1. What Happened Long Ago?
Year 1 History / Even Year

2. Lesson Overview Activity Lesson Learning Outcome
Students will create a model of a traditional Indigenous shelter.
Prior Knowledge
Students can draw on their knowledge from the previous content lesson which focused on traditional housing of Aboriginal people in northern Australia.
Resources Required
Selection of adhesives: strong glue, rubber bands, hot glue gun, tape, Blue Tac
Strong pieces of cardboard for base of models
Natural materials collected from the surrounding environment
Teacher Dialogue Resource
Special Instructions
This lesson needs to be implemented over two teaching sessions to allow adequate time for the house models to be completed. The concept development will revisit and revise aspects of traditional Indigenous housing in the first teaching session. Closure of the lesson will not occur until the end of the second teaching session when the models are complete and ready to be presented during a sharing time.
Possible Ancestral Language Connection (ALC) Links
This is an opportunity to invite members of the community or Elders to assist the students to complete their housing models. This is an ideal time for dialogue to occur between Elders and students where knowledge of traditional housing before, in the past can be shared.
Vocabulary
Activity Lesson

3. Word Wall

4. Activating Prior Knowledge
Activity Outcome
We will create a model of a traditional Indigenous shelter.
Activating Prior Knowledge
Watch as I show what is behind each shape.
If you think the picture is of something that could be found in the natural environment place your hands on your head. If you think the picture would not be found in the natural environment cross your arms.
Activity Lesson

5. What type of shelter will we build?
Concept Development
Traditional Indigenous houses and shelters were built using natural materials that were available in the surrounding environment.
Refer to Teacher Dialogue
What type of shelter will we build?
We need to consider what the weather is like.
We need to look around at the natural environment.
We need to consider how many people will shelter in it.
We need to consider what materials we could use.
Northern Territory
Activity Lesson 5

6. Shelters were built using materials found in the natural environment
Concept Development
Traditional Indigenous houses and shelters were built using natural materials that were available in the surrounding environment.
Open fires were often put near shelters to get rid of snakes mosquitos and other insects.
Some shelters were not lived in for very long so they were made out of light, simple materials.
An elderly couple starting their hut in Atherton, north Queensland.
Some shelters were built to live in for long periods of time. These were made from stronger, natural materials.
Shelters were built using materials found in the natural environment 6

7. Concept Development palm fronds branches leaves bark sticks grass
Traditional Indigenous houses and shelters were built using natural materials that were available in the surrounding environment.
palm fronds
branches
leaves
bark
sticks
grass
Pair Share
Do you know the word for house or shelter in your ancestral language?
Two women carry large sheets of paperbark to use for their hut – Cape York Peninsula. 7

8. Guided Practice Activity Lesson
Traditional Indigenous houses and shelters were built using natural materials that were available in the surrounding environment.
Let’s follow these steps to create a model of a traditional Indigenous shelter.
Step 1: Collect materials from the natural environment that could be used for the model.
Step 2: Sort the collection into groups of the same types of materials.
Activity Lesson 8

9. Guided Practice Activity Lesson
Traditional Indigenous houses and shelters were built using natural materials that were available in the surrounding environment.
Let’s follow these steps to create a model of a traditional Indigenous shelter.
Step 3: Decide what shape the shelter will be and what each of the materials will be used for.
Step 4: Begin building the model on the cardboard base using the collected materials and strong glue.
Activity Lesson 9

10. Guided Practice Activity Lesson
Traditional Indigenous houses and shelters were built using natural materials that were available in the surrounding environment.
Let’s follow these steps to create a model of a traditional Indigenous shelter.
Step 5: Continue building the model. More materials may need to be collected.
Step 6: Add any final parts to the model such as sticks to show an open fire, surrounding plants or grass etc.
Activity Lesson 10

11. Relevance
Traditional Indigenous houses and shelters were built using natural materials that were available in the surrounding environment.
It is important to understand that traditional Indigenous houses were built from materials that were found in the natural environment.
With no set design or plan to follow, the Indigenous people created shelters to meet their needs. They considered the weather, the number of people sheltering there, and the materials that they could gather.
Houses now, in the present, are built for the same reasons. Different types of houses are built in different climates and the size of the house depends on how many people will be living in it.
Some people become house designers for a living so they can use their creativity to come up with new types and styles of houses to build.
A small gunyah (bark shelter) built over a wooden frame, used in woodland areas. 11

12. Closure
Traditional Indigenous houses and shelters were built using natural materials that were available in the surrounding environment.
Look what we built! 12