British Empire in the Pacific · 1788-1901

Australia: from penal colony to nation

In 1788 a British fleet lands convicts on the land of the Eora people. Over a century, colonies spread across a continent that had been home to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples for tens of thousands of years. Students follow colonisation, gold and federation, and ask whose story it is.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
50 minutes
Ages
12–15
On the map
3 steps, AD 1788 to AD 1914
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

In 1788 a British fleet lands convicts on the land of the Eora people. Over a century, colonies spread across a continent that had been home to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples for tens of thousands of years. Students follow colonisation, gold and federation, and ask whose story it is.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Describe the founding of the penal colony at Sydney Cove in 1788 and the peoples already living there.
  • Explain how colonisation, frontier violence, disease and gold changed Australia in the 1800s.
  • Explain how the colonies became the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901, and who was left out.
2

Explore the map

15 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 1788

Hundreds of nations

Open the map in 1788 and zoom in on south-eastern Australia. Read the names of the Aboriginal nations on the map around Sydney. How many can you find?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 1880

The colonies

Drag the slider to 1880 and zoom out over Australia. Name the British colonies you see. Which is the largest?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

15 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. British law treated Australia as terra nullius, "land belonging to no one". Why was that wrong, and why did it matter so much?
  2. In 1789 smallpox spread among the Aboriginal people around Sydney. How did disease change the balance of power?
  3. Aboriginal leaders such as Pemulwuy resisted the settlers for years. Why is resistance often missing from colonial history?
  4. Gold rushes from 1851 brought hundreds of thousands of newcomers, including many from China. How did that change the colonies?
  5. The new nation of 1901 began the "White Australia" policy. What does that tell you about who was meant to belong?
4

Game round

10 min

Play Napoleon Bonaparte in Rule History. In 1800 his government sent Nicolas Baudin to map the coasts of Australia, and British worries about French plans helped speed up new settlements such as Hobart. Discuss: how did rivalry between empires decide where colonies were founded?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

€19 per month unlocks every worksheet, every live lesson and the class workspace. The free lesson prints without a subscription.