First contacts

About this module

Using an inquiry-based approach, this module develops students' skills as historians through engaging historical sources. Featuring sources from the National Library's collections, the resource caters for flexible approaches to suit diverse classroom contexts and learning styles.

Copyright for teachers

You can download all collection materials in this resource for education purposes. For more information, go to copyright for teachers.

Topics in this module

This module covers 8 key topics. 

Each topic includes an introduction to key concepts, links to key resources in our collection and a series of learning activities that cater for a variety of classroom contexts and learning styles.

Painting of a man, woman and young child.  The man is motioning towards a globe and the woman is passing an apple to the child.

Jacob Gerritsz Cuyp, Portrait of Abel Tasman, his wife and daughter, 1637, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-138417248

Early explorers

Topic 

Delve into the journeys of early European explorers, focusing on Abel Tasman’s significant contributions to Australian history. 

Digital Classroom
Pencil drawings depicting Aboriginal peoples and native Australian flora and fauna

Mickey of Ulladulla, Corroboree with native animals in the distance near Ulladulla, New South Wales, approximately 1885, 1880, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-135517021

Early communication

Topic 

Examine the relationship between Indigenous peoples and European settlers in Van Diemen’s Land through the use of pictograms for communication.

Digital Classroom
A group of men are gathered around a fallen tree in an outdoor setting. One person is seated on the ground, while others stand and hold spears. Two individuals engage in manual labor. A ship is anchored near the shore in the background, with sheep grazing on the grassy landscape. The sky is partly cloudy, and there are trees and a small structure in the distance. This scene depicts a moment of cultural interaction and shared labor during a historical period of exploration and colonisation.

Thomas Baines, Thomas Baines with Aborigines near the mouth of the Victoria River, 1857, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-134296782

Early interaction

Topic 

Investigate the complex interactions between Indigenous peoples and European settlers in Australia through Thomas Baines’ evocative painting.

Digital Classroom
sketch and depiction of the settlement at Sydney Cove Port Jackson.

Francis Fowkes, R Cribb Neele & John Samuel, Sketch & description of the settlement at Sydney Cove Port Jackson in the County of Cumberland taken by a transported convict on the 16th of April, 1788, which was not quite 3 months after Commodore Phillips's landing there, 1789, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-230578175

Early settlement

Topic 

Explore the early settlement of Sydney Cove through Francis Fowkes' 1789 map and other historical sources. 

Digital Classroom
A large book open at a midway point. The paper is yellowed and stained. The writing is written in highly decorative cursive. The book is being held open on a stand which sits atop a richly varnished cabinet with draws and a fold out desk surface.

Cook, James, 1728-1779 & Hutchinson, John & Wallis, Samuel, 1728-1795 & Bolckow, Henry William Ferdinand, 1806-1878. (1768). Journal of H.M.S. Endeeavour, 1768-1771 [manuscript], nla.gov.au/nla.obj-228958440

Endeavour voyage

Topic 

Embark on a historical journey with the original journal of Lieutenant James Cook, detailing the HMS Endeavour's voyage from 1768 to 1771. 

Digital Classroom
Image of a page in a journal listing names of female convicts on the ship Lady Penrhyn

Arthur Bowes Smyth, Journal of Arthur Bowes Smyth, 1787, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-233364776

First Fleet

Topic 

Explore the journey of the First Fleet and its role in shaping Australia's early colonial history. 

Digital Classroom
Family of aboriginal people sitting by a bay surrounded by trees.

Joseph Lycett, Family of Aborigines taking shelter during a storm, 1817, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-138500126

First peoples

Topic 

Explore the rich cultural heritage of Australia's First Peoples through the art of Joseph Lycett, a convict artist who captured the rituals and customs of Indigenous communities. 

Digital Classroom
A pencil drawing of a large opossum with trees in the background.

Peter Mazell, James Cook & John Webber, An opossum of Van Diemen's Land, 1784, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-136182204

Strange creatures

Topic 

Explore the excitement and wonder of the First Fleet as they encountered Australia’s unique flora and fauna for the first time. 

Digital Classroom

Introductory activities

These activities aim to facilitate a shared understanding of the themes and concepts relevant to Year 4 History. They provide a context for students before they explore related sources from the Treasures Gallery.

