Curriculum resources

Students play First Nations games, discover First Nations toys and investigate the forces of pushing and pulling through movements such as throwing, hitting, spinning and rolling. They design and make a toy using natural materials applying their knowledge of forces and First Nations games.

This unit explores the important information First Nations Peoples collect and communicate from observing the natural environment. Students will identify and make connections to what we observe, why we observe, how we observe and ways to communicate observations.

Students investigate ways materials can be physically changed through hands-on learning. They develop understanding by predicting, observing and discussing the results of changes. Students learn about changes First Nations Peoples make to natural materials and use this knowledge, and exploration, to design their own object from natural materials.

Students explore length using both variable and uniform informal units of measurement and investigate ways First Nations people use measurement in everyday life. Students create a weaving artwork using informal measurement to share their learning with others.

Students explore how cultural stories of First Nations Peoples of Australia describe the patterns in the changing positions of the sun, moon and stars. Students recognise that astronomers use patterns of movement of celestial objects in the sky.

This scientific investigation into living things explores reciprocity between Country and First Nations Peoples. Students learn about local plants and animals through observation, data collection and research; and unpack sophisticated belief, kinship and knowledge systems some First Nations people use to understand and care for Country.

Students learn how First Nations Peoples understand and use the life cycle of living things sustainably. They develop an understanding and appreciation for the diversity of life through personal observation, investigation and creative writing.

Students examine the ecological importance of the Daintree Rainforest and learn about the Daintree’s Traditional Custodians – Eastern Kuku Yalanji People. Students also learn how, as a decomposer and keystone species, the southern cassowary regenerates the Daintree Rainforest by distributing seeds.

Students learn about water and the ways it enriches life. They explore how water’s perceived, valued and how it connects places in the environment. In looking at how First Nations Peoples understand and care for water, students develop their appreciation for water and water places, to learn to care for and sustain these places.

Students learn how we can use scientific knowledge of erosion and weathering to better protect and preserve sites of cultural significance of First Nations Peoples. Students experiment on different materials to see erosion and weathering in action.

Students explore how First Nations Peoples use knowledges of the structural features and behaviours of some animals and plants. They learn about Australia’s unique plant and animal diversity, and how First Nations Peoples to use and manage this through ancestral knowledge systems and practices.

This unit explores the relationship between habitats and survival of living things and how the knowledges of First Nations Peoples about Country allowed different species to thrive for millennia. Students investigate changing physical conditions by creating their own experiment.

Students explore their local environment by surveying biodiversity and creating food webs. They investigate the differences between various types of fire, including cultural burning, and how such fires affect biodiversity in their local region.

Students compare and contrast First Nations Peoples’ different approaches to classifying organisms and the Western scientific approach known as the Linnaean system. They explore how different classification systems might inform our knowledge of the ecological interactions between organisms, including food chains and food webs.

Students explore how First Nations Peoples use unbalanced forces to enhance motion in the design of everyday objects. They’re given opportunities to understand the physics of motion through a variety of hands-on science activities that are underpinned by First Nations pedagogy.

This unit explores the cultural accounts of geological features and events by First Nations Peoples, and how these histories have been preserved for millennia. Students research and locate volcanoes around Australia and compare creation stories against the geological evidence found today.

In this geology unit, students explore how rocks are formed and change over time, alongside the importance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ geological knowledges and rock selection. Students understand the importance of protecting culturally significant geological sites.

Students examine how current carbon-dating science supports First Nations Peoples’ ancient oral histories of and long presence on this continent. Students research and present on ancient artefact locations and learn how advances in technologies are giving a greater insight into the continent’s past.

In this biological sciences unit, students investigate disorders of feedback systems and effects on the development of products to address issues. Students research the relationships between First Nations healing and biomedical models in contemporary medical systems, and present findings to peers.

The past tells how our ancestors migrated across the world and came to settle in Sahul. A story of resilience is uncovered through studying the biological evolution of First Nations Peoples. Genetic isolation and extreme climate changes have given rise to societies rich in archaeological histories.

This chemical science unit looks at the chemical processes First Nations people use across the continent to detoxify substances (such as seeds) to make them edible. It covers processes such as leaching and fermentation.