Unit: History-First Contacts | Stage 2 | Term 2 Duration: 10 weeks, 3-4 hours per week

Summary
OBJECTIVES
Students:
▪ develop knowledge and understanding about the nature of history and key changes and developments from the past
▪ develop knowledge and understanding about key historical concepts and develop the skills to undertake the process of historical inquiry
▪ The diversity and longevity of Australia's first peoples and the ways Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples are connected to
Country and Place (land, sea, waterways and skies) and the implications for their daily lives (ACHHK077)
Unit Overview Language
This topic introduces world history and the movements of peoples. Beginning with the history of Colonisation, inquiry,
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, students examine European exploration and
primary and secondary source
colonisation in Australia and throughout the world up to the early 1800s. Students examine the
impact of exploration on other societies, how these societies interacted with newcomers, and how living conditions
these experiences contributed to their cultural diversity. exploration
Learning sequence: It examines the stories of both convicts and free settlers and the nature of
contact between Indigenous and European communities. The approach:
- models the inquiry process: using, interpreting and analysing historical sources (images and
documents)
- promotes guided group discussion and investigation
- supports the creation, presentation and evaluation of narratives based on evidence from
historical sources
- suggests a range of formative assessment opportunities.

Outcomes Key Inquiry Questions

History K-10 ▪ Why did the great journeys of exploration occur?
› HT2-3 describes people, events and actions related to world exploration and ▪ What was life like for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait
its effects Islander peoples before the arrival of the Europeans?
› HT2-4 describes and explains effects of British colonisation in Australia ▪ Why did Europeans settle in Australia?
› HT2-5 applies skills of historical inquiry and communication ▪ What was the nature and consequence of contact between
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples and early
traders, explorers and settlers?

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Historical Concepts and Skills
Historical Concepts
▪ Continuity and change: some things change over time and others remain the same, eg aspects in the local community that have either
changed or remained the same; changes to the lives of Aboriginal peoples with the arrival of the First Fleet.
▪ Cause and effect: events, decisions or developments in the past that produce later actions, results or effects, eg how conditions and
decisions in Britain resulted in the journey of the First Fleet; causes of change in the local area/state.
▪ Perspectives: people from the past will have different views and experiences, eg views on the arrival of the British in Australia from a
British and an Aboriginal point of view.
▪ Empathetic understanding: developing an understanding of another's views, life and decisions made, eg developing an understanding of the
life and attitudes of an early colonist or convict.
▪ Significance: importance of an event, development or individual/group, eg the significance/importance of national days/holidays; the
significance of the contributions of an early settler.
Historical Skills
Comprehension: chronology, terms and concepts
▪ respond, read and write, to show understanding of historical matters
▪ sequence familiar people and events (ACHHS065, ACHHS081)
▪ use historical terms (ACHHS066, ACHHS082)
Analysis and use of sources
▪ locate relevant information from sources provided (ACHHS068, ACHHS084, ACHHS215, ACHHS216)
Perspectives and interpretations
▪ identify different points of view within an historical context (ACHHS069, ACHHS085)
Empathetic understanding
▪ explain how and why people in the past may have lived and behaved differently from today
Research
▪ pose a range of questions about the past (ACHHS067, ACHHS083)
▪ plan an historical inquiry
Explanation and communication
▪ develop texts, particularly narratives (ACHHS070, ACHHS086)
▪ use a range of communication forms (oral, graphic, written) and digital technologies (ACHHS071, ACHHS087)
Assessment
Please see assessment in red throughout program

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Content Teaching, learning and assessment Resources
Learning Sequence 1- Introduction to history using 'Think, Pair, Share' General Resources
http://www.achistoryuni
http://www.visiblethinkingpz.org/VisibleThinking_html_files/03_ThinkingRo ts.edu.au/verve/_resour
utines/03d_UnderstandingRoutines/ThinkPairShare/ThinkPairShare_Routine ces/Htaa_first_fleet_P
.html rogram.pdf
Ask chn to think and write or draw their answers to question one and then
pair and share, then the next question etc.
1. What is history? Visible Thinking
2. Why is it important to know about history? Routines
3. How can we find out about history? (this could be directed at the chn by
asking 'How can you find out about your own history?) Understanding Routines
Whole class discussion- display answers as a group and then add to as the
term goes on Creativity Routines

Watch this short video explaining 'past, present and future'

http://skwirk.com.au/esa/Todayis_Present.html

Discussion: What is a primary source and a secondary source?

