Worksheets
Teacher's Worksheet (PDF 415 kB)
As mentioned the worksheets can be completed by the student during or after the PowerPoint presentation. Worksheets 5 and 6 can be left until after the Gummingurru visit if this is more appropriate. The worksheets for the teachers (with the answers) are supplied in a separate file on the accompanying CD along with the student’s copies (without the answers). The students' copies are able to be printed out on single A4 sheets in black and white.
Worksheet 1 – 'Different Environments'
In this activity students are asked to draw the things that are important to the creation of their town or city (their environment). It is expected that students will draw things that are representative of their 21st century environment. From the text at the bottom of their worksheet and from what they were shown in the presentation it is hoped that the students will see that the things which create their environment also create their culture and who they are as individuals.
As stated in the PowerPoint this concept very much applies to the Australian Aboriginal culture. Over tens of thousands of years the Aboriginal culture has had a foundation of nature as its environment, this means that the Aboriginal culture was entirely influenced by nature. Aboriginal Culture in the 21st century still retains these vital natural elements. This is an important concept because it will enable the students to gain an understanding of Aboriginal culture and how it differs to other cultures, in particular Western culture.
Worksheet 2 – 'Yuris'
Students are asked to draw lines from each person to their corresponding yuri plant or animal in the landscape. This is a simple activity which has been developed to compliment relevant slides in the PowerPoint presentation. It aims to get the students visually aware of an Aboriginal person in their natural environment.
Worksheet 3 – 'Ceremonies'
Gummingurru is an Aboriginal ceremonial site. For the students to develop an understanding of the meaning of the word ‘ceremony’ a crossword has been created. This crossword is made up of ceremonies which the students are likely to be familiar with and also aspects of the ceremonies at Gummingurru and the Bunya Mountains which were spoken about in the PowerPoint presentation.
To do the crossword students are asked questions, all the answers are supplied for them. When they have the correct answers for the questions they can fill in the corresponding blocks in the crossword (e.g. 1. across = wedding; 4. down = females).
Worksheet 4 – 'Behaviour at the site'
At the end of the PowerPoint presentation the students are advised on the appropriate behaviour that is expected of them when they go to Gummingurru. Worksheet 4 re-emphasises some of these points by asking the students questions which they are to respond to by circling the correct answer.
Worksheet 5 – 'Some things to think about'
This activity is for students to do once they have finished viewing the PowerPoint presentation. It is a 'fill-in-the-word' activity that involves the students reading the story and placing the appropriate words, which are supplied, into the blank spaces. The story simply talks about how Aboriginal culture cares for nature and how modern society has not been caring for nature. This theme, although it has not been directly discussed in the PowerPoint presentation, is an underlying theme of the Aboriginal peoples close connection with the country. This activity makes relevant the importance of caring for nature in our present day lives. At the end of the story is a question for the student ‘What do you think?’ This can be merely a self-contemplating question for the students, or the teacher can develop another activity from it.
Worksheet 6 – 'Guess the grid shapes'
This is a time-consuming but fun activity for the students to do. It can be done before they visit they Gummingurru or after, the timing is up to the discretion of the teacher. The students are asked to colour in the corresponding squares from the co-ordinates supplied. The shapes that will appear before the students on the page will take on the unconventional forms of animals and plants that the students will be or have been faced with at the site when looking at the stone arrangements. This activity will encourage the students to see pictures of animals and plants in a way that is a bit more difficult to recognise than line drawings.
Board game
The board game is based on the journey that south-east Queensland and north-east New South Wales Aboriginal people would have made to get to the Bunya Festival at the Bunya Mountains. This journey involves the male players stopping at Gummingurru for the male initiation ceremony and the female players stopping at the Secret Women's Site. At both of these sites the players receive a yuri (and are told to care for it and its environment), a practice which is thought to have taken place during the Gummingurru initiation ceremony (Adrian Beattie, pers. comm. in Thompson 2004:8). When the students reach the Bunya Mountains (the finish), they can read a short description of the sorts of activities that the male and female Aboriginal people would have undertaken in preparation for the Bunya Festival.
Up to five players can play the board game at one time. The game involves throwing a die and moving the chosen playing piece the number of squares indicated on the die. Throughout the journey, players run the chance of landing on spaces that direct them to either miss a turn, go back to the start or move forward. Each of these instructions relates to a situation which the Aboriginal people, who walked this journey, may have faced. The main aim of the game is to simply experience the journey to the Bunya Mountains; winning is secondary.