Around the World

Monday June 22 G’day Sport welcome to…

On this day in Australian history: 1889 – tallest building (34m) was opened in Sydney, NSW 1935 – first cane toad arrived in Gordonvale, Queensland 1985 – first council elections were held in Palmerston, Northern Territory A few facts about Australia:

Australia is the 6th largest country in the world and smallest of the world’s 7 continents Capital city: Canberra

Coat of Arms: kangaroo and emu (both animals are unable to move backwards)

Significant dates: Australia Day (January 26) and ANZAC Day (April 25)

Currency: Australian dollar and cents (1st country to in the world use polymer/plastic money in 1988) Animals: 80% of Australia’s wildlife are unique; they are only found naturally in Australia

Population: 25.5 million people (with approximately 1 million indigenous people – 2020)

Total area: 7.6 million square kilometres (40% is uninhabitable)

How does this look in comparison to Europe? We will be looking this in the Numeracy section Australian Flags

The Aboriginal Flag The Torres Strait Islander First flown July 12, 1971 Flag The colours symbolise: First flown July 14, 1995 • black - the aboriginal The colours symbolise: people of Australia The Australian Flag • green - the land • red - the red earth of Flown since 1908 • blue - the waters of the Australia Consists of the: Torres Strait • yellow circle - the sun • Union Jack flag • thin black tine - the the giver of life and • Commonwealth Star; Torres Strait islanders protector each point representing themselves each State and territories • stars of the Southern Cross States and Territories

State Postal Capital Formed Famous for: Rebel Wilson (actress) New South Wales NSW Sydney 1788 Ms Rallings Kylie Minogue (singer) Victoria VIC Melbourne 1851 Steve Irwin (Crocodile Hunter) Geoffrey Rush (actor) Queensland QLD Brisbane 1859 Miss Ammendola Heath Ledger (actor) Western Australia WA Perth 1829 Daniel Riccardo (F1 driver)

South Australia SA Adelaide 1836 Sir Robert Helpmann (ballet)

Tasmania TAS Hobart 1825 Errol Flynn (actor)

* also the official Capital city of Australia Australian Capital Territory ACT Canberra* 1911 Nick Kyrgios (tennis player)

Nova Peris OAM (athlete) Northern Territory NT Darwin 1911 Mr McGuirk A brief history of Australia

40, 000 BC: indigenous people arrived in Australia; establishing the spiritual and artist traditions of Australia ‘Dreamtime’ (we will be looking at Dreamtime in the literacy/creative arts section)

1606: accidently discovered by Willem Janszoon

1642: Abel Tasman officially discovered Van Diemen’s Land (later called Tasmania)

1770: Captain James Cook lands at Botany Bay and after 5 months of exploration declares Terra Australis as belonging to Great Britain

January 26, 1778: the First Fleet arrived and formed a penal settlement at Sydney Cove. 11 ships consisting of free settlers, military and convicts (prisoners) A brief history of Australia

1851: gold is found at several locations leading to the ‘Gold Rush’; influx of Chinese immigrants

1854: Eureka Stockade – ‘diggers’ clashed with police about the miner’s license

1880: infamous outlaw Ned Kelly was hanged

January 1, 1901: the country is unified and becomes the Commonwealth of Australia

1902: women have the right to vote and be elected to National Parliament

April 25, 1915: Gallipoli campaign in Turkey commences. Alongside New Zealanders the identity of the ANZACs is created – great courage, endurance, initiative, discipline and mateship. A brief history of Australia

1948: Australia begins a scheme for immigration from Europe; more than two million people arrive. Melbourne becomes the 2nd largest Greek city in the world (Athens is the 1st)

1956: Olympic Games held in Melbourne

1986: The Australia Act makes Australian law fully independent of the British parliament and legal system

1993: The Native Title Act establishes a process for the granting of Aboriginal land rights

February 2008: the Government apologises for past wrongs committed against the indigenous population

January 2020: unprecedented heatwave since September 2019 causes bushfires that killed at least 25 people, millions of animals and destroyed about 2,000 homes in south-east of country Australian Literature Language

Australia has no official languages. English has been entrenched as the de facto national language since European settlement. The 10 most popular languages after English are represented on the pie chart

Over 250 Indigenous Australian languages are thought to have existed at the time of first European contact, of which less than 20 are still in daily use by all age groups. Most Australian languages are commonly held to belong to the Pama–Nyungan family. The primary typological division in Australian languages: Pama–Nyungan languages (tan) and non-Pama–Nyungan languages (mustard and grey). The Ngunnawal People (ACT) However…

Any fair dinkum Strayan is fluent in Strine.

Strewth!!! What’s that you say???

It is the lingo we Aussie’s speak. It’s pretty simple to understand so give it a burl and no worries if yous don’t get it a first. You might even feel like a bit of a galah but it will be bonzer and she’ll be apples if you drop a few phrases when having a convo with your Strayan teachers.

Strine Meaning Strine Meaning Strine Meaning arvo afternoon convo conversation ripper really great ankle biter child/children cossie swimming suit; bathers relo relative barbie BBQ; not the doll!!! G’day hello sook sulk; whinging big smoke city e.g. London galah/wally silly person strewth surprise; exclamation bonzer great give it a burl have a try/go Strine Aussie lingo Bruce Aussie bloke (male) fair dinkum true, real, genuine Strayan an Australian/Aussie chook chicken no worries no problem ute utility vehicle/pickup cobber mate; very good friend outback interior of Australia walk-about go on a trip My Country – Dorothy Mackellar

This poem starts in England but then describes Dorothy’s love of the beauty of the Australian landscape. Travel Blog: Land Down Under

Imagine you are a blogger. Using the images below write a blog encouraging people to come and visit the ‘Land Down Under’

Online audiences have a very short attention span and people tend to get bored and move onto the next thing quickly. Make it easy for them to read your post by keeping it short about 500 words and breaking up the text with short paragraphs. Start your blog with ‘The best decision I’ve ever made was to travel to Australia: the Land Down Under…’