It’s time to go Down Under…
Australia is an amazing county! It was cut off from the rest of the world for a long, long time so the animals are very different from everywhere else - including kangaroos, platypus, koala and wombats.
People have lived in Australia for about 75,000 years. The Aboriginal people of Australia are the oldest continual civilisation in the world!
Even though English is the most common language in Australia, it is quite different to the culture of the United Kingdom, even the language is a bit different!
This workbook is all about the animals, the ancient and modern history and the landscape of Australia. We’ve got a game too!
This workbook has 8 different activities.
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Before you start…
You’ll need some printed worksheets to complete this workbook. Start by clicking the button below and printing out the sheets.
Get a grown up to help you if you need it.
MAKE SURE TO CHECK ‘FIT TO PAGE’ WHEN YOU PRINT
When you’ve printed out the worksheets and got a pen or pencil, then scroll down to the begin the activities.
Here’s a bigger map…
You can click on the purple circles to learn more - it might help you later!
Aboriginal Australia
This is the Aboriginal flag of Australia
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) Australians have lived in Australia for hundreds of thousands of years. In 1788 the British decided to take over Australia and make it their own country. This was very difficult for Aboriginal people as they lost control of their country. Many of them died, got sick or were treated very badly because of the British. For a long time lots of people ignored Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history and culture and said that the land of Australia belonged to white people from Britain.
It is important that we remember that the traditional owners of the land in Australia are Aboriginal people. We need to be respectful of their land and their culture when we talk about Australia. We’ll learn some more about Aboriginal people during this workbook, but if you want to learn more, you can find a list of things to help you learn more.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island culture is very ancient and quite different to European culture.
We’ve got a little quiz to help you learn more about Aboriginal culture, including some things which Aboriginal people find sad or insulting. Don’t worry if you get some of the answers wrong - it’s supposed to help you learn!
We’re going to learn more about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples later. But now it’s time for the first activity!
First Questions
There are lots of interesting things to learn about Australia! Can you answer the questions in this quiz?
Remember, try not to guess but actually do some research to find out the answers - ask your parents, or look on the Internet to find the answers!
Activity 1: The Australian States
Australia is the 6th largest country in the world, but it’s divided into only 6 different states.
(The USA is the 3rd largest country but it has 50 states!)
Check out page 3 of your printed worksheets. Can you label the states and complete the activity at the bottom? You’ll find a star there…⭐
Don’t forget to fill the word into the first line of your answer grid!
Activity 2: Let’s travel around Australia
Australia is huge. It’s the 6th largest country in the world. in fact, it’s so big it doesn’t even count as an island. It’s called a continental landmass instead. There are lots of different landscapes in Australia - rainforests on the east coast, deserts in the centre and beautiful beaches all around the coast.
Let’s explore!
Where are we going?
We’re going to travel around Australia, using a map and some instructions. If you haven’t already downloaded and printed this black and white map - do it now! You’ll also need a pen or pencil to draw your route.
Along the way you’ll need to fill in different answers. That’s on page 5 of your worksheets. There’s a map on page 4 of the sheets.
The place with the star⭐will be the answer that goes in the Answer Grid for Activity 2.
When you’re ready, click below where it says ‘Our Trip around Australia’. That’s where you’ll find the instructions.
Activity 3: An Animal Quiz
Australia is home to a lot of bizarre animals. Are you ready for a little quiz? If you don’t know the answer to a question, that’s OK, let’s find out! Looking for the answer is just as fun!
Finish the activity first, then you’ll find out how to find the answer which goes into the Answer Grid!
Here are 5 unique Australian animals. The quiz has one question about each of these animals. If you click on the button below each picture you can find some additional information about them, like a video or a webpage.
You’ll find the Animal Quiz on pages 6 & 7 of your worksheet bundle
Complete the quiz by circling the correct answer. The answer to each question is A, B or C.
