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STRATEGIC PLANS - LEARNING
STRA TEGIC PL ANS - LEARNING

GOING FOR GOLD

IN YEAR 5

During Term 3, the Year 5 cohort was immersed in the
significance and impact of the discovery of gold in
Australia’s colonial history.
Humans have had a fascination with gold for thousands
of years. It was likely one of the first metals discovered and
revered, and has an important place in almost every human
culture. The learning for this unit of work involved playing the
‘Gold Game’ in the classroom, exposure to a range of literature
recounting life on the Australian goldfields, a visit to the Perth
Mint, and culminated with a Gold Rush experience at school.
GEOGRAPHY For the Gold Day, boys were encouraged to dress as miners when discovered, enthusiastic cries of “Eureka!” rung out as

from the 1850s and rotated through a series of activities. A
GENIUSES day in the life of a miner was not easy and many hardships the nuggets were exchanged for chocolate gold. A hearty lamb
were endured in the hope of striking it rich. One of the activities
stew (mutton is hard to find these days!) and fresh damper were
involved the boys panning for the precious metal, using one
of the earliest and most effective techniques for uncovering cooked on the campfire for the boys to taste and provide energy
to push on through the afternoon.
alluvial gold. Nuggets of gold-painted lead were mixed with
sand and separated using water and good old-fashioned The legacy of the Australian gold rushes, including the infamous
gumption. For leisure, the ‘digging jigging’ activity gave them a Eureka Stockade, has significantly influenced Australia’s wealth
chance to get their groove on and learn some new dance moves and development of democratic values. The boys in Year 5 now
from classics such as the ‘heel and toe polka’, ‘strip the willow’ have a better understanding of Australia’s past and future – a
and ‘the drongo’. truly lucky country.
Gold nuggets were spread throughout the nature play area and Paul Edwards, Year 5 Teacher

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