6s & 7s - The Lofties
Exploring
As part of our Term 1 Unit of Inquiry 'Journeys can lead to Change', the Lofties ventured into the city to explore the Fitzroy gardens, and to gather information and answer questions that they have about Captain Cook and the First Fleet.
One of our inquiry questions relates specifically to mapping. Before we set off, the children planned the trip and made comparisons with our previous trip to the Buxton Contemporary gallery. We worked together to collect all the information that is needed to plan our adventure: a map of Melbourne, train timetable, a map of Fitzroy gardens, the weather forecast, appropriate lunchbox and water bottle, and suitable clothes and footwear.
At the park, we visited Cooks' Cottage and met Jo and Pia who hosted our visit. We acknowledged the traditional owners of the land and were greeted with the Woiwurrung word for welcome - Wominjeka. We discovered what was in a chest that traveled on the Endeavour from England to Australia. The items were replicas of the originals including a cracker, a quill and ink, scurvy grass or New Zealand spinach and Captain Cook’s femur! Pia shared with us that the crackers were so hard and unpleasant to eat that the sailors carved their initials in the cracker.
We also learned how Mrs Cook would look after her family if they became sick. Some common remedies were brushing your eye with a black cat’s tail for an eye infection, eating soap flakes for an upset tummy or eating spiders for a fever.
We toured the cottage, tried on some clothes if we liked and saw a tiny replica of the Endeavour. Olive had brought a map from home with the Fairy Tree and Model Tudor Village marked. We followed the way to these places, a playground and then ate lunch. We traveled very safely on the trains and were assisted by the friendly Metro staff at Auburn and Parliament stations.
Talitha Crawford & Paul O'Leary
6s & 7s Classroom Teachers