Watch this clip which explains primary and secondary sources

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqXHO7bTPnw

Formative Assessment for Learning

Pretest
Draw and write anything you know about Australia or England around 1788?
How can we find out about history?

Whole class or individual KWL chart on what children would like to know about
early Australians.

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Content Teaching, learning and assessment Resources

Learning Sequence 2 Picture Book: Nyuntu

Inquiry Question: What was life like for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Ninti by Randall and
Islander peoples before the arrival of the Europeans? Hogan

Use the thinking strategy -Think, Puzzle, Explore chn can write or draw Documentary
their responses and then share with a partner or in a group. Kanyini
Kanyinidocumentary
1. What do you think you know about this topic?

2. What questions or puzzles do you have?

3. How can you explore this topic?

As a class decide on a few focus questions to answer about the Aboriginal

people.
▪ identify the original inhabitants
of Australia and create a Read Nyuntu Ninti to the class. Chn are then to form groups and discuss the
timeline indicating their book.
longevity in Australia of more Watch the first part of the documentary Kanyini
than 50,000 years Have these sources answered any of your questions?
▪ investigate, drawing on
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Differentiation of process and product
Islander community Group 1- (Know) write/ draw 5 main points from the book Timeline
representatives (where Group 2- (Apply) illustrate what life was like for Aborigines before 1788
possible) and other sources, the Group 3- (Analyse) compare and contrast the life of Aboriginal people to
traditional Aboriginal way of English people
life, focusing on people, their Group 4- (Evaluate) Argue and justify that the Aboriginal way of life is the
beliefs, food, shelter, tools and way we should all live. You could write it as a letter to the government.
weapons, customs and As a class create a timeline indicating the longevity of Australia of more than
ceremonies, art works, dance, 50 000 years
music, and relationship to Formative assessment for learning: do chn have an understanding of the

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Content Teaching, learning and assessment Resources
Country differences between the way of life of the Aboriginal people and the
early settlers? Chn could draw a picture/write a description of the way of
life for both.

Learning Sequence 3: Life in 18th Century Britain

Inquiry Question: Why did the great journeys of exploration occur?
Oliver Twist video:
Focus question: what was life like in England 250 years ago?
https://www.youtube.co
m/watch?v=hhMvz6y0A
Show students excerpts from the film Oliver Twist (2005 / Ronald Harwood,
o0
screenplay / Roman Polanski, director) to answer the question:
What was life like in London at this time in history?
Discuss living conditions for the poor in London, as depicted in the film.
Why might many people have resorted to crime?
How did those in authority deal with misbehaviour?

Discuss the value of this film as a 'historical source'. Ask students to suggest
possible primary sources (drawings, letters, court records etc) that might Chronology
provide more useful 'evidence' for further investigation of this topic.
Students use the Chronology exercise to sequence events leading to British
settlement in Australia, exploring cause and effect.
Use the events shown in the Chronology exercise to create a classroom
timeline.

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Content Teaching, learning and assessment Resources

FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT FOR LEARNING

Can students identify relevant aspects of the film to answer the inquiry
question?
Can students explain a sequence of events based on likely cause and effect?
Learning Sequence 4: Crime and Punishment
Focus question: how were criminals punished in England in the 1700s and
1800s?
As a class, students examine the Case Study of John Walker.
Share responses.
Case Study of John
What factors led to John Walker's crime of stealing onions?
Walker
How do you feel about what John Walker did?
Censor: 1787-1788
What does the evidence tell you about the kind of person he was?
What might happen to John Walker if he committed this crime today?
In groups, students look at the list of convicts confined on the hulk, Censor:
1787-1788 .
Questions
What interesting evidence do you see?
What do you think about the ages of the convicts?
What do you notice about their crimes?
What questions are raised?
How do we get answers or more information?

