Year 8 Science Lesson:

I would like to thank our KCC Wiradjuri woman Trina Stewart for her wonderful support in this lesson. Not only did she provide so many resources to stimulate the student’s curiosity, her intrinsic knowledge of heritage and culture brought it all to life. We had plants as examples of bush food for students to taste. Plants and oils as samples of bush medicine, for students to smell and recognise. Yellow and red ochres, known as wilgee by Wiradjuri people, which are used for many purposes; celebrations and ceremonies, to acknowledge sympathy and used to decorate tools and weapons.

 Wiradjuri people used a form of local basalt rock to make axes and grinding stones to produce their food and resources. This looks like a mortar and pestle.

The students were intrigued by the techniques to create the tools that were woven to catch fish and the beauty of the Dilly bag and Coolamon. 

They were fascinated by the simplicity of the Boomerang, spears and Woomera used for hunting that could generate enough force to kill an animal. 

The students were busy for the whole lesson. One of my great observations was that it stimulated student’s memories of conversations about indigenous knowledge with their family members.

Student engagement can be seen below.

What did you notice?

Ochre is the same colour as peanut butter.

Lilly Pilly berries taste sour. Lavender smells like a different type of mint.

Emu feathers felt really soft.

What do you think about its use?

I think they used their knowledge to the highest degree with the resources and technology they had at the time.

Wood and stone are used for tools. Ochre was used for celebrations and traditional dancers.

I noticed that what they used on a daily basis used natural earth resources.

What questions enter your mind?

How did they know it was edible? How did they know it's not poisonous?

How did they figure out these difficult things?

Why does Saltbush taste so salty?

Karen Smith | Science Teacher