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Creating a yarning circle: involving First Nations people

This activity is part of a broader activity sequence that has been developed to help you design, build and use a yarning circle in your school or community. It is part of a sequence of 8 individual learning activities designed to support the meaningful use of yarning circles in learning environments. It will help guide ...

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The Swamp

This resource features the Yolngu-made film The Swamp. Students are provided with the opportunity to watch it and engage in a discussion exploring its genre, deviations from traditional documentary format, its impact on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander storytelling, challenges faced by the Yolngu people, and the film's ...

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Mathematics of bushfire

In these classroom activities students will be introduced to some of the basic mathematical principles that underpin wildfire science, with an emphasis on how theoretical concepts are used to aid our understanding of the real world, and bushfire in particular. They will learn about the complexities of the fire management ...

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Mathematics, moon phases, and tides

Through this activity, students will learn the relationship between lunar phases and tides, graphically plotting the tidal range versus Moon phase over an annual cycle for a selected Australian port, as well as determining the mean tidal range for each lunar phase. Students will then focus on determining the relationship ...

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Fire in song

Explore the deep cultural importance of fire ('Gurtha') in Yolngu culture, that links to ancestral traditions, land, and water, shaping laws and knowledge through rich songs, dances, and designs. Fire embodies a connection to the past and sacred landscapes.

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Living off our waters

Teachers can enrich their curriculum by teaching students about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander sustainable resource management, highlighting the profound link between Indigenous cultures and the environment. Different land areas need to be managed differently, in this resource students will investigate a range of ...

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Billabongs

Understanding life cycles and the seasons allowed Indigenous Australians to survive. In this resource students will learn about life cycles involved with billabong species alongside seasonal calendars to understand the way their natural world works. In this activity students will work in groups to research an organism, ...

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Language in law

This resource explores the deep connections Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People have with country, and how this can be reflected in both language and law. In these classroom activities, students will examine the Victorian Yarra River Protection (Wilip-gin Birrarung murron) Act 2017 and the historic Wurundjeri Elders ...

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Stellar scintillation

This resource explores a concept belonging to the Meriam (Mer) people of the Torres Strait who have long understood the importance of stellar scintillation to their lives. and the ways it can prove useful in understanding our environment. This activity involves watching a video of an elder playing a Meriam star song and ...

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Astronomical knowledge in art

In the Visual Arts Indigenous narratives are shared through symbols and with materials made from and of country. The artworks in this resource show how Aboriginal artists represent astronomical knowledge and stories in different ways. Take students through the work of two Indigenous artists, exploring the traditional techniques ...

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Name parts of the body in Dhurga

Watch and listen as students of St Mary's Primary School in Moruya teach you how to name eight body parts in Dhurga. Dhurga is the first language of the NSW far south coast between Wandandean, Braidwood and Wallaga Lake.

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ABC Open: Learn to count in Kaurna!

Presenter Taylor Power-Smith helps us learn to count to ten in Kaurna, the Indigenous language of the Kaurna people of Adelaide and the Adelaide Plains. 

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This place: Dreamtime story of the Nambucca River

Hear the Dreamtime story of the Nambucca River on Gumbaynggirr Country (North Coast of New South Wales). What is the river called in Gumbaynggirr? What made the imprint in the land around Nambucca River? There's a bend in the river called Baga Baga in Gumbaynggirr. Why is it called this?

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ABC Open: Learn some Warrgamay words

Uncle Bill welcomes us to Warrgamay Country. He shows us the animals that live in and around a natural waterhole he calls the 'swimming hole', and tells us the animal's Warrgamay names. Let's find out why Uncle Bill and his family feel happy in this place.

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In My Blood It Runs: Right to self determination

After many decades of working with the colonial Commonwealth Government of Australia, Yolngu Elder and renowned leader Galarrwuy Yunupingu argued (as many First Peoples do) that it's in their best interest to establish independence, politically and economically, from the colonial state. "We, the united clans of east Arnhem ...

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ABC Open: Preserving the Badimaya language

The Badimaya language covers areas ranging from Paynes Find, Ninghan Station and Mount Magnet in Western Australia, but the language is in danger of becoming extinct. How important is it to preserve a language? Watch this video to find out the importance of language to identity and culture.

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Counted: Australian culture in the 1960s

What was Australia like in the 1960s? Why does reporter Stan Grant say that "change is coming" at this time, for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people? Choose one of the people mentioned in this video and do some research into their sporting, artistic or political achievements.

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Count to 10 in Gomeroi

Learn how to count to 10 in Gomeroi! Community cultural leader Matthew Priestley has been teaching students at Moree East Public School how to speak the traditional Gomeroi language. Listen as the students teach you.

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Say hello in Dharug

Watch this video to learn how to greet someone in the Dharug language, spoken by the Indigenous people of the Sydney Basin area. How do you say 'hello, how are you?' in Dharug? And what are the words for good and bad? Practise these phrases with Jacinta Tobin and then teach them to a friend or family member.

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The Traditional Owners of Perth: Whadjuk country

Ever wondered what life was like for the traditional owners of Perth before the British arrived in 1829? Whadjuk [pronounced wod-JUK] Noongar Elder and ambassador Dr Noel Nannup talks about traditional Whadjuk ways of life and key cultural places in Perth, and he teaches us the Noongar words for some Perth suburbs (such ...