It’s Alive!
at the National Museum of Australia
Teacher support material
Just looking and Museumhead by Libby Hathorn
Cabinets of curiosity by Gary Crew
The endling by Tony Flowers
Rainforest by Libby Hathorn
The night of the wombat by Jackie French
Phar Lap: A mystery at every turn by Tim the Yowie Man
Valley under the rock by Libby Hathorn
My stories by Elaine Russell
Young Tipoti’s piki (dream) by Alick Tipoti
Fire! Fire! by Libby Hathorn
Bean there … by Morris Gleitzman
Pesky pals by Boori Monty Pryor
The wonder thing by Libby Hathorn
The boab tree by Meme McDonald
It’s Alive!
at the National Museum of Australia
Teacher support material
Introduction
It’s Alive! is a collection of stories, images, poems
and reflections by some of Australia’s top children’s
authors. Gary Crew, Jackie French, Morris
Gleitzman and Tim the Yowie Man are just some
of the authors who bring the objects and stories
found at the National Museum of Australia to life.
It’s Alive! is a unique and fun resource for any
middle to upper primary classroom.
The following student learning activities are
designed to help teachers fully utilise It’s Alive! and
maximise learning outcomes. The collection
presents a variety of text types that can be used to
develop literacy skills. Much of the content, based
around Museum stories, supports the Studies of
Society and Environment curriculum.
It is envisaged that teachers will dip into It’s Alive!
on various occasions to support relevant curriculum
themes and/or learning outcomes. For this reason
discrete activities are provided for each part of the
collection. The ‘Questioning the text’ sections are
designed to engage students with the text.
‘Supporting activities’ are also provided.
Black line masters are indicated by
All photographs by George Serras of the National Museum of Australia
unless otherwise specified.
Just looking and
Museumhead
by
Libby Hathorn
Ask your students to explore the
poems ‘Just looking’ on page 2, and
‘Museumhead’ on page 12.
• Invite your students to share
stories about their own visits to
museums.
• As a class, develop a word bank
about museums. Ask your students
to contribute words they think of
when they hear the word ‘museum’.
Ask students to write their own
acrostic poems.
Just looking and Museumhead
Supporting activities
Cabinets of curiosity
by
Gary Crew
Why did Gary Crew’s family visit the museum?
What are some of the things that scared him at the
old Queensland Museum?
What does Gary mean when he uses the phrase
‘cathedral of death’ to describe the Grand Gallery?
Why do you think that Gary Crew remembers the
stuffed dingoes so well?
Cabinets of curiosity
Questioning the text
How did Gary Crew
feel when he watched
the film clip of the last
thylacine at Beaumaris
Zoo?
Supporting activities
The last thylacine, which died at Beaumaris Zoo,
Hobart, 1936. Courtesy of Tasmanian Museum and
Art Gallery
• Gary Crew writes
wonderful descriptions
of his reactions, as a museum visitor, to the various
exhibits at the old Queensland Museum. Challenge
your students to think about a museum from an
entirely different perspective! Ask them to imagine
that they are a thylacine on exhibition in a museum
and describe what they see when a group of
students comes to look at them.
Cabinets of curiosity
• Gary Crew describes the grey-uniformed guards
who worked at the Queensland Museum. Discuss
with your students the other people who work at a
museum, including curators, conservators, public
program officers, caterers and cleaners. This BLM
invites students to take on the role of a curator, and
choose four objects for a new museum exhibit. They
also need to create interpretive labels for each
object.
My museum
• Gary Crew shows the potential for creating a
gripping horror story set in a museum. Invite your
students to write their own scary museum story.
Detail of illustration by Tony Flowers
My museum
You have just won a job as a curator at a museum.
Here’s your chance to create a new gallery! Draw four objects that
you would like to exhibit. Write about each of the objects on the
label below your drawing.
The endling
by
Tony Flowers
A specimen of a long-dead thylacine,
kept in Wentworth solution, is on display
at the National Museum of Australia.
This exhibit is the inspiration for the
cartoon by Tony Flowers.
Illustration by
Tony Flowers
• Ask your students to research another
endangered or extinct creature.
• Invite them to draw on their research to develop a
cartoon that depicts the adventures the animal
experiences when trying to save its species.
The endling
Supporting activities
Rainforest
by
Libby Hathorn
• Discuss this poem’s message with the class.
• As a class, develop a word bank for rainforests.
Invite students to create their own poem about
rainforests using the steps on the BLM.
Poems of the land
Rainforest
Supporting activities
Poems of the land
Read through the steps that have been used to create this poem about
deserts. Then follow the same steps to create a poem about rainforests.
Step 1: Write down the names of five things that you would find in a desert.
