A Journey Through Time: Year 12 History Artefact Excursion

                    

On Friday, 28 November, the Year 12 History students took a journey back in time as they explored the cities of Perth and Fremantle in search of artefacts from the pre-Federation decades of the 1880s and 1890s. Fuelled by the discovery of gold in Coolgardie in 1892 and Kalgoorlie in 1893, the 1890s in particular were a boom time in Western Australia, setting the colony apart from those in the east who fell into a crushing depression in the same decade. 

Along our travels, the students discovered that a wide range of the iconic buildings and infrastructure in both Perth and Fremantle had their beginnings in the last two decades of the nineteenth century, including the railway between Perth and Fremantle, the Fremantle Harbour, town hall and markets, the Palace Hotel in the city and the Anglican St. Georges Cathedral. The students also caught a glimpse of the significant amount of colonial history that lies buried beneath the urban environment of East Perth, where an astounding 10 000 people were buried at the East Perth Cementeries between 1829 and 1899. The students were taken on a tour of the existing marked grave sites and were intrigued at the stories they represented.

  

                           

                         

Students have been set the challenge to select one artefact from our travels on which to base their first inquiry task. They are endeavouring to conduct research and 'unlock' the stories of cohesion or division, social, political or economic change that lie within the stories of their artefacts. They made an excellent start to their research process at the end of our day in Perth City through accessing the range of resources available at the Battye Library.

Upon the completion of their research, the students will create a multi-modal text in which to share the stories of their artefacts and what they represent with the College community and their creations will be displayed in the new school year.

Ms Karen Taylor

Learning Area Coordinator - Humanities

30 November 2014