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Content Teaching, learning and assessment Resources

Convicts boarding a prison hulk at Portsmouth, 1828

Prison-ship in Portsmouth Harbour, convicts going aboard. Source: National
Library of Australia, drawn & etched by Edward William Cooke, 1828.
Invite a solicitor or police officer from the school or local community to visit Victorian Crime and
the classroom, to answer students' questions about the legal consequences of Punishment
similar crimes in the present.
Differentiation of content, process and product
Students explore more prisoner records at the Victorian Crime and
Punishment website.
Use a variety of search parameters to investigate records and draw
conclusions.
Model use of a table to record data to assist with analysis and making
generalisations.
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT FOR LEARNING
Children write down questions for the guest speaker- How well do students
frame open-ended, probing questions for a guest expert?
Are students able to record relevant data and draw valid conclusions from it?

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Content Teaching, learning and assessment Resources
Inquiry Question: Why did Europeans settle in Australia? Images of the prison
hulks
Learning Sequence 5: Flood of prisoners Images of the prison
Focus question: how was the problem of England's overflowing prisons hulks
addressed? Probing the prison hulks
Differentiation of learning environment and process (chn can work in ability Prison Hulks on the
groups with teacher supporting groups who need it) River Thames
Stories of the First Fleet, including Using Images of the prison hulks (prison ships), ask students in groups to Report of Convicts
reasons for the journey, who examine one or more images of prison hulks on the Thames. under Sentence of
travelled to Australia, and their Then, ask them to use Probing the prison hulks to record the results of their Transportation
experiences following arrival examination of these sources. Once finished, groups should report their Six hat thinking
(ACHHK079) findings to the class.
▪ identify reasons for the voyage Students explore the Port Cities web page Prison Hulks on the River Thames.
of the First Fleet and explain Ask:
why various groups were How does this information add to your understandings from the images?
passengers Where might this information have come from?
Show students the handwritten record Report of Convicts under Sentence of
Transportation.
Record any information that students can gather from this source. What
questions do students have about the source?
Using the Six hat thinking discussion guide, students explore and evaluate the
sentence of 'transportation' as a solution to the prison situation.

ASSESSMENT AND DIFFERENTIATION

Can students use the six hat thinking strategy to organise and improve their
thinking process?

Learning Sequence 6: Setting Sail Preparations for the

Focus question: what preparations were made for the eight-month sea voyage? journey
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Content Teaching, learning and assessment Resources
In groups, students use Preparations for the journey to examine a primary Packing the Provisions
source document, a letter regarding provision of the First Fleet. Model the Ships of the First Fleet
deconstruction of unfamiliar language. For example, highlight significant First Fleet Fellowship
phrases and transcribe them in more familiar terms. Circle unfamiliar words
and use a dictionary to find their meaning. Ask:
What do we know about this source?
What does it tell us about the First Fleet?
What questions could we ask to find out more?
Using Packing the Provisions (PDF, 112 KB), students examine the list of the
livestock and provisions carried on the First Fleet, found online at First Fleet
Fellowship.
Using Ships of the First Fleet (PDF, 111 KB), students explore information
about the 11 ships at First Fleet Fellowship

First Fleet ship Charlotte at Portsmouth prior to departure, May 1787

ASSESSMENT
Can students use effective strategies to deconstruct unfamiliar language?
Can students suggest appropriate categories to sort First Fleet provisions?

Learning Sequence 7: The voyage Reconstructing the

Focus question: what would it have been like to travel on one of the ships of voyage
the First Fleet? Ships of the First Fleet
• Using Reconstructing the voyage , students investigate how the First For the term of his
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Content Teaching, learning and assessment Resources
Fleet travelled to Australia from England and how long the journey took. natural life,
http://www.historyaustr
Students reconstruct the size of some First Fleet passenger ships using alia.org.au/ifhaa/ships/1
information from Ships of the First Fleet. Students mark the ships' stfleet.htm
dimensions outdoors to visualise the scale. Ask: Convict voyages
How much space would have been available to each person on board? Daily routine,
What do we need to know to work this out? First Fleet
Students reflect on what this suggests about conditions on board. voyage
Using For the term of his natural life, students investigate a literary
description of conditions on board a convict transport. (The language in the
extract is demanding and this activity may need to be teacher-led or used as
an extension activity.)
Using Convict voyages and Daily routine, students examine two more sources
about conditions on board ship for transported convicts.
Students may also like to explore Google Earth's animation of the weather
conditions for the First Fleet voyage
Assessment
Can students compare and contrast evidence from different sources?
Can students accurately and perceptively describe an experience from various
points of view?

