A Study Guide for K-10 students

The teaching and learning activities in this guide are designed to support quality teaching of Aboriginal perspectives within the NSW K-6 Science Syllabus. Whilst the activities have been created with Stage 2 and 3 students in mind, the content of the guide provides understanding that would enrich conversations about Aboriginal histories and cultures, and can be tailored to suit K-10 students.

Activities range across the KLAs (Key Learning Areas) to allow students a variety of ways to reflect on the content, and to encourage meaningful connections. They are designed to encourage students to engage with the content, to elaborate on the information and develop higher order thinking skills.

The activities in this study guide:

1. Activating Prior Knowledge: Introduction to cultural astronomy-the study of the sky knowledge of ancient and traditional people.
2. Visual Arts: Students create a ‘sky atlas’ of their own community.
3. History: Invite a local Aboriginal community member to speak to the class and share local stories of the sky.
4. Science: Encourage students to make observations of rock engravings.
5. Science: Outlining the months of the year, the location of the Emu in the Sky and what this means for the people.
6. English: students find a way to communicate their new knowledge to their wider school community.
7. Drama: Students create still image/freeze frames to represent the location of the emu and what this means for the people.
8. Visual Arts: Students map the stars in their books and draw their own version of constellations.
9. ICT: Students collect digital images of constellations using portable devices (iPads, laptops).
10. English/Science/Visual Arts: Students re-read information and find ‘clue words’ (text connectives) to help them sequence the Kangaroo, Emu and Crocodile into a correct yearly cycle.
11. English: Students read through the The Clouds of Magellan information and identify key information that they highlight.
12. English: Students pick one of the stories and retell the story in a chosen medium.
13. English: Students consider questions in a Think Pair Share (Harvard Visible Thinking Routine).
14. English: Students work together to fill out a Venn diagram, to compare and contrast the stories surrounding the constellation Orion.
15. Science: Students create a model of our Solar System that shows the relationship of the planets.
16. English: Students map the Solar System which show where the planets are and how they are related to each other.
17. Drama: Students imagine they are creating a film to tell the Aboriginal stories of the sky.
18. Sharing and Reflecting: Students complete an individual research task choosing an inquiry question that involves researching other cultural or religious stories relating to the sky.
19. Conclusion: Students individually or as a class complete the KWL chart created in activity 1.

Get the full and detailed activity guide HERE