Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

15 minutes

Tune In: What happened at Juukan Gorge?

15 minutes

Find Out: Understanding cultural heritage

25 minutes

Take Action: Archaeological methods

5 minutes

Reflection

Learning intentions

Students will:

explore what cultural heritage is and examples of sites in Australia
explore archaeological methods used in Australia.

Success criteria

Students can:

explain what a cultural heritage site is and its significance
provide examples of cultural heritage sites in Australia
identify the connection between archaeological methods and cultural sites.

Tune In: What happened at Juukan Gorge?

Step 1

Write “65,000” on the whiteboard. Invite students to raise their hands and share what they believe the number represents.

Step 2

After a few minutes, explain to students that this number represents how many years First Nations people have inhabited the continent of Australia, which makes Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples the world’s oldest living continuing culture.

Step 3

Read through the Scientific Evidence of First Peoples in Australia Factsheet with your students. After reading, reiterate to students that specific archaeological methods have been used to determine the timeline of inhabitancy and the scientific evidence of First Nations peoples in Australia.

Step 4

Pose the question to students:

Are all significant sites, such as Lake Mungo and Madjedbebe, that hold significant cultural value and scientific knowledge protected from harm?

To support your class discussion, watch the following video with students. It focuses on the destruction of the Juukan Gorge Cave, in which a mining company legally blasted a sacred rock shelter in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

Juukan Gorge inquiry saws new laws needed to stop the destruction of cultural heritage sites | ABC News - (youtube.com/watch?v=iLUO5-HeKxY)

Step 5

After viewing the video, invite students to reflect on the destruction of Juukan Gorge Cave by responding to the questions on the Student Worksheet.

Find Out: Understanding cultural heritage

Step 1

Based on the Juukan Gorge Cave example, read through the Cultural Heritage in Australia Factsheet, which introduces the concept of cultural heritage sites to students. After reading, guide students to understand the connection between the destruction of the Juukan Gorge Cave and the importance of protecting and preserving cultural sites using First Nations and archaeological methods.

Step 2

Now, display the Visual Explainer to students that introduces archaeological methods for identifying cultural heritage sites in Australia.

Step 3

Invite students to pair up and discuss why cultural heritage classification is crucially important for Traditional Custodians and cultural preservation.

Take Action: Archaeological methods

Preparation

For this station activity, arrange the desks into eight groupings and, if possible, place a device (such as a tablet or laptop) for students to research at each station. Note for the Mulgumpin (Morton Bay) station, print a copy of this Significant Sites on Mulgumpin Factsheet for students to to use.

Step 1

Explain to students that they will investigate different First Nations cultural heritage sites across Australia. For this activity, divide students into small groups to work together as each group rotates through each station.

At each station, their task is to research cultural sites in Australia, such as:

Lake Mungo (NSW)
Budj Bim Cultural Landscape (VIC)
Quandamooka Estate (QLD)
Murujuga National Park (WA)
Ubirr (NT)
Ilkara/Akurra Adnya (SA)
Namadji National Park (ACT)
Kunanyi (TAS)

Step 2

Guide each group to a station. Once seated, outline to students that they must use the sources on the Student Worksheet to collect information on each cultural heritage site. Their task is to record information about each cultural site and hypothesise which archaeological methods may have been used to identify or classify each site.

It is recommended that students spend approximately four to five minutes at each station before rotating.

Learning support: Provide students with a printed copy of the Visual Explainer to help them identify the archaeological methods that could’ve been used at each site.

Step 3

Once students have collected information about the cultural heritage sites at each station, invite them to share one interesting thing they learned from the activity and one question they have.

Learning extension: Students write a persuasive paragraph on how the proposed cable car would impact Kunanyi's cultural value.

Reflection

Direct students to the Student Worksheet to complete the reflection questions. Once completed, invite students to share their responses with the class.

The Archaeological Record

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Summary

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