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An old camera

Watch as Margot shows you a camera from around 100 years ago! How would you describe it? How is it different to the cameras we use today? Are there any similarities? Can you find the lens on the camera that you or your family uses to take photos? How was getting your photo taken in the olden days different from the way ...

Video

An olden day toilet

In the olden days, there were no toilets inside the house. Why do you think that was? Instead there was a "potty" for the children and a commode chair for the parents. Would you be brave enough to help empty the potty in the morning? How did people in the olden days wash their hands if there was no tap? Buckingham House ...

Video

ABC Open: A special day for Buddhists

Watch this clip to learn about a Buddhist festival called Vesak (or Buddha Purnima). It's a special day that commemorates the Lord Buddha's birth, enlightenment and death. Vesak is celebrated on the day of the full moon in May and in India it's a public holiday. How is Vesak day celebrated? Do some research and find out ...

Interactive

Environmental and Zoo Education Centres – primary school resources

A collection of digital resources for primary school teachers and students to support teaching and learning from home, with a particular focus on geography, science and history. The resources were developed by Department of Education teachers from 25 Environmental and Zoo Education Centres in NSW and include Google Sites, ...

Interactive

The Orb

The Orb is a collection of multimedia learning resources about Tasmanian Aboriginal histories and cultures. It explores the interconnections between people, Country, culture, identity, and the living community. The multimedia resources have between three and five sections in which Tasmanian Aboriginal people share their ...

Video

Virtual reality and the stereoscope

Do you know what virtual reality (VR) is? VR is something you can experience if you put on a VR headset. The headset lets you see and hear things that make you feel like you're in a completely different place. Perhaps you've seen people using VR headsets or even tried one out yourself. In this video, Margot shows us an ...

Video

What is a meat safe?

Before fridges were invented, people used meat safes to keep their food cool. But what is a meat safe? Watch this clip to find out! What was the meat safe made out of? How was it designed to keep bugs out? And how did the meat safe actually keep food cool? Think about the way we keep food cool today. How do the fridges ...

Video

For the Juniors: Candles, cards and carols: Christmas in 1983

How do people celebrate Christmas now? This clip shows some of the ways Christmas was celebrated in 1983. People sent cards, gave presents and sang carols. Have things changed?

Online

Yulunga: luka-pul pul

Finding-the-object games were played in many parts of Australia as well as the Torres Strait. The objects to be found were usually the eye lens of a fish or other animal. The hidden article would often be the lens, obtained after cooking, from the eye of a fish, possum, rat or wallaby. The usual method of hiding the lens ...

Online

Yulunga: birray

Young children in the Bloomfield area of north Queensland played the game of birray (march-fly). It was observed by Walter Roth in the early 1900s. This is a game where a chaser (birray) attempts to tag (touch) other players. The Yulunga: Traditional Indigenous Games resource was developed to provide all Australians with ...

Online

Yulunga: ngor-go

A form of spin-ball was played among the lower Tully River people. The spinner was made out of a gourd of the Benincasa vacua. This game was played by women more often than men. It was known among the Mallanpara people of north Queensland as ngor-go, after the name of the gourd used. This activity comprises making and playing ...

Online

Yulunga: makar

Various types of toy boats and canoes are found in parts of Australia and the Torres Strait Islands. On Sunday Island in northern Australia, small models of the raft (kaloa) were made for children to play with. In other areas of Australia small replicas of dugout canoes were fashioned. In parts of the Torres Strait simple ...

Online

Yulunga: kolap

This object-throwing game was observed being played on Mer Island in the Torres Strait region in the nineteenth century. More recent versions have also been observed. A game based on throwing accuracy. Teams of one to two players throw objects, attempting to make them land on a target on the ground. The Yulunga: Traditional ...

Online

Yulunga: Bondi

The Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people had many water and diving games, which were often indulged in at any convenient creek, waterhole or at the beach. In various parts of Australia, contests in diving, floating, remaining beneath the water, and many other aquatic activities, were undertaken. They ...

Online

Yulunga: walle ngan werrup

In the west Kimberley area of Western Australia the young men were fond of playing a version of hide-and-seek called ‘the hunting or bush game’ (wallee ngnan weerup). This is an imitation and acting game that is also a form of hide-and-seek. Younger players pretend to be on a kangaroo or emu hunt. The Yulunga: Traditional ...

Online

Yulunga: kalkadoon kee'an

In areas of north Queensland, a game of throwing skill was played. A large bone, such as an emu shinbone (with twine attached to it) was thrown over a net (used to catch emus) into a pit or hole. Considering the distance to the hole, great skill was required to correctly aim the bone and ensure that it did not touch the ...

Online

Yulunga: waayin

The study of different animal and bird tracks was an important part of the education of Aboriginal children. These were drawn in the smoothed earth or sand by means of the fingers, fingernails, palms, small sticks and so on. A great deal of care was taken by adults in imitating the tracks of various animals for the benefit ...

Online

Yulunga: jillora

Spinning balls or tops of various kinds were used as an amusement by Aboriginal people in most parts of Australia and by Torres Strait Islanders. The spin-ball used in the northwest central districts of Queensland was a round ball of about 2 to 3 centimetres in diameter. It was made of lime, ashes, sand, clay and sometimes ...

Online

Yulunga: kandomarngutta

In some parts of Australia children were allowed to use the bullroarer (whirlers), or small versions of it, as a source of amusement. In other areas the bullroarer had a special significance and was not used as a ‘toy’. In parts of Victoria a bullroarer called the kandomarngutta was used. This was a thin piece of wood, ...

Online

Yulunga: kari-woppa

A wrestling game was played by the people in the Torrens area of South Australia. The contests were generally held on the meeting of groups from different areas. Players wrestled for a tuft of emu feathers called a kari-woppa. Komba burrong or kambong burrong (the game of ‘catching hold’) was the name of a similar game ...