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Term One

Outcomes - Stage 3
History
HT3-1 Describes and explains the significance of people, groups, places and
events to the development of Australia
HT3-2 Describes and explains different experiences of people living in
Australia over time
HT3-5 Applies a variety of skills of historical inquiry and communication
Drama
DRAS3.1 Develops a range of in-depth and sustained roles
DRAS3.2 Interprets and conveys dramatic meaning by using the elements of
drama and a range of movement and voice skills in a variety of drama
DRAS3.3 Devises, acts and rehearses drama for performance to an audience.

Links to Other KLAs


Maths
| Value of gold stock market
| Weight of nuggets
ICT
| Designing and making a gold licence
| Researching gold sites
| Using iPads, iStopMotion and iMovie to create videos
Visual Arts
| Creating claymation based on the history of the
goldfields

Week Two

Week Three

Introduction to Gold

Methods Used to Find Gold

| Ask question what is gold? Create mind map.


| Use a KWHL chart with students to record what
they know and what they would like to know about
gold. Discuss how students may discover this new
knowledge and information and add this to their
worksheets. Add to this at the end of unit.
| Discuss what gold is and where gold may be found
(e.g. jewellery, clocks etc.).
| Discuss the reasons why gold is so important to
people eg wealth, status. Display pictures of gold
both modern and ancient. Research the place of
gold in other civilizations eg Romans, Incas,
Egyptians and American Indian cultures. What was it
used for? How does this compare with its use
today? i.e. standard of currency.
| Investigate gold as a metal, alluvial and reef gold
using this website http://kidcyber.com.au/topics/australia/gold/
| Discuss how gold miners were required to carry
around a gold license at all times. Show students
examples of these on the IWB. Students are to
create their own gold licenses using the template
provided. Make it look authentic by using teabags
and faded, scrunched up paper.

| Play video to students and discuss - http://


www.abc.net.au/btn/story/s2823680.htm
| Research the value of gold on the stock market
and discuss the weight of a nugget. Estimate the
value of gold found in the 1800s and in this current
day and age.
| Discuss the methods used to find gold with
students by using this website (panning, deep lead
mining, sluicing and quartz/reef mining) - http://
www.fomad.org.au/historyoverview.html#_Toc313628373
| Students are to fill in the worksheet as they
discuss each method.
| Panning method - http://www.goldgold.com/goldprospectinggold-panning-instructions.html
Students may act out the different methods to find
gold in groups of 3-4.
| Students are to write an article that would
appear in a miners newspaper about how gold is
found. Combine articles for a class newspaper.
Alternatively, students may work in pairs to design
and make a brochure to promote going to the
goldfields to find gold.

Gold Fact Sheet

Introduction
Discovered about 5000 years ago, gold is a precious metal that is admired and valued as much for its usefulness as
its beauty. Although very heavy, gold is very soft and can easily be shaped either by flattening it into sheets
(malleability), or by stretching it into wires (ductility). Gold does not tarnish (react with air) and is an efficient
conductor of heat and electricity. These properties make gold prized beyond just its decorative quality. Gold has
served as a type of money in the form of coins. More recently, gold has been used for electronic circuit boards and
electrical connections.

Gold deposits
Although widely dispersed in the Earth's crust, gold is rarely found in deposits large enough to make mining it
worthwhile. Gold is also found in minute (very tiny) proportions in seawater, but the cost of extracting these small
amounts would be much more than the gold would be worth. Gold deposits on land are found in two forms - primary
and secondary deposits.

Primary gold deposits


Over millions of years, volcanic eruptions in various parts of the world have forced magma (molten rock) through
cracks in the Earth's surface. As the magma cools and eventually hardens, it forms igneous rocks, in which solid gold
can be found. It is commonly believed that natural gold has cooled from a molten state. In fact, it is transported
through the Earth's crust dissolved in warm to hot salty water. In this form it gathers wherever fractures in the rocks
allow the fluids to pass. These lines of gold are known as veins. Other, larger deposits of gold are called lodes or
reefs. Early miners called these rocks greenstone because of the greenish colour caused by the geological processes
they had undergone. Veins and reefs of gold-bearing quartz occur in many types of rock, including different granites,
in volcanic rocks or in regions of black slate. In most cases these host rocks are not the immediate source of the gold.

