Deep Literacy: An Eora Project

Authentic learning

_boy-spears

Alexandria Park Community School acknowledges Dharug country and the Cadigal people in this Eora place and recognises the knowledge and authority of Traditional Custodians past and present.

This unit of work is experiential. It immerses students in local Aboriginal content to facilitate student-led research and reporting towards improved comprehension of text and stage-level writing skills.

Aboriginal Education Outcomes

THE EORA WEATHER UNIT

  • Establishes a positive framework for teaching and learning from Aboriginal perspectives.
  • Identifies common ground for Indigenous and non-Indigenous knowledge.
  • Provides building blocks for knowledge transference across key learning areas.
  • Creates opportunities to promote and publish student work.
  • Reinforces the value of writing practice.

Deep knowledge, authentic learning, and connectedness

Report 1: All about me

The information for this product is based on students’ existing knowledge and provides an opportunity to focus on literacy development, specifically, spelling, sentence structure and punctuation. It operates as a pre-test of writing capacity.

Report 2: Beaufort wind scale

The information for this product is provided in text and chart. Students report back the core topic data with attention to sequence, tense and audience. Charting the wind speed provides new data to report.

Report 3: Eora seasons

Students have practised sentence structure, sequence and tense. The tasks of this product require students to:

  • interpret new information in context of existing knowledge
  • expand on information with individual research
  • present information to an audience
  • publish their work.

Text Type: Information Report

Scaffold and Pre-test

Title All About Me
General Description This is a report about what I like.
Facts I like school.
I like sport.
I like the beach.
I like strawberries.
I like creating animations on my computer.
Summary There are lots of things I like.

The Beaufort wind scale

Up until about 150 years ago, most ships relied on the wind to make them move. Sailors needed to know what the wind was like so they would know which sails to put up. If it had too many sails up, the ship would blow over. If it had too few sails up, the ship would not be able to reach its best speed. Unfortunately, there were no standard descriptions of wind strengths. Then, in 1805, Sir Francis Beaufort made a scale to describe what the sea looked like when the wind was at different strengths. He did this mainly by describing how high the waves were. A similar scale was later made for use on land. This is what many weather watchers use today.

_wind-scale

Reading the Beaufort scale

The Beaufort scale tries to make it easy to describe wind strength accurately. Each strength has a number, a description and a wind speed. There are also a few words to describe what the user can see, which help in choosing the correct number on the scale. The wind speed is given in kilometres per hour (kph) and miles per hour (mph) for weather forecasts, but for ships and aircraft it is given in knots. One knot is equal to 1.85 kph or 1.15 mph.

The Beaufort wind scale indicators

Number & Description Features Air Speed kph (mph)
0 calm Smoke rises vertically; water smooth Less than 1 (Less than 1)
1 light air smoke shows wind direction; water ruffled 1-5 (1-3)
2 light breeze Leaves rustle; wind felt on face 6-11 (4-7)
3 gentle breeze loose paper blows around 12-19 (8-12)
4 moderate breeze branches sway 20-29 (13-18)
5 fresh breeze small trees sway; leaves blown off 30-39 (19-24)
6 strong breeze whistling in telephone lines 40-50 (25-31)
7 near gale large trees sway 51-61 (32-38)
9 strong gale branches break from trees 75-87 (47-54)
10 storm trees uprooted; weak buildings collapse 88-102 (55-63)
11 violent storms widespread damage 103-116 (64-72)
12 hurricane widespread structural damage above 116 (above 72)

Click here for a comprehension exercise related to the Beaufort Wind Scale.

Sampling the knowledge and applying it in context

Report 2: The Beaufort wind scale

Students

  • observe the wind daily
  • use the Beaufort wind scale to estimate wind speed
  • identify the relationship between wind speeds and weather
  • predict wind speed by weather
  • record predictions.

Report 3: Eora Seasons.

Students

  • learn about the D’harawal calendar seasons and events
  • learn about local bush tucker and medicine in season
  • locate, collect and sample the tucker
  • report on their findings.

