Lesson plan

The first people to live in Australia

I) Warming –up When did  the first  British settlers arrive in Australia?

Ian Hansen. The First fleet 1788   https://kevinhillstopten.com.au/painting/662/the-first-fleet-1788

Look at the painting. Let us imagine we are the sailors. We are on the board of the ship. We arrive in Australia.

What do we see? Do you think we meet any people? Are the British the first to live in Australia?

II) Pre-watching activity Today we’ll watch a documentary. (Full Documentary. The Men of Fifth World - Planet Doc Full Documentaries

 https://www.documentarytube.com/videos/the-men-of-the-fifth-world/

Look at the screen  Who do you think that man? What nationality is he?

Let’s watch and listen to his story

II) While watching activity

Transcript with question to discuss

1. (0.00 – 0.32 Stop)

We are the original inhabitants of this land, called Australia by the white man.

We have been here since the beginning of the time , since the Dreamtime, when everything we know was created.

Who were the first people to live in Australia? Do you think they have been here for a long time? How can you guess?

2. 0.32- 1.35)

My people know how to sing each and every place of this sacred country, while we contemplate Yhi, the Sun God.

Each song is a living map, which describes a specific path, the course of a river, a mountain or a forest.

If you brought together all these songs, which are passed down from generation to generation, and which come from dreams, we would compose the map of Australia

At twilight, the humming of didgeridoo, our religious instrument reminds us who we are and what we are doing here. It is the beat of our tradition, which keeps us united and  attached to the land.

What is didgeridoo? Does this word sound strange? It’s not an English word, isn’t it? So? What conclusion can we make?

3. (2.04 – 3.08 stop)

I’m old Yakar Garimala, an Australian Aborigine, as foreigners call us. And I’m going to tell you what  our world is like.

My country is enormous. It is an island that could be a continent. It is the most beautiful country in the world. We have deserts, jungles, savannah, plateau and mountains with deep canyons carved by furious torrents. The sea is all around, along our coast there are bays and inlets, and secret cliffs like this one  of Bickerton Island. This is where I live.

How can you explain the title of the documentary? The fifth world is…

What is special about Australia? Is it a continent, an island  or both of them?

4. ( 7.31 -9.04 Stop)

We share our land with all types of animals. Some of them are dangerous as the sea crocodile. It is a sacred animal for us, even though it is capable of devouring a man in an instant.

The kangaroo is the most characteristic animal of my country. I know over fifty different types. Some of them are over two meters high. They are beautiful and unique. They carry their children in pouches  which the mothers have on their stomach.

The forests and swamps are full of multi-coloured, like the yellow crested -cockatoo

There are also dangerous poisonous snakes, and others like the olive python that kill their prey by strangling them

 We have always respected all the beings of the Creation. Each tribe, each person has one or more animals which are their totems, because they are in their dreams and they can’t hunt them or eat them

How do you think Aborigines treat animals? The people and animals are equal, aren’t they? What do you think the word “sacred” means?

5. ( 9.04 - 10.12 Stop)

When we get together to dance round the fire, we sing the dreams of the animals and the stories how the animals were created. Those that dance and sing paint their faces and bodies with kaolin, to look like the spirits which, according to our believes, of grey colour. The dances are performed in order to worship or to give thanks to nature.

They’ve  got their own religion, haven’t they? Do they dance round the fire for fun?

III) Post watching    

Work in groups.

Make up sentences putting the words in the right order. Read the text. Find the question the text answers

Text  1

1.  the first people of / are / The Aborigines/ Australia.
2. about/ tell stories/  They/ their country.
3. believe in/ The Aborigines/ the Rainbow Serpent./ traditionally
4. the Rainbow Serpent/ The story says/ under the ground/ lives/ oil and water./ controls / and

Text 2

1. arrived/ The first Australians/ years ago/50,000
2. Asia/ from/ They /the sea /crossed
3. were / hunter-gatherers/ Aboriginal people 
4. no crops /They / and didn’t /grew/ animals/ domesticate
5. the only animal/The dingo/ was/ domesticated/they

Find the question the text answers

1. How did the original Australians get food?
2. When was the Dingo domesticated?
3. What is unusual about the original Australians’ belief?

IV) Getting feedback