Secondary gold deposits


As rocks are worn down over many millions of years, primary gold deposits that have formed gradually become
exposed. Weather conditions (extremes of heat and cold) force the rock to expand and then contract, causing it to
gradually break down. The gold deposits are then washed into creeks and rivers by rain.
As gold is a very heavy metal, it sinks to the bottom of creeks and riverbeds as alluvial gold. As the rivers and creeks
dry up, the gold is then found near the surface. In this way gold prospectors can sometimes be successful in finding
small nuggets.
As river beds dry up and then re-formed, gold deposits can be found in horizontal layers below the surface of the
riverbed. Changes in the depth of the water tables and creek beds mean that gold deposits can be found at different
levels.

This license is to be carried on the person, to be produced whenever demanded by any Commissioner, Peace Officer, or other duly
authorised person and is not transferable.

Commisioner:

This is to certify that ..


Having paid the sum of ONE pound on account of the General Revenue of the Colony, I hereby license
him to mine or dig for gold , reside at, or carry on, or follow any trade or calling, except that of
storekeeper on such lands within the Colony of Prestons as shall be assigned to him for these purposes
by any one duly authorised in that behalf.
This License is to be in force for THREE months ending 2nd April 2015 and no longer.

No. 13581

This license is to be carried on the person, to be produced whenever demanded by any Commissioner, Peace Officer, or other duly
authorised person and is not transferable.

Commisioner:

This is to certify that ..


Having paid the sum of ONE pound on account of the General Revenue of the Colony, I hereby license
him to mine or dig for gold , reside at, or carry on, or follow any trade or calling, except that of
storekeeper on such lands within the Colony of Prestons as shall be assigned to him for these purposes
by any one duly authorised in that behalf.
This License is to be in force for THREE months ending 2nd April 2015 and no longer.

No. 13581

Panning

Deep Lead Mining

Sluicing

Quartz/Reef Mining

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EXTRA
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REPORTED BY: ___________________________

EXTRA
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Week Four

Week Five

Gold Discovery

Life at the Goldfields

| Narrate the story of Edward Hargraves. Explain


that gold was found in small amounts before 1851
but the first RUSH occurred in 1851. Have students
realise that many Australians left Australia to join
the Californian Gold rush that worried the
Government. Discuss reasons for this concern, eg
population declining, etc. http://kidcyber.com.au/
topics/australia/gold-rush-australia/
| Mark on a map of Australia areas where gold
was found. Add to it as places unfold. Interactive
map - http://www.sbs.com.au/gold/
GOLD_MAP.html. Create a three venn diagram for
Ballarat, Bendigo and Bathurst. Discuss.
| Study the story of gold discovery in Australia.
Have students develop questions like where was
gold found? Landform? Amount found? Methods
used? Equipment etc.
| Begin a timeline of events relating to the
discovery of gold in Australia using this website http://www.skwirk.com/pc_s-56_u-419_t-1067_c-4111/WA/9/Australian-goldrush-timeline/Discovering-gold/Gold-fever-and-theEureka-rebellion/SOSE-History/

| Examine photos and paintings about life on the


goldfields.
| Discuss with students the hardships that the
diggers would have had to endure, eg primitive
conditions, claim hopping, diggers ignorance of
necessities for digging, lack of transport, crime,
cost of licence, etc using http://kidcyber.com.au/
topics/australia/gold-rush-australia/
| In groups of 3- 4, research what it was like for
men, women and children on the goldfields. Discuss
the impact on women and children, both if left at
home or on the goldfields, eg cooking done in open,
clothing worn at the time.
| Students are to write a diary entry or letter
from the perspective of someone who lived on the
goldfields. Include details of life such as transport,
food & water supplies, housing, disease, medical
and hospital facilities etc.

