World Cultures & Geography - Australia

Here's a collection of resources on Australia for those of our users who don't live there! If Australia is your home, send us your favorite site about your country, and we'll try to include it in these listings. E-mail your suggestions to editorial@teachersfirst.com.

Documenting a Democracy - Grades 6-12 - The Australian government prepared this site to commemorate the centennial of confederation, which will be celebrated next year. It contains a large collection of facts, images and information about the Olympic host country.

Australian Story - Grades 6-12 - The Australian Broadcasting Corporation offers this series of profiles of Australian citizens. The profiles change frequently, and there's also an archive of past profiles. Here's a chance to see some personalities the Australians consider interesting.

Australian Storytelling - Teachers and Librarians - Stories about far-away places are always a hit. This site has plenty of "Australia - specific" stories, but it also includes an excellent collection of related resources and links to other places with information for storytellers. There are lots of places to visit on this artfully-crafted site, so plan on spending some time here.

Australia - Beyond the Fatal Shore - Grades 9-12 - This PBS series begins with the origins of Australia as a penal colony, then goes on to survey the people, cultures, and natural beauty of this island continent.

Australian Aboriginal Art - Grades 6-12 - Australia's aboriginal cultures were flourishing thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans. This sites describes their artwork and its role in aboriginal culture.

Picture Australia - Grades 4-12 - An on-line resource for maps and images of Australia.

Questacon: Canberra, Australia - The National Science and Technology Centre, Grades K-12. Requires Java and Shockwave to get the most out of this site. Students can take a virtual 3-D tour of Australia’s most fascinating interactive museum and explore the hands-on exhibits without ever leaving the classroom!

Stories of the Dreaming - Grades 4-12 - This beautiful site was created by an Australian consortium to catalog and retell aboriginal stories, myths, and folks tales. The site offers text, audio, and video versions of most of these, and in a layout which reinforces the subject matter. This site could be a great source of material for a study of myths and cultures, or simply as a way to expose students to tales from far away.

Voyages of Discovery - Grades 6-12 - The London Museum of Natural History created this site to chronicle the voyage of Captain Cook, who was the first European to bring natural scientists to Australia. Learn what they found and how they documented their work.

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