Only one question has the answer B. That animal is the answer which goes into the Answer Grid. ⭐
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and their lands
The land is very important for ATSI people. They’ve lived there for 65,000 years! ATSI people have lots of special knowledge about the land and the animals that live there. They often know things that modern science hasn’t figured out yet.
Aboriginal peoples didn’t write things down in the past, so the knowledge about the land was passed on through stories. Some of these stories are called Dreamtime stories. These are about the time when the land was formed, a time which is called the Dreamtime.
Even though lots of land was taken away from ATSI peoples when Europeans arrived, they still have a connection to the land. If you travel to Australia today, it is respectful to find out which tribal land you are staying on. In some places, it’s clear through signs but sometimes it isn’t, so you should do the research yourself.
Ready to do some research? Look at page 8 of your workbooks. Can you find the names of the owners of the land these towns are on? Use the instructions below.
How to research ATSI land
Start by visiting the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) website by clicking the button below.
Scroll down to the map of Indigenous Australia.
Zoom in and find the place you’re travelling to - the European names are in grey.
Write down the name of the tribe which cares for the area.
BONUS: Do some research on this tribe and try to find out a little about their history and culture.
Uluru & Dreamtime stories
Uluru is a huge rock in the centre of Australia. At different times of day or year it seems to be different colours - sometimes gold, sometimes red, sometimes brown. It’s a very special place for Aboriginal peoples.
The biggest Aboriginal group living near Uluru are called the Anangu. They are the guardians of Uluru, which is a sacred place. ATSI peoples believe that in the very beginning of time the land was flat with no hills or rivers or trees. Then different creatures came and left their marks on the land, forming hills and rivers, even forming Uluru.
This is called the Dreamtime, where stories come from. Dreamtime stories of how the land was formed are passed on from grandparents to parents to children, to make sure the stories are remembered. The stories tell about the land, and have important lessons about how people should behave. By learning stories, Aboriginal children learn about the land, the animals that live in it and how to survive in the right way.
There are thousands and thousands of stories and many are secret, so non-Aboriginal people will never hear them.
Uluru is the Aboriginal name, which we should always use, but there is another name for this place - what is it? _ _ _ _ _ ROCK⭐
Activity 5: Transported to Australia
If you’d rather listen to the story than read it, click below
John Hudson lived in London. He was an orphan and worked part-time as a chimney sweep. Because he was only a small boy it was much easier for him to clean the narrow chimneys.
One day when he was only 9 years old, his shirt ripped while cleaning a chimney and he didn’t have money to buy a new one. He went into someone’s house and stole a shirt and with it five silk stockings and two aprons. But the owner of the house caught him, and after he was arrested by police he lived in several prisons in Britain.
Working as a chimney sweep was a very difficult job
John would have been transported on a ship like this
Then one day the guards told him he was going to be sent to another type of prison. He and 34 other children would be sent on a boat to Australia, along with 700 adult prisoners. Australia belonged to Britain, but was on the other side of the world. In those days most people had never left the town they were born in, let alone the country they lived in.
John was put on a boat called “Friendship” to take him to Australia. Prisoners were kept in small cells below deck and only allowed into the fresh air once per day. The journey lasted for 8 months. The ship landed in Botany Bay, near Sydney in 1787.
John was still a prisoner in Australia. He had to work for 7 years before he could go free. It was a very difficult life. John had to build roads and clear trees and bushes off the land. He had to work for 12 hours some days and slept on the floor in a small wooden hut.
The doors were locked at night to stop him from running away. If John, or any of the other prisoners misbehaved they would be punished. Sometimes they were hit with a cat’o’nine tails, which is a whip with 9 tails. It was extremely painful. Other prisoners got sent to worse parts of Australia, like Norfolk Island, where there wasn’t very much food.
After John Hudson finished his prison sentence he was set free, but couldn’t return to England. He had no money so could not pay for a boat to travel back home. He decided to stay in Australia, as lots of prisoners did. He probably found a job and started a family afterwards, although we can’t be sure, as there are no records about his life.