Learning Sequence 8:The First Fleeters

▪ using a range of sources,
Focus question: who were the people of the First Fleet?
investigate the everyday life of
• Students sketch 'a typical convict' of the First Fleet. Encourage
ONE of the following who sailed
students to explain their thinking as they share their sketches.
on the First Fleet and lived in
the early colony: a soldier,
convict, ex-convict, official

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Content Teaching, learning and assessment Resources

from Captain Watkin Tench's A Narrative of the Expedition to Botany Bay.

First published in 1789. First Fleet database.

Students explore the First Fleet database. Ask students to perform 'Simple First Fleeters 1,
Searches' based on name or gender. Share any notable findings. First Fleeters 2
Ask: What does this database tell us about the 'typical' convict of the First First Fleeters 3
Fleet? First Fleeters discussion
Brainstorm questions, such as 'Who was the youngest First Fleet convict?' or points,
'How many First Fleet convicts were women?' Students use the database to
answer as many questions as they can.
Students revisit their sketch of a 'typical' convict. Discuss this in the light of
their findings from the database.
Using the three resources First Fleeters 1, First Fleeters 2 and First
Fleeters 3 along with First Fleeters discussion points, students examine and
discuss three sources about the people of the First Fleet.
Students could be provided with chart paper or sticky notes for recording
questions and findings.
Compare the life of a convict with that of a soldier, official or ex-convict

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Content Teaching, learning and assessment Resources

Governor Philip
Formative Assessment for learning
Can students justify their image of a 'typical convict' based on current
knowledge?
Can students perform simple database searches and make sense of the
results?
Can students critically evaluate their initial drawings in the light of historical
evidence?

Learning Sequence 9:Excursion to Elizabeth Farm

Excursion
This excursion will look at the life of convicts- please see link for further
ElizabethFarm
details.
Formative Assessment for learning
Students are to form groups and brainstorm what they learnt from the
excursion.
Differentiation of learning environment and product: You could put chn into
groups (possibility ability) and give each group a topic to write about or
present on, in any form they wish. They could create a ppt, poster, mindmap,
letter etc.

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Content Teaching, learning and assessment Resources
Learning Sequence 10: Strangers come to stay
The nature of contact between
Inquiry Question: What was the nature and consequence of contact between
Aboriginal people and/or Torres
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples and early traders, explorers
Strait Islanders and others, for
and settlers?
example, the Macassans and the
• Define ‘terra nullius’ and describe how this may have affected the First Australians 1
Europeans, and the effects of these
British attitude to Aboriginal and TSI people
interactions on, for example, families
• Students examine the Aboriginal languages map. According to this First Australians 2
and the environment (ACHHK080)
source, which language group would have observed the landing of the
▪ describe the nature of contact First Fleet?
between Aboriginal people and/or • Using First Australians 1 (PDF, 115 KB) and First Australians 2 (PDF,
Torres Strait Islander peoples 134 KB), students explore the impact of the First Fleet's arrival on the
and others, including Aboriginal local Aboriginal people.
resistance
▪ explain the term terra nullius and
describe how this affected the
British attitude to Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander peoples

