Curriculum resources

Students explore representations of First Nations Peoples throughout history in the media and in works of First Nations producers and directors. Students consider who has the ‘right to story’ and build their understanding of Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property protocol.

Students explore First Nations Peoples’ knowledges of Earth and space cycles, the significance of sky Dreaming, and how cycles are used in daily life. Students compare and contrast this with Western scientific understanding of the same phenomena through a variety of hands-on science activities.

Students consider recent and historical updates made to Australia’s national anthem; investigating purpose, structure and inclusivity of anthems. They explore perspectives of First Nations people and non-Indigenous people, and work together to create an inclusive anthem for their school community.

Through an examination of interconnected elements of identity, students build and apply knowledge of target language and culture. They explore First Nations People’s connection to Country and the way language, culture, family and place shape identity in all people.

Students explore poems by First Nations authors on themes such as connection to Country, disconnection from Country and heroes on Country. Students learn how literary devices are used by First Nations poets to build meaning, and create original poetry to demonstrate their learning.

In this unit, students work with algebraic formulas, identifying patterns and interactions between real-life variables. They begin to understand First Nations Peoples’ knowledges and observations of the environment, in this instance moon phases and tides in First Nations fishing practices.

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 play and observe rules, equipment and scoring systems of First Nations games and investigate how they support skill development, fair play and inclusion. They explore how playing games contributes to First Nations cultures and consider the impact of colonisation on their continuation.

Students explore the connection between art, cultural expression and cultural identity. They learn about cultural appropriation and how to avoid it, and analyse First Nations 3D art and unique ways story can be told through art. Students respond by creating and exhibiting their own 3D artwork.

Students learn about First Nations aquaculture practices and write inquiry questions to guide their research into significant sites. Through a Brewarrina Fish Traps case study, students draw conclusions about the site’s importance and show their findings in a multimodal presentation.

Students explore the ways probability is used by First Nations Peoples in ancestral knowledge systems. Students learn about the ways these knowledges can inform and enrich our understanding of probability and its applications, conducting probability experiments through First Nations games.

In this unit, students explore the ways that identity is shaped by cultures and contexts. A close analysis of the film, The Sapphires, encourages students to recognise the personal empowerment of culture and identity, and to consider the impact that a disruption to this can have on a person.

Students explore the importance of water for First Nations Peoples in Australia and the material, cultural and spiritual meanings associated with bodies of water. The impact of colonisation, First Nations water management and struggles for water rights are explored through three case studies.

Students learn how sources are located and identified. They examine primary and secondary sources to draw conclusions about how evidence is used to learn about the lives of First Nations Peoples. By investigating the findings at Lake Mungo, students study the importance of conserving historical sites.

In this Y7–8 unit, students engage with First Nations Peoples’ knowledges, stories and art to challenge their thinking about the dramatic element of ‘space’. Students investigate how the spaces between bodies and objects can create meaning and how cultural appreciation can enhance their theatre-making.

Students explore the impacts of colonisation on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ access to water and basic details about water resource management. They engage with First Nations’ perspectives about the value and importance of water and examine local Indigenous cultures to understand the different meanings water holds.

For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, cultural identity is key to wellbeing. Students will explore their own identity and culture to build empathy and understanding of ways that colonisation has affected First Nations People’s identities. They will also explore what’s being done to support and revive Indigenous cultures​​.

Students are introduced to Australia's ancient past, and the ways it’s been analysed by European researchers. They engage with some of the issues caused by previous approaches to First Nations communities, and they examine the basics of heritage legislation and the way heritage status is determined for cultural sites.

Students examine conundrums that exist within the field of ancient history. They learn Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ perspectives on these matters and use the example of the (so-called) Bradshaw rock paintings to understand how theories are made about the ancient past. They examine the ancient history of their own area.

Students explore the representation of Indigenous characters in texts from different historical, social and cultural contexts. They analyse stories and songs of challenge told by First Nations people to build knowledge about culture and literary heritage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.

Students explore Australia as both a secular nation and a multi-faith society. They learn about the diversity of Indigenous spiritualities that have existed in Australia for many thousands of years, and the introduction of different religions, particularly Islam and Christianity. Students consider freedom of religion as a human right.

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 ancient and contemporary chemistry techniques that people, including First Nations Peoples of Australia, use to separate substances from mixtures. They investigate how particles in pure substances and mixtures can be modelled and how differences in the properties of substances can be used to separate mixtures.

This resource explores what Country means to First Nations Peoples, and how all that Country encompasses relates to liveability. Students examine case studies and elements of Country. And, through geographic inquiry and investigation, they apply these elements to their own places and spaces to improve liveability.

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.