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Teaching and Learning Proforma -
SETTLEMENT

Intended Outcomes:

Students will -

• Develop an understanding of the reasons for settling Australia.
• Develop a knowledge of the people who came to Australia and the problems they faced.
• Gain an understanding of the impact the colony had on the Aboriginal inhabitants.
• Investigate by reflecting on their knowledge and understanding.
• Gather, organise information.
• Communicate and interact with others in a range of settings for a variety of reasons.
• Trace Australia's past.
• Use timelines.
• Use a wide source of materials.
• Write reports.
• Co-operative learning strategies  modelled and practised with their peers.
• Children will be given regular opportunities to develop their skills in speaking, listening, reading, viewing and writing.
  

Engaging students:

Pose the question to the class - What do we already know about Australia's past before European discovery?
Why were Europeans looking for new lands?
What were the opinions of these explorers?
Did they like what they saw? Did they find new places to trade with?

In groups discuss the effect this invasion had on the aborigines. Was it going to change their way of life? How?

Draw up a timeline of European discovery

Refining (students’ questions, ideas and teacher’s intentions):

With this knowledge why do you think Britain would want to establish a settlement so far away from their own country?

Children find out about life in Britain in the 1700s.

Groups formed to investigate reasons for British settlement in Australia and the effects it had on all those involved.

Extending:

'Australia before European Settlement', In the Past, p 54 -55. Study this time line with the children so that they have a general idea who had already sighted parts of Australia. (Children may have already studied early explorers of Australia).

Share reading ' A British Colony', In the Past, p 56 - 59. Discuss unfamiliar words. Start a wordbank.

Read the extract ' The Bad Old Days', In the Past, p 60 - 62. Discuss. Have the children individually write a letter home from a convict girl or boy. (This can be scrunched up when finished, painted with coffee and burn the edges to give a VERY used effect).Encourage them to capture the hardships of the sea voyage, the first impressions of the new land, the feelings of loneliness and near starvation.

Response sheet 10 - a strange new land. After discussion children write an acrostic poem.

Share the reading of 'The Hidden Story', In the Past, p 63 -66. After reading get them to imagine themselves in the position of the indigenous people of Australia.

Group research -
Within the group of four children can work on their own area and share their knowledge with the rest of the group. Each member is to check that the other members have answered their question correctly.

1. Find out what the reasons were for the British wanting to settle in Australia -
   a) What was it like to be a worker in England in the late 1700s?
   b) What was the Industrial Revolution and how did it effect life in England in the late 1700s?
   c) Why did British prisons become so overcrowded at this time?
   d) How did the American War of Independence make this overcrowding worse?
   e) What important natural resources did the British think Australia might be able to supply?
   
2. The First Fleet -
   a) Who did the British Government choose to lead the First Fleet expedition and why?
   b) There was a great deal to be organised before the fleet could sail. Find out as much as you can about this organisation and who carried it out.
   c) How many ships were in the First Fleet? What were they called? Were they all the same type of vessel? What was each one meant to carry?   
   d) What supplies did the First Fleet take with them? What live-stock did they take? What home comforts were taken along and by whom?
   
3. The Voyage -
   a) When did they set sail? The fleet departed several months later than Phillip intended. Why?
   b) At what ports did the First Fleet call on the journey to Botany Bay? What supplies etc. did they take on at each port? Show on a map.
   c) Find out as much as you can about the many incidents which occurred during the journey, eg escapes, attempted mutinies, bad weather, accidents etc.
   d) How long did the journey take? When did they arrive?
   
4. Arrival in Australia -
   a) When the First Fleet arrived at Botany Bay they only stayed a short while before moving somewhere else. Where did they go and why?
   b) How did aborigines behave towards the new settlers? How were they treated by the convicts and marines? What was governor Phillip's attitude to the aboriginal people?
   
5. Problems of early years -
   The early years of settlement were very hard. What were the reasons for this?

Comprehension, cloze, word searches and other activities to be incorporated.

Reflecting on what we have learnt

Provide students with opportunities to discuss and share their findings and presentations.
Present information to the class.

How would things be different today if the British did not settle here?

Use PMI in their groups to determine pluses, minuses and other issues regarding Australia's reasons for settlement and whether this invasion should have taken place or not.

Each group will evaluate their co-operative learning skills.

Teaching Resources:

Eshuys  Guest  Phelan  Discovering Australian History  Macmillan Education Australia Pty Ltd  South Melbourne   1996

Fletcher, Helen Cloze in on Themes Book 1   Holding Educational Aids (Australiasia) Pty. Ltd.

Garoni, Dennis Practical Projects Longman Cheshire Pty Limited  Melbourne  1990

Harrold, Jenni and Bartley, Sue Social Studies Level 6  RIC Publications Greenwood WA 1992

Harrold, Jenni and Bartley, Sue  Social Studies 6   RIC Publications Pty Ltd 1990

Ashton Scholastic Senior Topics - The First Colony

Rigby English - Teachers Resource Book, Student Response Sheets, Upper Primary B Rigby Heinemann 1993 Singapore

Educational Kits -
The Colonials
Settling on the Land
Australian history - pioneers and settlers

Video -
Bound for Botany Bay

Internet sites -
Gondwana to Gold http://www.informit.com.au/gondwana/gondwana_contents.html
The Founders of a Nation http://www.shoalhaven.net.au/~cathyd/designs/ffstory.html (also listed on this page many more First      Fleet links)
Aborigines - The First Australians http://www.ozramp.net.au/~senani/aborigin.htm

Return to Australian Units

Teacher's Guide. © 1998 Denise Lawson