For example:
sun
heat
sand
lizard
plant
Step 2: Write a word to describe each of the words you chose for step 1.
For example: Relentless
sun
Fierce
heat
Red
sand
Fast
lizard
Spiky
plant
Step 3: Add a verb (or doing word) to each line of the poem.
For example: Relentless
sun
beats
Fierce
heat
surrounds
Red
sand
blows
Fast
lizard
scrambles
Spiky
plant
survives
Now you have a go at writing a poem about rainforests.
Step 2
Step 1
Step 3
Copy your poem onto a piece of paper and illustrate it.
The night of the wombat
by
Jackie French
Why did the diprotodon die out?
For how many years have droughts been occurring
in the valley depicted in the story?
Why do you think that Dorothy and Jackie (the
narrator) were such good friends?
Why did Merv want to protect Dorothy?
What do you think scared Jackie as she walked
home?
Supporting activities
The night of the wombat
Questioning the text
• Discuss with your students how long drought has
affected the Australian continent. Then ask them to
complete the BLM where they are asked to draw the
valley and its inhabitants at three different times.
The valley
• Throughout this story, Jackie French repeats the
sentences ‘Ghosts don’t have to be human. The
ghosts of the past don’t die’. Discuss with the
students what Jackie means by this.
• Ask your students to write a story that begins and
ends with ‘Ghosts don’t have to be human. The
ghosts of the past don’t die’.
The valley
Re-read Jackie French’s descriptions of the drought-affected valley in
‘The night of the wombat’.
The valley and
its inhabitants
might have
looked like this
15,000 years ago.
The valley and
its inhabitants
might have
looked like this
300 years ago.
The valley and
its inhabitants
might look like
this today.
Phar Lap
A mystery at every turn
by
Tim the Yowie Man
Why did Tim the Yowie Man become interested in
Phar Lap?
Phar Lap
Questioning the text
Why did Harry Telford have such faith in Phar Lap?
Parts of Phar Lap are found in three different
museums. Which are these three museums? Why do
you think that these three museums all want to tell
the story of Phar Lap?
Why did Phar Lap have enemies?
How do you think that Phar Lap died?
Supporting activities
• Ask your students to complete the BLM. This will
encourage the students to analyse the stages of
Tim’s investigation and to understand his findings.
Solving a mystery
• Ask students to work in pairs and conduct their
own investigation using the same approach as Tim.
They should:
a. identify a mystery
b. formulate questions to answer
c. gather evidence
d. draw conclusions.
Courtesy Australian Racing Museum
Solvi ng a mystery
Using the questions below, plot the steps that Tim the Yowie Man
took during the course of his investigation into Phar Lap.
What was the mystery about?
What questions did Tim want answers to?
How did Tim gather evidence?
What conclusions did Tim reach?
Valley under
the rock
by
Libby Hathorn
Valley under the rock
Supporting activities
• Focus on the imagery used in the
second verse. Invite the students to
share the pictures that the words
create for them.
• Invite students to explore the
form of the first two verses. Find
the rhyming words and discuss the
pattern.
• Ask students to complete the
BLM. They will write a two-verse
poem about a place that is special
to them using the same pattern
that Libby Hathorn uses. There is
also space for them to illustrate
their poem.
A poetic place
A poetic place
Think about a place that is special to you. It can be inside,
outside or in your imagination!
Use the same pattern that Libby Hathorn used in the first two
verses of ‘Valley under the rock’ to write a poem about your
special place. Illustrate your poem in the space provided.
My stories
by
Elaine Russell
My stories
Questioning the text
What does Elaine Russell mean by the term ‘mission’?
Why do you think that the government gave the
families rations and blankets?
Why do you think that Elaine’s family ate possums?
Why was the campfire a good place to tell ghost
stories?
What were the activities that Elaine and her family
did at the river? Don’t forget to use the picture!
What toys or games could you make?
What is the irony about the success of the Murrin
Bridge Wines project?
Supporting activities
• Ask each student to think about a favourite event
or pastime involving his or her family. Students then
work in pairs and tell their story to the person they
are working with. Now organise the students into
groups of four. Each student should share with the
group the story that their pair told them.
• Invite students to complete the BLM. Students can
choose any story from their childhood and record it
briefly in the space provided. Encourage them to try
Elaine Russell’s drawing style to illustrate their story.
My story
Detail of Ghost Stories
by Elaine Russell
My story
Choose a story that you remember from your childhood and write a
brief description of it.
Draw a picture in Elaine Russell’s style that helps to tell your story.
Young Tipoti’s Piki (dream)
by
Alick Tipoti
Why do you think that Tipoti had to leave home to
go to high school?
Young Tipoti’s Piki (dream)
Questioning the text
Why were culture and tradition important to Tipoti?
