What did I learn in the Hard Road Ahead Unit?

Life in the 1850’s was very different compared to how we live nowadays. It was hard to earn money if you were a miner. The people who were miners were usually poor people from England, Ireland and China who left their homes and families to find their fortune, but were often left empty handed. 

The kids who went to school in the 1850’s experienced a much harder time than we have. Girls and boys were separated in class and in the playground and the teachers were very strict. It was hard to get an education and most kids ended up leaving school to work to help the family survive. 

The Eureka Stockade was when the miners wanted the government to stop making people pay  for licences to pan for gold. The miners build a stockade and the in the early hours of 3rd December 1854, the government attacked with soldiers. 22 miners lost their lives, including one woman. Eight soldiers also died. Peter Lalor, the miner who wanted to fight back, managed to escape the stockade with a broken arm that had to be amputated. Two others miners escaped by wearing dresses.

The Red Hill National School was originally built under a tent. Unfortunately canvas was expensive on the diggings, and in September 1854, the teacher reported that someone attempted  to steal the tent for use of their own claims. Soon after the incident the tent was replaced by a simple wooden building and a roof. The building was 18 feet by 30 feet with 2 doors and windows at the front of the building. In the National School the children sat at long wooden desks on equally long wooden benches that had no backs. This building was not on the main street. It was on the street above where the cottages were with a big wooden fence around it.

What else did you learn and apply during this unit?

During this project, I wrote a newspaper article that was set in the 1850’s. It was about someone stealing the equipment from the Red Hill National School and a pig escaping from the Chinese camp. I thought my article was very detailed, with lots of pictures related to the topic. 

Another project I did was a maths activity creating a video. It was an instructional video which gave compass directions and angles to get to three landmarks around our diorama. 

Which of the PLA’s did I use throughout the unit?

I was able to imagine what it was like as a child in the 1850’s. This started by reading the book chat book, which helped me understand kids experience. Writing the letter to the school also really helped me reflect, by giving me some understanding about what it would have been like for kids in the 1850’s.

I collaborated and communicated with my partner building the diorama. We might have disagreed on some things, but managed to figure out how to change it so we both liked it. A challenge I faced while doing this unit was my partner being away for a couple of weeks. So I had to the building on my own and come up with my own ideas about the building. 

One of my highlights during this unit was having my parents come in to see the diorama we created and watch the robot that we programmed go around the main street. Another highlight was experiencing how school was for kids in the 1850’s. 

Looking back and thinking about this unit, it will be something that I remember for a long time. I  definitely enjoyed this unit.