When and where was gold first discovered in Australia? Mark on a map of Australia the position of all the main gold fields and the towns associated with them. Note the year that gold was first discovered in each place.
What is a gold rush? Describe in your own words how and why a gold rush might develop. What were some of the negative (bad) consequences of a gold rush (watch “Sovereign Hill” video)? Who benefited from a gold rush?
http://www.heathcoteps.vic.edu.au/goldfields/info/rush.htm
Who was Edward Hargraves? Why did he want to start a gold rush? Why did the government offer a reward for the discovery of gold? Why did the government then want to keep the discovery secret?
http://www.sbs.com.au/gold/story.html?storyid=32
A. Select images of all the different sorts of people and the occupations that were represented on the goldfields (men, women, children, rich people, poor people, indigenous Australians, immigrants etc) and create a photograph album. Use FrontPage
B. Choose one person and research what life would have been like for them on the goldfields?
Find out about their living conditions.
What did they live in? What did they usually eat and how did they get food and fresh water? Did they stay clean and healthy? What happened if they got sick? How did they dispose of waste? Did they use any form of transport? How did they get to the goldfields?
Find out about their family life, work and play.
Were they part of a community? What work or chores did they do? Did they go to school? Did they enjoy any leisure activities or games? Were they safe or did they face any dangers?
Work with a partner and write an
interview with this person. Think carefully about the questions that
you might ask them and what they might really have said in reply. Present your interview to the class, one
partner role-playing the interviewer and the other the interviewee. You may dress in character.
http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/slv/exhibitions/goldfields/
http://www.netc.net.au/edu/gold/Gold(2).html#Goldfield%20Life
http://www.sovereignhill.com.au/education/gallery.shtml
http://www.anmm.gov.au/gold150/exhibit.htm#top
http://www.heathcoteps.vic.edu.au/goldfields/info/information.htm
Create a slide show of the Eureka Stockade. The slideshow could be in the form of a historical report, a timeline or a recount of events. Use your answers to the questions below in your slideshow.
What was a gold licence?
Why did diggers have to have a licence?
Why were the people on the gold fields unhappy
about gold licenses?
What was the role of the troopers?
What would happen if a digger was caught without a license?
http://www.netc.net.au/edu/gold/Gold(5).html#Mining%20Laws
What rights did the miners have?
What was the Eureka Stockade?
What were the causes of the Eureka stockade?
What were the main events that led to the stockade?
What was the miners’ oath?
What does the Eureka flag look like? Is it used today? http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/slv/exhibitions/goldfields/eureka/chronol.htm
Who were the main people, or the leaders of
the different groups involved?
What roles did they play?
How did things change after the Eureka stockade?
The Eureka Stockade is sometimes called ‘the cradle of Australian democracy’, why?
http://www.ausflag.com.au/flags/eureka.html
http://www.ballarat.com/eurekaffair.htm
When gold was discovered in Australia our society changed. Create a graph in Excel that shows changes in population growth and diversity throughout the gold rush years (eg 1850 – 1860)
http://www.sbs.com.au/gold/story.html?storyid=49n
Why have some gold rush towns now become ghost towns (eg Hill End) while others have survived? In your answer think about location, water supply, resources and weather.
http://www.walkabout.com.au/locations/NSWHillEnd.shtml
http://www.hillendgold.com.au/
http://www.hillendart.com/history.htm
Bathurst and Goulburn were two of New South Wales’ first inland towns.
Choose one and write an article about the town including a short history and an outline of what it is like now (eg population, industries, tourist attractions etc.)
http://bathurst.local-e.nsw.gov.au/about/
http://goulburn.local-e.nsw.gov.au/about/
http://www.sbs.com.au/gold/story.html?storyid=56
http://www.sovereignhill.com.au/education/notes_pri_chinese.shtml
Chinese diggers experienced a lot of racism on the gold fields. Read about the Lambing Flat Massacre and how Chinese people were regarded and treated at the time of the riot in 1861.
Write a newspaper article about the Lambing Flats riots as it would be written today. Show how Australian society’s attitudes have changed towards people who appear to be different.
The discovery of gold in Australia was disastrous for indigenous Australians. Aboriginal people also experienced racism and prejudice. Imagine you are an Aboriginal person who has been driven off your traditional lands, which are sacred to you. How did the arrival of diggers searching for gold affect you and your community? Write a recount of your early contact with Europeans and the consequences of that contact. How did it change your life? Think about your land, traditional hunting grounds and sources of food and water, introduction of diseases your kinship groups, traditions and language.
http://goldinstitute.org/history/
Create a timeline of major events in Australian history. Use the resource cards (ask one of your teachers for a resource card pack) so you can match the events with the years they occurred.
http://www.netc.net.au/edu/gold/Gold(6).html#Mining%20Tools
Make a model of an implement used on the goldfields, eg a dolly and dolly pot, Californian cradle, sluice box, windlass, whip, ventilation sail over a mock mine shaft.
Create a diorama of a gold field scene, eg a mining camp, the assay office, or the Eureka Stockade.
What were some of the largest nuggets ever discovered? Create a spreadsheet showing when where and by whom they were discovered. Graph the value of each nugget at today’s values.
Write and perform a poem, song or ballad about an aspect of the gold rush in Australia.
Write and perform a play depicting an event or aspect of gold fields life.
Choreograph and perform a dance depicting an event or aspect of gold fields life.
Write a narrative about an adventure on the goldfields.
http://www.minerals.net/mineral/elements/gold/gold.htm
http://goldinstitute.org/facts/
Research some properties and uses of gold.
Prepare a topic talk or a debate arguing both the affirmative and negative viewpoints.
The gold rush was or was not good for Australia.
The Eureka Stockade was or was not the beginning of Australian democracy.
Mining does or does not harm the environment.
Life on the gold fields was harder for men or for women
Produce a dictionary of goldmining terms.
What are the typical features of a place where you might discover gold? Draw or paint a landscape and label the physical features that would make it a good place to stake a claim.
Using the drawing tools in Word create a flow chart showing the procedure for mining alluvial gold or gold bearing underground reef.
Australia’s gold rush occurred roughly between 1851 and 1860. Compare life in Australia before and after the gold rush. Prepare a PMI (Plus Minus and Interesting) Chart on the effects of the gold rush on Australia and its people. Consider changes to population growth and diversity, environment, transport, communications, construction and growth of rural towns and cities.
Additional Websites
http://www.oldmogotown.com.au/education.html
http://www.cairns.net.au/~sharefin/Markets/GoldRushes.htm