D’harawal calendar

_calendar

Eora Weather Report: selecting text

Title Bana’Murra’Yung.
General Description This is a report about Autumn in Sydney.
Facts The Autumn months are March, April and May. The weather is wet and becoming cooler. Bana Murra’Yung is the Aboriginal name for Autumn in D’harawal language. In Autumn Lillipilli fruits ripen. Tiger quolls seek mates.
Summary Aboriginal people have their own calendar of seasons and know all about Autumn tucker.

Developing sentences, sequence and tense.

Title Bana’Murra’Yung
General Description This is a report about Bana Murra’Yung, the Eora season of Autumn.
Facts In March, April and May the weather becomes cooler in Sydney. In traditional Eora society, it was a time to begin making warm kangaroo skin cloaks for the coming winter. Tiger quolls gather and mate throughout Autumn. Lilli pillis are a bush fruit and they ripen from late summer and all through Autumn. Eora people knew all about weather and where to find bush tucker in the different seasons.
Summary There are different ways of thinking about the seasons.

Building the field with research: students investigate aspects of a season.

Title Bana’Murra’yung.
General Description An Eora Autumn.
Facts In early spring, the baby tiger quolls will be ready to leave their mothers’ pouches…
There are different types of lilli pillis in the Sydney area. Some are sweet and some are sour. They are all high in vitamin C…
In Autumn, humpback whales pass Sydney on their way to northern breeding grounds…
Emus lay their eggs in Autumn…
Summary

It’s Bana’Murra’Yung: what’s in our garden?

Much of Sydney’s bush tucker is common to all southern coastal regions from the mountains to the sea.

Students

  • consider (imagine, configure, transpose, compare) pre-invasion life in the context of place and the relationships between people and land
  • develop an understanding of traditional social roles and an awareness of the deep and interconnected Eora knowledge base around weather cycles and sources of food.

Extension: students research hunting and fishing technologies, local tucker of the season and some of the ways it is prepared and eaten.

Some common seasonal tucker from our school garden
Some common seasonal tucker from our school garden

Pepper tree

The pepper tree is not viewed as an Australian native, although it grows wild in many parts of the country. Pepper corns change in colour from green to white then pink and eventually they dry and appear brown. They can be used fresh when the fruit is fleshy or ground in a pepper mill when dry.
The pepper tree is not viewed as an Australian native, although it grows wild in many parts of the country. Peppercorns change in colour from green to white, then pink and eventually they dry and appear brown. They can be used fresh when the fruit is fleshy or ground in a pepper mill when dry.
Pepper tree
Pepper tree

Lamandra

Lomandra
Lamandra
Lamandra is a common garden grass and is valuable source of craft fibre and food. Fresh or dried, the seeds can be ground for meal and baked into breads and biscuits. The white flesh at the base of the plant can be eaten cooked or raw.
Lamandra is a common garden grass and is a valuable source of craft fibre and food. Fresh or dried, the seeds can be ground for meal and baked into breads and biscuits. The white flesh at the base of the plant can be eaten cooked or raw.
Lamandra dried
Lamandra dried

Lilli pilli

Lillipilli
Lilli pilli
There are many different species of lillipilli. Lillipilli grow as tall shade trees or as garden hedges and generally fruit in late summer and autumn. Fruits are high in Vitamin C and can vary in size from 2-6mm and in colour from white to deep magenta. These are bush cherries and they have firm sweet flesh.
There are many different species of lilli pilli. Lilli pilli grow as tall shade trees or as garden hedges and generally fruit in late summer and autumn. Fruits are high in vitamin C and can vary in size from 2–6mm, and in colour from white to deep magenta. These are bush cherries and they have firm sweet flesh.

Pigface

Pigface is a common coastal succulent with pretty anemone-like flowers in a great variety of colours. The flowers and leaves can be eaten. When the petals of the flowers fall, the bulb beneath the flower stem swells. This part of the plant is sweet and nutritious. The juice of the fleshy leaves can be used to relieve the pain of insect stings.
Pigface is a common coastal succulent with pretty anemone-like flowers in a great variety of colours. The flowers and leaves can be eaten. When the petals of the flowers fall, the bulb beneath the flower stem swells. This part of the plant is sweet and nutritious. The juice of the fleshy leaves can be used to relieve the pain of insect stings.

Story contributed by Kath Greenwood from Alexandria Park Community School. Published in 2016.