4/5S Gold Rush Webquest

You have been chosen to be the curator of a new Gold Museum that is being set up to let children today learn about the history of gold in Australia.

Your museum must hold exhibits that explain the properties and uses of gold, the history of the discovery of gold in Australia, life on the goldfields, including women and the Chinese and finally the Eureka Stockade or bushrangers. That is a total of four exhibits in your museum.

Click on the image below to find lots of websites to help you in your quest. Read the descriptions of the websites carefully to make your search for information easier.

Your museum should be created using a combination of presentation tools. It can be made up of documents, powerpoints, speeches, booklets, brochures and slideshows. Some programs you could use are Word, Powerpoint and Comic Life. Use your time in the computer room to find your information and to explore these websites and find the one that best suits your purpose.

Task 1: Where was gold discovered in Australia?

https://youtu.be/VglWWR9SfCA

Gold interactive map

After looking at the different places gold was discovered around Australia we will watch some gold panning videos.

https://youtu.be/HIObgsXoOfg

Task 1: Events of the 1850's

You have just TRAVELLED BACK IN TIME to the 1850's!

Your first task is to use the internet to research about the time of the gold rush. Here are some ideas to help you get started on what to look for:

• Who was the first person to discover gold in Australia?

• Where was gold discovered first?

• What impact did the gold rush have on Australia?

• Who went to the gold rush?

Once you have done some research about the time of the 1850's, you need to create a timeline. If you are unsure of what a timeline is, click on this link.

Using the information you already know, together with the information on the following websites you will need to create a timeline. The timeline needs to include 6 significant events that occured in Australian Gold Rush history. Use all six event boxes to complete the task. When you have finished your timeline you need to copy the image into a Google Doc on your iPad and save it, (to copy right click and press copy image).

Create a timeline

Task 2: School life in the 1850's

Going to school for children at the time of the Gold Rush was very different as you can imagine! Girls and boys were not treated the same at school. At the start of the Gold Rush around 1851 there were not many children on the goldfields, if there were children they would be working very hard. A couple of years later, more men started to bring their wives and chldren to the goldfields. Schools started to be set up in tents so that children could learn.

Here are a few links you need to have a look at:

Sovereign Hill: School in the 1850's

Life on the Goldfields 

Your task is to demonstrate the differences between school in the 1850's and today using an app on your iPad. Once you have finished you will copy and paste it or take a screen shot and add it to your document on Google Docs. Apps you might use include Popplet, Explain Everything, Google Slides etc

Task 3: A day in the life of a gold digger

The life of a person on the goldfield was hard working and often not very rewarding. Many men rushed to Ballarat in the 1850's in hope of finding gold. It was not cheap to work on the goldfields, in fact it was quite expensive. You needed to buy tools, food, shelter and a gold mining license. Some men also brought their families to the goldfields so this would be extra costs for them.

Here is the link to a Gold Rush Game. In this game you find supplies and mine for gold. You can allow yourself 15 minutes to play this game. Sometimes you might run out of money, supplies or even die. You can play as many times as you like in the 15 minutes you've been given in order to mine as much gold as you can.

Now look at the following websites which focus on the conditions people would have lived and worked in on the goldfields. Take notes on your jotter from the information you find on the websites below. You will need to have at least three paragraphs of information that you can put into your own words. Remember you are NOT to copy information word for word from the websites. You may also like to find websites of your own about what it was like to be on the goldfields, using Google.

Sovereign Hill Gold Rush research 

Australian Government website about the Gold Rush

Kid Cyber - Gold

Life on the goldfields 

After you have completed your research and taken notes you need to click on the link below which directs you to the Sovereign Hill website, this audio page features all the diary entries being read aloud to you. It is not neccessary for you to listen to all the diary entries. Click on the date to play an mp3 file and pick two or three to listen to.

Sovereign Hill website with diaries recorded

Finally to complete task 3, I would like you to put yourself in the shoes of someone who would have been there and write a diary entry using the knowledge you have about the gold rush. You can write this diary entry in the same document you have created on Google Docs.

Here are some suggestions if you are a bit stuck....

• A woman who has come from England with her husband and three children

• A poor man who desperately wants to find gold so he can eat

• A person who gets caught because they did not have a gold license

• Someone who strikes rich!

If you are unsure about how to write a diary entry click on this link for an example.

Hello Year 5. This page is designed for you to keep track of what's expected from you. It has been broken down step by step, explaining exactly what you need to do.

Step 1: Open a new document on Google Docs. Rename your document 'Gold Rush Webquest. This can also be the title.

Step 2: Follow the instructions set out in task 1. Copy and paste a copy of your timeline under the subheading Task 1: Timeline.

Step 3: Follow the instructions set out in task 2. Copy and paste a copy of your screenshot under the subheading Task 2: School in the 1850's vs school now.

Step 4: Follow the instructions set out in task 3. Write a diary entry under the subheading Task 3: Diary entry.

Step 5: Insert a screenshot or type out your letter to Sovereign Hill under the subheading Task 4: Letter to Sovereign Hill.

Step 6: Take a screenshot of the rubric on the Evaluation page. Use the Explain Everything app to show what grade you have given yourself in each criteria. Take another screen shot. Copy and paste a copy at the bottom of your document under the subheading Rubric: Self Assessment.

Step 7: Under the screenshot of your rubric create the subheading Comments: Under this heading write a comment about something new you have learnt about the gold rush or something you enjoyed learning more about. Finally write yourself two medals and a mission.

Step 8: Save your finished document as a Word document and send via WebDAV to the folder marked WebQuests in the History folder.

Step 9: Notify your teacher.

Step 10: Congratulate yourself for completing your webquest! Well done!