Organic technologies

How do you think Aboriginal peoples got their tools thousands of years ago? Did they go to the local shopping centre to buy their tools or did they make them?

What does this tell us about their relationship with the environment?

In Tools of the Land students handle a range of Indigenous tools to investigate the material and use of each tool, while exploring the diversity of Aboriginal technologies.

Details

Year levels	2–4
Group size	30 students – two groups can run concurrently
Duration	75 minutes
Cost	$5 per student
Availability	Tuesday–Friday at 10am, 12pm, 3pm
Curriculum links	Australian History curriculum links to our programs (178kb PDF)

Aims

Explore the daily lives of Aboriginal peoples pre-1788 through object handing and discussion.
Consider the use and importance of tools in Aboriginal societies before European settlement.

Structure

Introductory activity – through object handling students investigate a number of Indigenous tools, and consider and discuss what they are made of, how they are used and who might use them
Gallery activity – students visit specific areas in the First Australians gallery to explore the diversity of Indigenous tools and technologies. Students also visit the Open Collections and draw their favourite Aboriginal artefact on display.
Reflection – students gather to discuss the artefacts they have found, how the tools were used, as well as the importance of these tools to the way Aboriginal peoples lived and interacted with the environment.

Exploring the Museum

You may like to allow extra time to visit other exhibitions and to explore other places in the Museum, such as Circa and Kspace. For everything you need to know about visiting, see Plan and book a visit.

Related resources

These activity ideas might be useful in your classroom.

You may also be interested in the following interactives:

Saibai Island Canoe – catch a fish from your own canoe for a traditional Torres Strait Islander feast
Mystery Object: Torres Strait Islands – use the clues to discover what the mystery object is.

You can also see the full list of resources related to Indigenous Australia.