Why did Tipoti want to go to Warubangai as soon
as he landed back on Badu Island?
What did the community learn from the experience
of Tipoti and his uncle?
Supporting activities
• Class discussion: What happens to traditions in a
community if people don’t nurture them?
• Ask students to talk with a grandparent, or older
member of their community and complete the
BLM. Students will reflect on how traditions
continue and change over time.
Then and now
• Invite students to choose a story from their family
history to present to the class. Students could tell
their story using PowerPoint, a song, a poster or a
written report.
Then and now
What traditions, celebrations or annual events do you celebrate?
Select a family or community tradition that you enjoy. Talk to a
grandparent, parent or older person about how the tradition was
practised when they were young. Record the similarities and
differences to how you practise the tradition today.
I interviewed
Tradition we practise
Then
Now
Fire! Fire!
by
Libby Hathorn
• Discuss with students why they
think that Libby Hathorn repeats
the phrase ‘Fire! Fire’ at the
beginning and end of each verse.
• Ask students to explore what
Libby Hathorn means by the
words ‘Friend and foe’ at the end
of the poem.
Fire! Fire!
Supporting activities
• Write two headings on the board:
‘fire is a friend when …’ and ‘fire is
a foe when …’ Ask students to
think of examples to put in each
column.
• Invite students to complete the
BLM. They will reflect on the
importance of water and create a
poem that portrays this.
Friend and foe
Canberra bushfires, 2003. Photography: Jeremy Rozdarz
Friend and foe
Complete the lists below.
Water is a friend when …
Water is a foe when …
Create your own poem about water and how it affects our lives
in good and bad ways.
Bean there …
by
Morris Gleitzman
Bean there …
Supporting activities
• Read the story aloud to your
students. Invite students to
complete the BLM and reflect on a
number of car names.
What’s in a name?
• Invite your students to take on
the role of creative director in an
advertising agency and complete
the BLM.
Classroom spin
What’s in a name?
Use the dictionary to find the meaning of the words used to name
these cars. Describe what marketing people are trying to
communicate to car buyers by using each of these names.
Car name
Bean
Charade
Prelude
Sonata
Gazelle
Swift
Sprint
Sherpa
Maverick
Magna
Liberty
What does the name mean?
Why was this name chosen?
Classroom spin
It’s hard to sell a classroom to your friends — right?
Change the way people look at your classroom by using language
creatively. Rename each of the items pictured below and add a
marketing slogan to make your room the place people want to be!
Your slogan
Pesky pals
by
Boori Monty Pryor
What does the first poem tell you about the history
of rabbits in Australia?
What is a pest?
How does Boori feel about Rex coming into their
family home?
Why do his feelings change over time?
Why is it surprising that Rex and Spot are friends?
Supporting activities
Pesky pals
Questioning the text
• Invite students to create a poem about their family
pet or favourite animal.
• As a class, discuss the
various perceptions that
people have about rabbits.
Invite students to
complete the BLM. They
will describe the responses
that four people may have
to rabbits.
Wascal or worry?
Illustration by Tony Flowers
Wascal or worry?
What might each of these people think about the rabbit?
Complete the thought bubbles.
I am a farmer.
I make and sell chocolate.
I work as a conservationist.
I am eight years old.
T he wonder thing
by
Libby Hathorn
The wonder thing
Supporting activities
• Read ‘The wonder thing’ to the
students, stopping before the last
word. Ask students what they
think that the poem is about. Then
read the complete poem.
• Ask students what they think
Libby Hathorn means when she
uses the phrase ‘Lovely as life is’.
• Discuss with students what
emotions they feel when they hear
this poem.
• Invite students to write a poem.
The poem can be about anything
at all, but they should not reveal
what the subject is until the last
line — just like Libby Hathorn
does in ‘The wonder thing’.
Students then share their poems
by reading them aloud in small
groups — inviting other students
to say what they think the poem is
about before they read the last line.
The Boab Tree
by
Meme McDonald
Why was the sad mother sad?
The Boab Tree
Questioning the text
How does the relationship between
the sad mother’s daughter and the
fast boy change during the story?
The daughter of the sad mother
takes on many forms in the story.
What are some of them?
What is it that the story tells us
can never be stolen?
Why do you think that the sad
mother becomes a boab tree?
Supporting activities
• Invite students to complete the
BLM, identifying sections of ‘The
Boab Tree’ where various emotional
experiences are depicted.
An emotional journey
An emotional journey
Each day we experience many different emotions. Identify the
parts of ‘The Boab Tree’ where one of the characters is:
lost
found
sad
happy
foolish
wise
Create a character of your own. On a separate piece of paper,
develop a story where the character you have created has each of
the emotional experiences listed above.