This is an old map of Botany Bay which is in Sydney
Australia has lots of beautiful beaches - many people want to live there now
John Hudson wasn’t the only prisoner who stayed in Australia after he was freed. Around 162,000 people were sent as prisoners and decided to stay afterwards to start a new life. Lot of people in Australia are proud that their great-great-great-grandparents were early prisoners. Many Australians still call English people POMs - which some people think means Prisoner of Her Majesty because they still live in England.
Eventually the British Government stopped sending prisoners to Australia, keeping them in prison in Britain instead. Nowadays lots of people want to live in Australia, because of the beautiful beaches and lots of space. It’s hard to believe that going to Australia was once a punishment, not a holiday!
Now, a wordsearch…
To figure out the answer to this activity, you’ll need to complete a wordsearch based on the story above. It’s on page 9 of your worksheets. Can you find all the words listed below in the wordsearch?
One of the words isn’t in the wordsearch. That’s the answer to this activity ⭐
Orphan
Chimney
Money
Stole
Police
Prison
Boat
Friendship
Cells
Sydney
Prisoner
Free
Roads
Whip
Painful
Island
Sentence
Family
Records
Holiday
POM
Activity 6: Exploring Australia with Burke and Wills
Burke and Wills were the first European men to travel across Australia from north to south.
Aboriginal peoples lived across Australia in lots of different tribes. Sometimes they would guide Europeans across the country.
However Burke and Wills didn’t want Aboriginal guides and decided to go on their own.
This was a mistake because the Aboriginal people knew how to hunt and find food in the Outback. Burke and Wills didn’t.
On page 10 of your workbook, you’ll find a map of Eastern Australia, where Burke and Wills were exploring. Read the extracts of Burke’s diary below and draw their route on the map.
At the end of the diary is a question. That’s the answer that goes in the Answer Grid⭐
Activity 7: Waltzing Matilda
Waltzing Matilda is a very famous Australian song. It has a lot of Australian slang words in - don’t worry we’ll help you understand them!
Below you’ll find the lyrics to Waltzing Matilda, but all the slang words have been replaced with images. This activity is around making sure you get the words right.
On page 13 of your worksheets are some vocabulary flashcards. Each one has a picture, a word and an explanation. They explain every slang word in Waltzing Matilda.
Can you fill in the missing words on pages 11 & 12?
To go “Waltzing Matilda” means to travel through the Outback of Australia with a swag (sleeping bag) on your back. Lots of people did this as they looked for work on farms in the middle of Australia.
The song tells the story of a man who lives out in the wild and steals a sheep, makes a meal of it, and is caught by the man who owns the sheep. Fearing for his life, the man jumps into the water and drowns.
There’s one word in the song which is also the name of a woman or a girl - what is it? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ⭐
Activity 8: Coral Reefs
The Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef in the world. You can even see it from space!
Coral reef looks a bit like colourful rocks but it’s more complicated than that. Tiny creatures called polyps live in the sea. When they die, their bodies become hard like rock and new polyps live on top of them. Eventually a reef grows bigger and bigger.
Gradually fish start to live around the reef, eating from it and hiding among the different shapes.
We have to be very careful with coral and the fish that live there, as they’re very delicate. When you’re careful you can swim around the coral and the fish.
Can you spot the 7 differences between the 2 pictures of the coral reef?
If you want to print out a copy of the 2 pictures, you can use the button below. This picture isn’t in your worksheet bundle as it’s very colourful and will need a lot of printer ink. Make sure you ask a grown up for permission before you print it!
Which state is the Great Barrier Reef in? ⭐
Congratulations!
You’ve reached the end. You should have 6 answers now. You can write them all in the Answer Grid to reveal the vertical word.
Have you heard of this before? If not, look it up on Google and find some pictures!
Do you want to check your answers?
Click the button below which says ‘I have the answer’. It will ask you to put in a password. The password is the vertical woord in the Answer Grid.
Make sure to write it all as one word, and without capital letters, like this:
thisistheanswer