History / Year 7 / Historical Knowledge and Understanding

Curriculum content descriptions

The nature of sources for ancient Australia and what they reveal about Australia’s past in the ancient period, such as the use of resources (ACDSEH031)

Elaborations
  • investigating the discovery of Mungo Woman in 1969 and the use of radiocarbon dating to draw conclusions about the longevity of human occupation at Lake Mungo
  • generating a range of questions to investigate a source (for example, a shell midden in ancient Australia – where it was found, how long it was used for, what it reveals about technology and the use of environmental resources)
General capabilities
  • Critical and creative thinking Critical and creative thinking
ScOT terms

Aboriginal history,  Historical sources,  Archaeology,  Australian history

Text

Indigenous science: Australia had ancient trade routes too

This is an article about the ancient overland trade routes of Aboriginal Australia. Written by Kudjala/Kalkadoon Elder from Queensland Letitia Murgha and intended mainly for teachers, it compares Aboriginal trading routes based on Dreaming pathways and songlines throughout Australia to the Silk Road and the spice trade ...

Text

Indigenous Science: shell middens and fish traps

This is an article about Aboriginal shell middens along the Queensland coast and the information they provide about Aboriginal food collection practices. Written by Kudjala/Kalkadoon Elder from Queensland Letitia Murgha and intended mainly for teachers, it describes how shell middens were created over thousands of years ...

Online

Seeing the Land from an Indigenous Canoe

This is website about the significant contribution Aboriginal people made in colonial times by guiding European explorers and colonists, stock and goods across the Victorian river systems. The resource includes introductory information and 31 Story Objects in the format of videos, audio, images and text. Each object also ...

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, ...

Interactive

Biography: Federation people: Samuel Griffith

Find out more about Samuel Griffith, premier of Queensland and a founder of Federation. Examine two different types of biographies of Griffith: one short and the other more detailed. Inspect examples of how he was visually depicted in his time. This learning object is one in a series of objects in the 'Biography: Federation ...

Interactive

Biography: Federation people: Isaac Isaacs

Find out more about Isaac Isaacs, the first Australian-born governor-general. Examine two different types of biographies of Isaacs: one short and the other more detailed. Inspect examples of how he was visually depicted in his time. This learning object is one in a series of objects in the 'Biography: Federation people' series.

Interactive

Biography: Federation people: James Jefferis

Find out more about James Jefferis, a minister of religion and believer in Federation. Examine two different types of biographies of Jefferis: one short and the other more detailed. Inspect examples of how he was visually depicted in his time. This learning object is one in a series of objects in the 'Biography: Federation ...

Interactive

Biography: Federation people: Thomas McIlwraith

Find out more about Thomas McIlwraith, premier of Queensland and an Australian nationalist. Examine two different types of biographies of McIlwraith: one short and the other more detailed. Inspect examples of how he was visually depicted in his time. This learning object is one in a series of objects in the 'Biography: ...

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Diphtheria ward of the Melbourne Hospital, Christmas 1900

This is a black-and-white photograph taken in the grounds of the Melbourne Hospital on Christmas Day, 1900. It shows children from the hospital's diphtheria ward seated in a large wicker pushcart. Two nurses, one of whom holds an infant, stand behind the children. On the right of the photograph is a doctor. The photograph ...

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'Panorama of Challicum, No. I', c1850

This is a watercolour measuring 15.8 cm x 24.4 cm showing gently undulating grassland and narrow bands of trees. A group of cows is being herded by a mounted man to a lower area behind a hill, possibly towards a small group of huts that can be glimpsed in the middle ground. The artist, Duncan Cooper, included this painting ...

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'Panorama of Challicum, No. III', c1850

This is a watercolour measuring 16 cm x 24.5 cm showing the Victorian squatting run Challicum, from a south-westerly viewpoint. A team of four bullocks, pulling a single-axle wagon loaded with fuel and rough bush timber, is centred in front of a large forest. Two unidentified mountains or hills are on the horizon. The artist, ...

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'Panorama of Challicum, No. IV', c1850

This is a watercolour measuring 15.9 cm x 24.3 cm showing yellowed pasture backed by gum trees. A herd of cows with calves is grazing both in the foreground fields and the background timber. A small hill, part of the Challicum Hills, rises from the trees on the right. The artist, Duncan Cooper, included this painting as ...

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'Panorama of Challicum, No. VI', c1850

This is a watercolour measuring 17.2 cm x 26.2 cm showing the twin peaks of Mount Langi Ghiran rising behind the smaller tip of Conical Hill. Two distant mountains on the right are Ben Nevis and Mount Buangor. A camp of Indigenous Djapwurrong people, consisting of two bark and wood dwellings, is situated on the edge of ...

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'Panorama of Challicum, No. IX', c1850

This is a watercolour measuring 15.7 cm x 24.3 cm showing the vast yellow-and-green Challicum plains. In the distance a flock of sheep, watched by a shepherd and dog, is moving into temporary wooden yards. Among gum trees, to the right of the yard, is the homestead. The artist, Duncan Cooper, included this painting as the ...

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Touring possible sites for the federal capital, 1902

This is a black-and-white photograph, measuring 18.8 cm x 24.0 cm, taken in 1902 during a tour of inspection by senators from the Federal Parliament of possible sites for the proposed federal capital. Having alighted from a horse-drawn stage coach, five members of the party en route to Tumut, New South Wales, are standing ...

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'Discussing the site at Tumut', 1902

This is a black-and-white photograph, measuring 18.4 cm x 24.0 cm, taken in 1902 during a tour of inspection by senators from the Federal Parliament of possible sites for the proposed federal capital. Senators and local dignitaries are posing in groups on a hillside, ostensibly discussing the merits of a site at Tumut in ...

Interactive

Biography: Federation people: Edwin Blackmore

Find out more about Edwin Blackmore, clerk to the Federal Convention 1897–98. Examine two different types of biographies of Blackmore: one short and the other more detailed. Inspect examples of how he was visually depicted in his time. This learning object is one in a series of objects in the 'Biography: Federation people' series.

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The 'West Australian' polling board for the Federation referendum, 1900

This is a black-and-white photograph that shows a huge polling board with the results of the Federation referendum in Western Australia, which was held on 31 July 1900. The board shows that Western Australia voted to join the Commonwealth of Australia by 44,652 votes to 19,636. It also shows the results for each of the ...

Interactive

Biography: Federation people: Philip Fysh

Find out more about Philip Fysh, Tasmanian premier and federalist. Examine two different types of biographies of Fysh: one short and the other more detailed. Inspect examples of how he was visually depicted in his time. This learning object is one in a series of objects in the 'Biography: Federation people' series.

Interactive

Biography: Federation people: Robert Garran

Find out more about Robert Garran, federalist and Commonwealth public servant. Examine two different types of biographies of Garran: one short and the other more detailed. Inspect examples of how he was visually depicted in his time. This learning object is one in a series of objects in the 'Biography: Federation people' series.