We began by reading Esther, chapter 6. Because we are looking specifically at the purpose of studying history, we copied a portion of Esther 6:1.
...and he commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king.Apparently, the king wished to study the history of his kingdom because he had trouble sleeping. Curing insomnia is perhaps not the best purpose for studying a subject, but the result of this changed the course of history for the Jews in Babylon.
It reminded him of the past.Studying history reminds us of our past. In this case, knowledge of history allowed the king to honor a man who deserved honor, saving him his life. One of the most important tools of the historian is research.
RESEARCH [Fr. recherche; re and chercher]As we progress through this study, we will be researching Australian history, using a variety of sources. We will look at excerpts from primary source documents and utilize other sources to find out some information about Australian history, geography, wildlife and culture.
To search or examine with continued care; to seek diligently for the truth.
The following clip presents a sort of collage of images from Australia. We will look at some of this in more detail as we study. The music is A Land Down Under by Men At Work, an Australian band that was quite popular in the 80s. (The links will take you to the lyrics of the song and information about the band.)
What images stood out to you? How many of the things do you recognize? What do these images tell you about Australia?
To begin researching, one important thing to know is what we already know and what we would like to learn. The KWL chart is a good way to help a child begin a research project. It also helps the teacher ensure that the child has an opportunity to learn things of interest to the child. Here is the KWL chart that we used and also a good one for older children.
Simple KWL from Eye on the Sky.
KWHL from NCSU.
For the KWL, help your child fill out the first two columns. This will help you see what they know about the subject and some of what they would like to learn. The final column will be filled out at the end of the study. It is ok if false information is put in the first column. This will be corrected in the course of study and will help your child see the importance of researching a topic.
The KWHL is similar, but there is also a column for your child to fill in about how they plan to go about getting this information. This is good for students who are beginning to research more on their own.
Mouse chose four things she would like to know more about:
- Animal populations
- Why the Aboriginals make art in the sand
- What made Ayer's Rock
- What the people are like
- How fast emus can run
Related Tags: homeschooling, Australia, education, Principle Approach
2 comments:
Here's a tidbit for you to begin with:
Ayer's Rock has a dual name. It is called 'Uluru/Ayer's Rock.'
In 1993, a dual naming policy was adopted that allowed official names that consist of both the traditional Aboriginal name and the English name. On 15 December 1993, it was renamed "Ayers Rock/Uluášu" and became the first officially dual named feature in the Northern Territory.
Uluru has no meaning, it is a local family name of the Pitjantjatjara, people.
In October 1872 the explorer Ernest Giles was the first non-indigenous person to sight the rock formation.
Uluru rises steeply on all sides to a height of about 340 metres (1,114 feet) above the desert plain, its summit 867 metres (2,845 feet) above sea level. An isolated rock-mass, it measures nine kilometres (5.6 miles) around its base.
Uluru may look like a giant boulder sitting in the desert sand, but it is not. Instead, it is like the ‘tip of the iceberg’, an enormous outcrop with even more of the same rock under the ground and beneath the surrounding desert sand.
Evolutionary timescales for the formation of Uluru span hundreds of millions of years of floods, deposition and tectonic activity. However, Looking at the evidence found in Uluru from a biblical perspective, we see that this wonderful formation did not result from millions of years of local flooding, erosion and tectonic activity. Rather, it was formed catastrophically by one major event and its after-effects—the Flood of Noah’s day.
The global Flood described in Genesis 6–8 generated the precise conditions to tear up, transport and deposit the nearly 20,000 feet (6,000 m) of sediment that now make up this formation as layers of jagged, mixed-sized grains. The tectonic activity that ended the global Flood was responsible for the tilting and uplifting of the hardened layers we see at Uluru today. After this uplift, the landscape dried out, turning it into today’s surrounding desert.
Enjoy the impressive beauty of Uluru, and don’t forget that this amazing formation gives evidence of the Genesis Flood.
Aussie.
One book I can really recommend that gives an insight to Australia after the second world war is Neville Shute's A Town Like Alice. It's my number one favourite book. It's probably a little too old for your daughter at the moment but I'm sure you would enjoy it. It's very uplifting (if you ignore the racist attitude toward Aborigones that was part and parcel of people's thinking then.)
Post a Comment