The first two activities introduce students to the ideas of exploring the unknown and interactions between people from different cultures. The third activity empowers students to shape their own learning about the settlement of Australia by Europeans

Facing the unknown

Tell your students they are about to embark on an expedition to Mars. Work with them to imagine this scenario. The expedition will last for more than a year, including several months of travel, and they will need to make observations about the planet when they arrive. Encourage your students to respond to the following questions in a class discussion:

  • What are your hopes?
  • What are your fears?
  • How do you feel about making this expedition?

Now ask students to imagine the experience of world explorers who set sail for unknown lands hundreds of years ago.

First contact

First contact between groups with different perspectives, understandings and cultures is always a challenge. Use this activity to help your students explore what might have occurred during first contact between different cultural groups in Australia. (The game is adapted from the Tribal Game activity in the resource Difference Differently.)

Print and cut out multiple copies of the game cards. Randomly assign a card to every student in the class. These cards explain the name and behaviours of five distinct cultural groups.

Give students time to read their cards and tell them they must take on the behaviours of their group.

Ask students to move around the classroom and, without speaking, greet other players. Conclude the game after 3─5 minutes; the classroom will probably be quite chaotic by this time.

The real power of this activity lies in the debriefing phase. Conduct a debriefing session with your students using the following questions:

  • What happened during the game?
  • How did you feel when someone had a behaviour that was different from your own?
  • How did you feel when you met someone from your own group?
  • Do you ever have similar feelings in your everyday life? When?

As a class, discuss this activity in the context of the European settlement of Australia.

European settlement of Australia

In this activity, students work together to share their current understandings of, and shape an inquiry into, the European settlement of Australia. Ask students to respond to the following questions:

  • What do you know about the settlement of Australia by Europeans?
  • What do you want to know about the settlement of Australia by Europeans?
  • What resources could you use to discover more about the settlement of Australia by Europeans?

Concluding activities

These activities encourage students to apply the concepts relating to first contacts to their experiences as Australians today. As part of this process you may also like to revisit the questions students developed in the introductory activity about European settlement of Australia.

The story behind names

Ask students to research evidence of Australia’s past in the names of:

  • states (for example, New South Wales)
  • rivers (for example, Yarra)
  • landmarks (for example, Uluru)
  • towns (for example, Wagga Wagga)
  • suburbs (for example, Forrest)
  • roads (for example, Oxley Highway) 
  • streets (for example, Wentworth St). 

Your students may like to create labels to record their evidence and then attach each label to the appropriate location on a map of Australia.

History on our flag

Ask your students to complete a PMI (Plus, Minus, Interesting) activity in response to the statement: The Australian flag should be changed. Then invite them to design a flag they think reflects Australia’s history.

Reconciliation

The Treasures sources in this resource have explored first contacts, particularly in relation to European settlers and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Millions of immigrants have come to Australia since the arrival of the first European settlers and reconciling cultural differences has been an ongoing process. Ask your students to explore any links between Australia’s history and the process of reconciliation in the Australian community today. They can do this by writing an acrostic poem on the theme of R.E.C.O.N.C.I.L.I.A.T.I.O.N.

Curriculum links

This resource aligns with the Australian Curriculum: History for Year 4 students in Humanities and Social Sciences.

The resource meets cross-curriculum priorities and promotes the use of historical skills such as analysis and use of sources, perspective and interpretations, and explanation and communication. The resource also has relevance to the Geography, and Civics and Citizenship strands, the English learning area and to the General Capabilities of Literacy, Critical and Creative Thinking, Intercultural Understanding, and Personal and Social Capability.

  • The diversity of First Nations Australians, their social organisation and their continuous connection to Country/Place (AC9HS4K01)
  • The causes of the establishment of the first British colony in Australia in 1788 (AC9HS4K02)
  • The experiences of individuals and groups, including military and civilian officials, and convicts involved in the establishment of the first British colony (AC9HS4K03)
  • The effects of contact with other people on First Nations Australians and their Countries/Places following the arrival of the First Fleet and how this was viewed by First Nations Australians as an invasion (AC9HS4K04)
Page published: 17 Oct 2024

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