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Listed under:  History  >  Social history
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Botany of Kamay

This resource explores the plants of Kamay Botany Bay – their significance to the Aboriginal people of Kamay, and to the botanists on the Endeavour in 1770. This resource is one part of the 'Endeavour – eight days in Kamay' resource.

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Waters of Kamay

This learning sequence explores the salt and fresh waters of Kamay Botany Bay, its importance as a life source and the cultural connection it has to the Aboriginal people living at Kamay. Water is essential for life. It nourishes our bodies, our lands and supports all life on earth. It is home to wondrous and significant ...

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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.

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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, ...

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Discovering past methods of food and fibre production

This is a teacher resource containing a sequence of activities for investigating the production of food and fibre in Australia’s past. It contains material to assist planning, implementing and assessing a study of past methods of food and fibre production in Australia including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Peoples’ ...

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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 ...

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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 ...

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Migrants Enriching Australia

This is a rich collection of stories that focuses on the life experiences of two individuals, one of Greek heritage and one of Polish heritage, who immigrated and settled in Victoria post World War II. The resource explores how these people shared their cultural heritage and how this enriched Australian life at this time. ...

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Rogue nation, 2009: NSW in 1819, convict gulag or place of opportunity?

This clip is an excerpt from the 2009 documentary 'Rites of passage', the second of a two-part series entitled 'Rogue nation'. The clip begins with historian Michael Cathcart providing contextual information about England in the early 1800s. He says that in the midst of the industrial revolution, millions of people were ...

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Landmarks: people and places across Australia

This resource features the Landmarks gallery, which traces a broad history of Australia since British colonisation in the late 18th century. The exhibition explores ten big themes in the country's past through the stories of Australian places and the people who have lived there. It examines how people have engaged with ...

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Gold rush: level 2

Dig for gold on the Ballarat goldfields in 1865. Try your luck at alluvial or shaft mining. Buy a miner's permit, tools and enough supplies to last a month. Discover how hard life was on the goldfields. Explore a map showing the countries migrants left to join the gold rush in Australia. Find out which towns developed due ...

Interactive

Gold rush: level 1

Dig for gold on the Ballarat goldfields in 1865. Try your luck at alluvial or shaft mining. Buy a miner's permit, tools and enough supplies to last a month. Discover how hard life was on the goldfields. Explore a map showing the countries migrants left to join the gold rush in Australia. Find out which towns developed due ...

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Designing the Sydney Opera House

What does it take to create a building that is famous the world over? In 1956, NSW Premier Joseph Cahill announced a competition for the design of an opera house for Sydney. The winner was architect Jorn Utzon with 'design 218'. In this 1950s clip, learn about Utzon's aims in designing the building, the challenges in realising ...

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The convict voyages

What do you think it was like for convicts on their voyage from England to Australia? Would you be surprised to discover that their life expectancy on board a convict vessel was actually higher than that of free settlers? Watch this video to discover why this might be, and learn about the convicts themselves.

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Building the Sydney Opera House

Construction of the Sydney Opera House began in 1959. The Opera House was intended to be more than a building; it was meant to be a landmark that would put Sydney on the world map as a centre of culture. In this short, silent clip, discover some of the work that went into constructing this huge, unique and very complex building.

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Benalla Migrant Camp

While many postwar immigrants were sent to Bonegilla Migrant Reception and Training Centre when they arrived in Australia, others lived at the smaller Benalla Migrant Camp. Like Bonegilla, Benalla is in north-east Victoria. Unlike at Bonegilla, however, many immigrants remained at Benalla for over a decade. Listen as Sabine ...

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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' ...

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Old People's Home For 4 Year Olds: Things our grandparents used when they were children

This clip from Old People’s Home for 4 Year Olds introduces us to items that were once commonplace for older Australians but are unknown to children today. The items give our seniors a chance to reminisce about their younger days. ________________________________________ For tips on starting an intergenerational program ...

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Weekend Magazine: A tour of the nation's capital

In the years following World War II, Australia sought to develop a new identity, one that honoured the past while embracing technological advances and increased political stability. As this clip shows, for many people during this period, Canberra - the nation's capital - served as a metaphor for the sort of place Australia ...

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Nexus: Holden, the 'all-Australian car'

What made Holden cars symbols of Australia during the 1950s, 60s and 70s? During this period, more than any other vehicle, the Holden came to reflect changing lifestyles in Australia, and helped to define for many what it meant to be 'Australian'. Find out the impact that generations of Holden vehicles have had on the lives ...