Week Six

Week Seven

Effects of Gold Discovery on People

The Eureka Stockade

| Discuss the impact of the discovery of gold on


Aboriginal people, eg loss of land, food, disease etc
| Discuss government policy and the effects on
indigenous people at the time, i.e. Aboriginal people
had no rights.
| Examine the role the Chinese and the way they
were treated by other diggers. Discuss some of the
issues associated with the Chinese presence on the
goldfields, eg different culture, language, way of
living and working, ability to find gold, etc.
| Compile a list of significant events that occurred
due to the Chinese presence on the goldfields, eg
rush of Chinese to goldfields (immigration), entry
tax imposed to enter Australia and to cross
borders, residence tax, riots at Lambing Flat,
introduction of White Australia policy.
| Discuss and have students share their feelings
about the treatment of the Chinese. List and
discuss their contribution to Australian identity and
culture.
| Students are to write a short descriptive piece
describing life on the goldfields as a British or
Chinese person.

| Explore events leading up to the Eureka stockade,


eg licensing system, lack of law and order on the
goldfields etc. http://www.eurekaballarat.com
| Discuss the sort of society that existed in the
goldfields and in the large cities were they
democratic, were all people treated equally, what
rights did individuals have, what were the roles of the
military, police, miners?
| Discuss the role of Eureka in the development of
Australian democracy.
| Examine the Eureka flag and discuss the symbols
of the flag. Discuss why this flag is flown by many
trade unions.
| Students are to get into groups of 3-4 and act out
a situation during the gold rush using a role-play.
Encourage students to speak clearly and use
exaggerated movements. Students are to present
their performance to the class and the audience is to
guess the scenario.
Example scenarios panning for gold, a hold up on the
goldfields, pitching a tent by the goldfields starting a new life
with your family, police officers on horseback chasing gold
thieves, entertainers in a saloon, getting your gold weighed and
being unhappy with the price offered for the gold etc.

Week Eight

Week Nine

Gold and the Environment

Claymation

| Discuss the changes to the environment caused


by gold prospecting and deep reef mining which
occurred during the gold rushes, eg clearing of
land, erosion, muddying and poisoning water, etc.
| Examine a modern mining area, eg Northparkes
Mine and compare the mining methods and
practices employed today to protect the
environment.
| Chart individual groups viewpoints of mining on
the environment, eg.

| In groups of 4-5, students plan a simple


claymation movie about the goldfields. Topics
could include - traveling to the Goldfields;
Obtaining a Miners Licence, Striking it Rich,
Housing on the Goldfields, Working on the
Goldfields, The Eureka Stockade etc.
| Students will need to plan their story out on a
storyboard, create plasticine characters and a
backdrop and film their movie in software such
as iStopMotion.
All groups focus on a different aspect of life on
the Goldfields. These can be imported into one
longer movie in iMovie showing class
understanding of life on the goldfields in the
1850s.

Group

Advantages

Disadvantages

Aboriginal People

Miners
Farmers
| Students are to give their opinion of the problem
and possible solutions to overcome the damage to
the environment caused by goldmining.

Use this link for more information about


claymation - http://www.tech4learning.com/
userfiles/file/pdfs/Frames/
Making_Claymation_in_the_Classroom.pdf

Name:_________________________

Date: ___________

Gold and the Environment


Give your opinion of the problem and possible solutions to overcome the damage to the environment caused by goldmining.

Problem

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Solution
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Problem
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Solution
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Problem
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Solution
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Week Ten

Assessment

Claymation

Claymation

| Students are to continue working in groups on


their claymation projects.
| Students may create journal entries about their
projects.

| Students are to present their iMovies to the


class to show their understanding of life on the
goldfields in the 1850s.

| Examples of Gold Rush claymation

| Assessment based on:


-Anecdotal evidence including observation of
student engagement and active participation
during discussions and tasks
-Work samples
-Ability to work independently and cooperatively
as part of a team
- Ability to use information researched to
develop a presentation to demonstrate
understanding of concepts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8TpvbSWbro
http://mseducator.edublogs.org/2014/11/17/goldrush-claymation/
http://mseducator.edublogs.org/2014/11/20/
another-gold-rush-claymation-from-our-year-fiveproducers/

Example Claymation Marking


Rubric

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