The lesson integrates both Social Sciences and Language Arts in a research and a creative writing component. The student will further understand inventors or inventions from Asia, Africa, and Australia, the focused continents in the 7th grade Social Sciences curriculum, as well as have the opportunity to develop his/her writing, reading, and oral communication skills. The project also incorporates mathematics with an emphasis on percentages and graphing.

A slow tour of the Australian Coast, starting at the Great Barrier Reef and ending at Tasmania, from SeaWiFS imagery

Australia Coastal Flyover

Australia Great Barrier Reef Flyover

SeaWiFS false color data showing seasonal change in the oceans and on land for Australia. The data is seasonally averaged, and shows spring, summer, fall, winter, spring, summer, and fall.

Australian Aboriginal art is one of the oldest continuing art traditions in the world. Much of the most important knowledge of aboriginal society was conveyed through different kinds of storytelling—including narratives that were spoken, performed as dances or songs, and those that were painted. In this lesson students will learn about the Aboriginal storytelling tradition through the spoken word and through visual culture. They will have the opportunity to hear stories of the Dreamtime told by the Aboriginal people, as well as to investigate Aboriginal storytelling in contemporary dot paintings.

Students will be researching Australian animals in order to prepare a presentation for the class. The children will be divided into groups to research and present about Tasmanian devils, koala bears, kangaroos, etc.

The Australian Curriculum sets out the core knowledge, understanding, skills and general capabilities important for all Australian students. The Australian Curriculum describes the learning entitlement of students as a foundation for their future learning, growth and active participation in the Australian community. It makes clear what all young Australians should learn as they progress through schooling. It is the foundation for high quality teaching to meet the needs of all Australian students.

Long tour over Australia using SeaWiFS imagery

Students will learn information about each of Australia's states and territories by researching information from Internet sites. They will then take what they have learned and decorate the outline of a car with symbols and pictures that represent information gained from their research.

A flyby of the Capricon Channel and the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, from SeaWiFS imagery

The fires in New South Wales continue to send great quantities of smoke across the Tasman Sea.

This graphic illustrates some of the marsupial mammals in Australia and placental mammals in North America. Even though they are not closely related, these mammals look alike because they have adapted to similar ecological roles. From The Human Evolution Coloring Book by by Adrienne Zihlman.

A short introduction to the musical instrument called the didjeridu, and its place within the Australian Aboriginal music tradition.

A set of related, cross-discipline, classroom activities suitable for a wide range of students, featuring the Australian musical instrument.

Aquas rapid fire gallery features todays image of the fires in Southeast Australia. A state of emergency is still in effect in Canberra, Australia with very hot, dry and windy conditions predicted over the next couple of days. A fire continues to burn in the McIntyre Hut area north-west of Canberra. Another fire, the Gudgenby fire, continues to burn to Canberra's south. There is a total fire ban in force in the region for the next six days.

This animation shows fire activity over Australia from 8-21-2001 to 8-20-2002. The fires are shown as tiny particles with each particle depicting the site at which a fire was detected. Daily fires are displayed at a rate of 10 days per second. The fire particles fade over 1.7 seconds and change color as they age from red to orange, yellow and grey. A clock inset indicates the date.

This geology Web site for kids, part of the museum's Kids in Our Halls program, was created by high school interns at the Museum. It includes: Kids Interview Kids, in which kids visiting the Hall of Planet Earth are asked geology questions and scientists' answers are given alongside the kids' article that recounts how Dr. Richard Ash survived snake encounters during an expedition to collect meteorites an online challenge in which kids see which standard kitchen items contain rocks and minerals, a 10-question interactive geology quiz a Q&A interview with a planetary geologist about her work.

A flyby of Northern Australia and the Arafat Sea, from SeaWiFS imagery