...

Video

Roman Times: Growing up Roman

Imagine living in ancient Rome, when your father could decide whether you lived or died, sell you into slavery and decide who you would marry. Explore the dynamics of ancient Roman families, along with fascinating facts about housework, family pets, schooling and names.

Video

BTN: The Australian constitution

A constitution is a set of rules that describe how a country should be run. What does the Australian Constitution contain rules about? When was it mostly written?

Video

BTN: Aboriginal astronomy

Many ancient cultures studied the night sky, and we know this because it is reflected in some of the earliest stories we have on record. Learn about one of these stories in this video. Other than the Dreamtime stories, what other evidence might there be that the Aboriginal people studied the stars?

Video

The Snowy Mountains Scheme

How did the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme come to be Australia's greatest economic achievement in the decades following World War II? In this clip, discover what Australia hoped to accomplish through the scheme, and some of the sacrifices that were made for it. Also learn what life was like for migrants from war-devastated ...

Video

BTN: Young drovers: reviving a proud tradition

Did you know that Aboriginal pastoral workers were the backbone of the wealthy Australian cattle industry, but that until 1968 they were never paid an equal wage? Find out what it took for these stockworkers with valuable work skills to achieve equal pay. Watch, too, how some Aboriginal students in the Roper Gulf country ...

Audio

Radio National: Peter Lalor's Bakery Hill speech

What events led to the attack on the Eureka Stockade (Eureka rebellion) on the Ballarat goldfield in 1854? This audio clip examines the famous Bakery Hill speech by activist Peter Lalor. Listen to Dr Anne Beggs-Sunter discuss the effect that the speech had on the assembled miners. Find out why this is considered a key event ...

Video

The history of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy

The Aboriginal Tent Embassy was established on the lawns of the Old Parliament House in 1972 only to be forcibly removed a few months later. Why do you think the reporter compares the protest in Canberra to events in Louisiana and Mississippi in USA? What are the protesters chanting? See if you can find out what happened ...

Video

ABC News: Mungo man goes home

The discovery of Mungo Man in 1974 rewrote history by revealing that Aboriginal people had been in Australia twice as long as previously thought. Named after the location at which it was found, the skeleton is around 42,000 years old. When discovered in 1974, Mungo Man was moved to a university in Canberra for scientific ...

Video

BTN: Australia and Vietnam War

The Vietnam War was a war fought between North and South Vietnam in the 1960s and the 70s. How did Australia become involved in this war and how did it ultimately change Australia? Find out about the attitudes of the public to the war in the 1960s and 1970s, and how it shaped the Australian Government's decision to be involved ...

Video

The House In Session, Ep 3: The Westminster system and borrowed traditions

Annabel Crabb explains the interesting traditions that the Parliament of Australia has borrowed from the parliament of Westminster in the United Kingdom. Who is Black Rod, and what is a serjeant-at-arms? What is the Mace, and why is a hood placed over it when entering the presence of the Governor-General? And why would ...

Text

Vindolanda

This resource is about the Roman garrison established at Vindolanda. It includes extracts from the Vindolanda tablets dating from the period AD 97-103, which documented details of everyday life for a Roman soldier on the north-west frontier of Roman Britain. The resource describes the discovery of the tablets and their ...

Text

Gladiators: heroes of the Roman amphitheatre

This resource is about Roman gladiators and their role in Roman society. It covers the origins of the gladiatorial system as a funerary practice to honour the dead, which gradually became entertainment. Topic headings in the resource include: Conscripts and volunteers; Rules and regulations; Fighting-styles; Barrack life; ...

Text

Rome's pivotal emperors

This resource is about the Roman emperors who greatly influenced the empire's structure and direction. It introduces six of the most important emperors: Augustus, Vespasian, Hadrian, Marcus Aurelius, Septimus Severus and Constantine. Images of the emperors link to descriptive text about their lives and pivotal aspects of ...

Text

Roman religion: gallery

This resource is about Roman religion. It consists of nine images that link to text about the different practices and beliefs that existed in ancient Rome. It includes information on the state-recognised worship of traditional gods and about some of the diverse religions that were tolerated in ancient Rome as long as they ...

Interactive

Gladiator: dressed to kill - game

This interactive resource is a game about gladiators. The game tests students' knowledge about the combat dress of three different types of gladiators known as Murmillo, Retiarius and Hoplomachus. Each uses different weapons and armour. In the game students are required to prepare each gladiator for combat with the correct ...