▪ use sources to identify different

perspectives on the arrival of the
British to Australia
Reading historical
▪ outline the impact of early British Wandjina rock art paintings from Black Fellow Creek, Western Australia. images
colonisation on Aboriginal and Source: © Mowanjum Artists Spirit of the Wandjina Aboriginal Corporation William Bradley's
Torres Strait Islander peoples' • Using Reading historical images , students examine images depicting paintings 1
country contact between early settlers and local Aboriginal people: William Bradley's
William Bradley's paintings 1 (PDF, 535 KB) paintings 2
William Bradley's paintings 2 (PDF, 527 KB) William Bradley's
William Bradley's paintings 3 (PDF, 495 KB) paintings 3
The images could be printed and displayed around the classroom. The State Library of
Groups could use sticky notes to record their findings. New South Wales'
Students read notes from other groups and add their own observations Discover Collections
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Content Teaching, learning and assessment Resources
and questions. (The State Library of New South Wales' Discover
Collections website may provide students with useful background
information on William Bradley.)
• As a class, students read Excerpt from the diary of Lieutenant
Bradley . Model the deconstruction and analysis of this historical
document. Ask:
Who wrote this account and for what purpose?
What events are described here?
Why might another person describe the events differently?
What does this account reveal about contacts between settlers and
Aboriginal people?
SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT OF LEARNING
• Can students identify evidence of the success and productivity of
Aboriginal peoples in Australia throughout their long history?
• Can students understand and explain the Indigenous perspective on the
landing and settlement of the First Fleet?
• Do students demonstrate an awareness of potential bias in illustrations or
written accounts?
Learning Sequence 11: Survival in a ‘New’ land A Voyage To New South
Focus question: what was life like for the people of the First Fleet in the new Wales
▪ describe the establishment of settlement? The arrival according to
the British colony at Port Have students explore the interactive image of William Bradley's journal, A Bradley
Jackson Voyage To New South Wales. Ask: Timeline of rations for
Why did Bradley keep this journal? the new settlement,
What might we learn from it? 1788-1790.
How might our understanding of these events be limited if we examined only
this source?
Using The arrival according to Bradley (PDF, 149 KB) students explore one
account of the arrival of the First Fleet.
Have students examine Timeline of rations for the new settlement, 1788-
1790.
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Content Teaching, learning and assessment Resources
Ask:
Why might these records have been kept?
What does this source reveal about life for the new settlers? View in Port Jackson
Have students examine the image View in Port Jackson, depicting Eora people
fishing from boats. Contrast the food shortages in the First Fleet settlement Talking about historical
with the lives of Eora, who had been thriving in this land for a very long time. documents
Ask: What could these first settlers have learned from the local Eora people?
Documents from the
Using Talking about historical documents (PDF, 174 KB), students examine the first settlement 1
following primary sources from the new settlement: Documents from the
Documents from the first settlement 1 (PDF, 119 KB) first settlement 2
Documents from the first settlement 2 (PDF, 91 KB) Documents from the
Documents from the first settlement 3 (PDF, 116 KB) first settlement 3
If student groups experience difficulty with the language, model an approach
to deconstruct for the class.

Bloom’s Taxonomy Grid

This could be added or an alternative to the program-this is not See Bloom’s Taxonomy
completed but is a start Grids

SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT OF LEARNING

Can students recognise and describe a different perspective on an event or
circumstance?
Can students suggest possible consequences of actions and events?
Can students generate possible solutions to problems experienced in the First
Fleet settlement? – chn could write a letter to their family in England about
their experiences as a convict or officer or another role.

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Content Teaching, learning and assessment Resources
Evaluation/ Reflection

**I used this excellent unit below for a lot of this program**:

http://www.achistoryunits.edu.au/year-4/unit-program/y4-overview-v3.html

Scootle resources
My Place - Episode 24: 1788: Dan, First contact TFL-ID M009364
http://www.scootle.edu.au/ec/resolve/view/M009364

Year 4 history assessment - First contacts: A First Fleet story TFL-ID M014413
http://www.scootle.edu.au/ec/resolve/view/M014413
Contact between the expeditions of Captain James Cook and the indigenous peoples of the Pacific TFL-ID R11441
http://www.scootle.edu.au/ec/resolve/view/R11441

First Fleet TFL-ID M013318

http://www.scootle.edu.au/ec/resolve/view/M013318

Sites2See: HM Bark Endeavour TFL-ID M015333

http://www.scootle.edu.au/ec/resolve/view/M015333

My Place - Episode 21: 1808: Sarah, A female gaol TFL-ID M009357

http://www.scootle.edu.au/ec/resolve/view/M009357
My Place - Episode 23: 1788: Waruwi, Little drummer boy TFL-ID M009363
http://www.scootle.edu.au/ec/resolve/view/M009363

My Place - Episode 24: 1788: Dan, Governor's orders TFL-ID M009365

http://www.scootle.edu.au/ec/resolve/view/M009365

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My Place - Episode 24: 1788: Dan, Cat-o'-nine-tails TFL-ID M009366
http://www.scootle.edu.au/ec/resolve/view/M009366

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