Year 7

English

Understand the way language evolves to reflect a changing world, particularly in response to the use of new technology for presenting texts and communicating (ACELA1528)

  • Explore Australia’s first languages and dialects and how they have evolved to incorporate changes since colonisation e.g. new technologies such as different modes of transport, computer technology and so on.

  • Listen to Australian creoles such as Torres Strait Creole, Kimberley Kriol and creoles from Cape York and come to understand how these new languages have evolved as a result of our shared history.

Understand how accents, styles of speech and idioms express and create personal and social identities (ACELA1529)

  • Identify Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages connected to your local area i.e. language/s of traditional custodians as well as languages of local communities who have long histories locally with heritage links to other areas.

  • Notice the accents, styles of speech and idioms of local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and groups and connect with them to talk about the importance of language and how it creates personal and social identities (languages may include creoles and other new varieties of English).

Identify and explore ideas and viewpoints about events, issues and characters represented in texts drawn from different historical, social and cultural contexts (ACELT1619)

  • Consider stories and texts by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples valuing their oral traditions.

  • Notice the language/s used and reflect on the significance of using Australia’s first languages in terms of expressing ideas and viewpoints about events.

Recognise and analyse the ways that characterisation, events and settings are combined in narratives, and discuss the purposes and appeal of different approaches (ACELT1622)

  • Consider Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander authors from a range of backgrounds (urban, rural, remote) and explore their use of language, traditional as well as new varieties and dialects of English.

  • Reflect on the different approaches and the diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander authors as well as the similarities e.g. importance of the oral tradition and consider narratives told through dance, song and other art forms as well as through text.

Mathematics

Introduce the concept of variables as a way of representing numbers using letters (ACMNA175)

  • Consider how different languages and cultures represent numbers and stories through symbols e.g. explore the use of iconography in a variety of Aboriginal languages and the range of symbols used to tell stories and compare these with other cultures and languages.

  • NB: Be careful not to copy Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander symbols unless you have permission, rather make up your own symbols to express your own stories / problems.

Science

Predictable phenomena on Earth, including seasons and eclipses, are caused by the relative positions of the sun, Earth and the moon (ACSSU115)

  • Consider local Indigenous knowledge about the seasons, the sun, the earth and the moon and how they are represented through their languages, songs, rituals and social organisation.

  • Reflect on these knowledges and consider: how they are still used on a daily basis today; the learnings that can be gained with regard climate change and their relevance in terms of health and well being of all Australians.

  • Investigate the Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander seasons in your local area or region (or see Indigenous Weather Knowledge on BOM website for more details) and use the appropriate language names for each season identifying the language and ‘country’ they are from.

Water is an important resource that cycles through the environment (ACSSU222)

  • Investigate the intricate and important part of cultural life that water plays in the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and groups. Learn local language words for water and water related concepts.

Science knowledge can develop through collaboration and connecting ideas across the disciplines of science (ACSHE223)

  • Consider how Indigenous knowledge and languages can play a unique and invaluable role in western science.

  • Reflect on the importance of promoting understanding of Indigenous knowledges and languages and look into appropriate ways to connect with local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups to share their knowledges and languages.

Humanities and Social Sciences - History

The importance of conserving the remains of the ancient past, including the heritage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (ACHASSK171)

  • Explore repatriation movements (i.e. the removal of ancient Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander remains and sacred objects over the past 150 years) across Australia from a range of language groups and varying perspectives.

  • Consider the preservation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages and the significance of maintaining and reviving languages for all Australians.

Examine primary sources and secondary sources to determine their origin, purpose and reliability (ACHASSI156)

  • Discuss the difficulties in identifying the origin and purpose of some sources of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages, histories, stories and knowledges. Consider how Indigenous languages across Australia have been recorded and by whom and consider some of the challenges.

Humanities and Social Sciences- Geography

Economic, cultural, spiritual and aesthetic value of water for people, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and peoples of the Asia region (ACHASSK186)

  • Find language, stories, symbols and broader cultural understandings of the importance of water for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in your local area and/or across Australia. Research language words for water and other water related concepts.

  • Explore the multilayered meanings (material, cultural and spiritual wellbeing) and the local language words associated with rivers, waterholes, seas, lakes, soaks and springs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.

Humanities and Social Sciences- Economics and Business

Why individuals work, types of work and how people derive an income (ACHASSK202)

  • Consider the types of work associated with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander language maintenance, revival and renewal and it’s intricate links with the land, sustainability and health and wellbeing.

Humanities and Social Sciences- Civics and Citizenship

The process for constitutional change through a referendum (ACHASSK194)

  • Look into the current Recognize campaign supporting constitutional change to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the constitution. Consider the place Australia’s first languages play and whether it should be acknowledged.