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

Curriculum content descriptions

The role that a significant individual or group played in shaping a colony (ACHASSK110)

Elaborations
  • investigating the contribution or significance of an individual or group to the shaping of a colony in the 1800s (for example, explorers, farmers, pastoralists, miners, inventors, writers, artists, humanitarians, religious and spiritual leaders, political activists, including women, children, and people of diverse cultures)
  • exploring the motivations and actions of an individual or group that shaped a colony
General capabilities
  • Critical and creative thinking Critical and creative thinking
  • Intercultural understanding Intercultural understanding
ScOT terms

Significant people,  Colonies

Online

Significant Individuals - Governor Macquarie

In this sequence of two learning activities, explore the life of Governor Macquarie as a significant person in history. Students examine events, people, politics economics, social structures and settlement patterns of the colonial period. Video content and links to the State Library of NSW's artefacts are used to support ...

Online

Mary Reibey

This sequence of learning activities focuses on the challenges and contributions made by convict Mary Reibey (1777 - 1885) to the development of early Sydney. Activity one uses primary sources including Mary's convict letter and extracts from her journal for analysis. Activity two includes a biography planner and script ...

Video

NSW Governor Marie Bashir – 2010 speech to students

This resource is a YouTube playlist containing a series of videos from a speech the NSW Governor Marie Bashir gave to senior high school students at Government House in 2010. She speaks on a range of topics, including the Australian system of government, the history of Australia and NSW, and her life. She also answers ...

Text

Life on the land

This is a resource about life on the land in Australia in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. It includes details about land grants allocation, the establishment of Australia's first farms, the condition of the land, the processes used to farm the land, and case studies about the early farming families in Australia. The ...

Online

William Buckley

This is a website about William Buckley, an infamous convict that arrived in Victoria from England in 1803 and escaped European settlement. The resource presents: Buckley’s life after he escaped from settlement: details of the 32 years he spent with the Wathaurang people: and depicts his meeting with the colonising party, ...

Interactive

Resistance

This resource is a virtual tour of the Resistance exhibition at The National Museum of Australia showing different responses by Aboriginal people to British colonisation. See videos and enlarged views of objects and texts in the exhibition.

Online

Greenway and Macquarie

This learning activity consists of 3 tasks examining the work of Francis Greenway, appointed Colonial Architect by Governor Lachlan Macquarie. Students analyse visual sources to access the impact made by the Macquarie – Greenway partnership on the development of the colony of Sydney in the early nineteenth century. Included ...

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

Caroline Chisholm

This sequence of two activities focuses on researching the life of Caroline Chisholm (1808 -1877). Caroline assisted emigrant women who were being exploited during the depression of the 1840's. Activity one uses primary sources including a portrait of Caroline Chisholm and extracts from letters and newspaper articles to ...

Video

Tour of NSW Government House

This resource is a YouTube playlist containing a series of videos taken as a group of senior high school students are given a guided tour of NSW Government House in 2010. The tour covers primary sources such as architecture, furniture and images significant to the history of Australia and NSW.

Online

Chinese migrants and the Gold Rush

Throughout the 1800s Chinese migrated to colonial Australia to try their luck on the goldfields. This Look to Learn activity enables you to explore what life was like for the Chinese migrants through primary sources from this period.

Online

European settlement

This lesson sequence explores European settlement in the Murray-Darling Basin and the establishment of western farming and irrigation. It includes a teacher PowerPoint presentation, separate teacher notes and a student worksheet. This lesson sequence is one in a series exploring aspects of the Murray-Darling Basin and is ...

Interactive

Old Government House Parramatta virtual tour

This resource is about exploring Governor Macquarie’s preferred residence while learning more about the early colony through this virtual tour of Old Government House at Parramatta.

Interactive

Gold – shaping our identity

This is a task-based resource for students to explore the social, economic, political and environmental impact of the gold rush in Australia in the 1850s. The resource includes videos, SMART notebooks, worksheets and links to further interactive resources. It includes support notes for teachers and/or supervisors in distance ...

Video

Outback House: Aboriginal bush foods

Imagine leaving your home and travelling back over 150 years to live and work on an outback farm. Sixteen Australians take part in a reality TV show about life on Oxley Downs, a sheep station built to look and work like an 1860s station. Witness the excitement as two visitors from the local Wiradjuri nation arrive at the ...

Interactive

Patrick Brennan: the legend of Ned Kelly

Play the role of a reporter in 1881. Produce a feature article for a newspaper about the life of Ned Kelly. Review a brief history. Interview his friends and enemies. Gather evidence of social and political influences that affected Ned Kelly’s life. Compile an article that explores the myth and decide whether Ned Kelly ...

Interactive

Discovering democracy: the law rules

Interact with a slideshow of images and text to explore the development of law and citizens' rights in the early years of British settlement in Australia. Look in particular at the role of Governor Macquarie, and compare the judicial system in his time with the Australian judicial system of today. Complete a related task.

Text

Looking after the land

This is a resource about the environmental, climatic, natural disaster and pest challenges faced during settlement in Australia. It includes details about land management techniques; extreme and unique weather conditions, including floods and droughts; bushfires; animal and plant pests; and water management. Text, images, ...

Text

Colonial Australia: defining moments, 1788–1900

This module provides resources and interactive classroom activities for studying colonial Australia in the nineteenth century. Students engage with texts, images, and objects to learn about the significant events and people that shaped the Australian colonies, and the effects of colonisation on the environment. The resource ...

Text

Mary Watson and the Sea Cucumber Tank

These four activities are contextualised by the stories told about an iron tank, acquired by Queensland Museum in 1882. This tank tells the stories of the Dingaal Aboriginal people and of European settlers; it also highlights the impacts of colonisation.