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Listed under:  History  >  Historical inquiry  >  Historical sources
Audio

The 'inauguration' of Lake Burley Griffin

Do most Australians think Canberra is a great city and that water makes a city 'great'? Former prime minister Sir Robert Menzies certainly thought so. When the American architect Walter Burley Griffin submitted his design for Australia's new capital city in 1911, it included damming a river to create a lake. Listen to Menzies' ...

Audio

Allies capture Tobruk: Chester Wilmot reports

The siege of Tobruk took place in North Africa during World War II. Before the siege, Australian forces led the capture of the crucial Mediterranean port from Italian forces. This is an archival clip from a radio broadcast delivered by war correspondent Chester Wilmot. Listen to discover one of the most remarkable accomplishments ...

Audio

From the Front Lines: The Battle for Tobruk

The North African port of Tobruk was the site of ferocious fighting during World War II. Here, Australian and other Allied soldiers repelled Italian and German attacks and even drove the enemy backwards. At the time, this was not only a strategic victory, but a psychological victory, proving that the Allies were capable ...

Audio

Townsville air raid, 1942

Australia has never been invaded. Nevertheless, isolated attacks on Australian soil have killed and injured hundreds of people, destroyed property, and made many people fearful of a large-scale invasion. In July 1942, Japanese aircraft attacked Townsville, Queensland, bombing the wharf and the surrounding area. This audio ...

Text

Beautiful biomes

In this lesson students learn the features of the five main biomes, and use ClassVR headsets and CoSpaces to design and create a virtual biome to explore. They research and identify the features of a biome and then create their own virtual environment. The resource explores the human impacts on biodiversity and explore ...

Online

Banjo Morton: the untold story

In 1949, after many years of being paid only in rations, Banjo Morton and seven other Alyawarra men decided they wanted proper wages for their work as stockmen and station hands at the Lake Nash cattle station in the Northern Territory. They walked off in protest. This rich media site records the history of that protest ...

Online

The gold rush

This collection of 5 activities explores life on the NSW and Victorian goldfields in the 1850's. Using primary sources from the State Library of NSW's collection (diaries, artwork and a satirical cartoon), students investigate the everyday activities of the gold sush. Read an eyewitness account of the first gold escort ...

Online

Indigenous Stories about War and Invasion

This is a website about Indigenous experiences of invasion and war during the British invasion, World War I and World War II. The resource is presented in three sections: Introductory information; Story Objects; and Story Education Resources. There are eight story objects that tell the stories of individuals, events and ...

Text

Coming home: an investigation of the Armistice and repatriation

This online text (with downloadable PDF option) provides a series of investigations examining the impact of the war on those who served and those who welcomed them home. The online resource includes teaching activities that encourage students to investigate the roles the Repatriation Commission and the Soldier Settlement ...

Online

Activity: energy then and now

This is a web resource about changes in energy use over time that provides a student activity and a detailed teacher guide. The activity requires the student to record the types and numbers of electrical appliances used at home, interview an older person about appliances they used when growing up and any alternatives used, ...

Assessment

Foundation/Prep history assessment - Exploring my family history

This is an assessment package that uses the Foundation Australian Curriculum history achievement standard to gather evidence about how well students have demonstrated what they know, what they understand and what they can do in relation to the topic 'Personal and Family Histories'. Children investigate their family history ...

Assessment

Year 6 history assessment - Australia as a nation: a migration story

This is an assessment package that uses the Year 6 Australian Curriculum history achievement standard to gather evidence about how well students have demonstrated what they know, what they understand and what they can do in relation to the topic 'Australia as a Nation'. Students develop and deliver a multimodal presentation ...

Assessment

Year 10 history assessment - Rights and freedoms in Australia

This is an assessment package that uses the Year 10 Australian Curriculum history achievement standard to gather evidence about how well students have demonstrated what they know, what they understand and what they can do for the depth study 'Rights and Freedoms (1945 – present)'. Students plan and deliver a spoken presentation ...

Online

Activity: homework task - energy then and now

This is a web resource about changes in energy use over time that provides a student homework activity and a detailed teacher guide including questions for student discussion. The resource requires students to compare the electrical appliances currently used in their home with those used in the past. The activity encourages ...

Online

New Gold Mountain. Chinese on the goldfields

This resource provides teaching and learning activities exploring the history and contribution of the Chinese on the Australian goldfields in 19th century Australia. The PDF booklet provides teacher's notes, historical background and reproducible student activities which focus on the gold rushes and the Victorian goldfields. ...

Assessment

Year 5 history assessment - Investigating the colonial period in Australia: Shaping the Australian colonies

This is an assessment package that uses the Year 5 Australian Curriculum history achievement standard to gather evidence about how well students have demonstrated what they know, what they understand and what they can do in relation to the topic 'The Australian Colonies'. Students develop and deliver a multimodal presentation ...

Assessment

Year 9 history assessment - World War I: Anzac legend

This is an assessment package that uses the Year 9 Australian Curriculum history achievement standard to gather evidence about how well students have demonstrated what they know, what they understand and what they can do for the depth study 'World War I'. Students research Australia’s involvement in World War I and the ...

Online

How times change

This resource is a website supporting teachers and students of the Australian Curriculum: History in Year 1. Includes teacher support, curriculum connections and ready-to-use digital resources about the present, past and future and about differences between their own lives and those of people in the past.

Online

MoneySmart: Hey! Let's have a big day out!

This is a year 5 mathematics unit of work about costing and budgeting for various types of family outings. The unit is intended to take about 7.5 hours of teaching and learning time, and is recommended for near the end of the school year. It consists of an introduction, five sets of student activities, and teacher notes ...

Assessment

Year 4 history assessment - First contacts: A First Fleet story

This is an assessment package that uses the Year 4 Australian Curriculum history achievement standard to gather evidence about how well students have demonstrated what they know, what they understand and what they can do in relation to the topic 'First Contacts'. Students use historical sources to research the life of an ...