1. Immigration Impact on Australia; Past and Present.
Inquiry Question: What impact have immigrants had on shaping the current ‘Australian way of life’?
Big Ideas:
Historical events which have shaped the ‘Australian Way of Life’
Australian’s immigration history past and present.
The impact immigration has on Australia’s culture and beliefs.
Learning Intentions:
At the end of this unit students will understand:
How immigration has impacted Australia's history past and present.
How have Asian migrants have impacted on Australia as we know it.
How Australia’s beliefs and cultures have changed due to migrants.
Contributions migrates have made to the ‘Australian way of life’
What the ‘Australian way of life’ is past and present.
Teaching Proposal:
This unit focuses on the ‘People of Our World’ in particular the impact and history of people and nationalities who immigrated to Australia placing importance on Asian immigrants and their impact on Australia. Within the unit of work students will be able to draw on their own personal experiences and knowledge as well as explore the cultural experiences their local area has to offer. Students will also begin to understand the vast importance the Asian culture has had on Australia history and culture over time. As the students are a part of the Warrnambool community and the experience multicultural ethnicity in a daily basis within our schools, as Warrnambool is a sister city to Miura, Japan. As the unit is developed over 10 lessons the students are able to expand their knowledge and understandings of the impact which immigrants have on Australia’s history and culture, both past and present. The unit is based around the students developing outcomes through inquiry based learning, according to ACARA inquiry based learning gives students chances and enables them to direct their own learning based on experience and interest, which also enable them to carry out individual investigations (ACARA 2013, p. 14). Throughout this unit students will create and explore maps, create a Wondering Journal, build model boat, write letters and create online immigrant profiles. This learning and creating is supported by research literature, videos and interactive website which will provide the base knowledge needed in order to successfully complete this unit. This unit will enable students to make vital connections about Australia’s immigrant history, which in turn will enhance their present knowledge about immigrants in present day Australia. According to Gilbert and Hoepper (2014 p. 69) students are becoming what is known as globally educated students; it is important that students are able to be correctly and adequately informed of past, present and future histories within Australia. According to the Victorian Curriculum ‘the Humanities provide a framework for students to examine the complex processes that have shaped the modern world and to investigate responses to different challenges including people’s interconnections with the environment’ (VCAA, 2016). During the unit the students attend an excursion of the local cuisine within Warrnambool, which enables for students to use ‘personal experiences as a context for applying already learn knowledge’ (Gilbert and Hoepper 2014, p.69). The use of the inquiry unit allows the possibility of growth and development, it is also seen to ‘require more active learning by students’ (Gilbert and Hoepper 2014, p.48), therefore this unit is able to individualise learning allowing students to focus on specific topics and develop their own interests and learning outcomes. Andresen, Boud and Cohen sates that a ‘learners own appropriation of something that is to them personally significant or meaningful learning being true to the lived experience of learners’ (Andresen, Boud and Cohen, 2016), hence the development of passion projects in the end of the unit. During this unit students will be given the opportunity to critically reflect on the impact that immigration has had on them personally through the entries in their individual Wondering Journals. The nature of this unit draws on the big ideas of the impact that immigration and immigrants have had on Australia past and present, thus according to Wiggings and McTighe (2005) the concept and use of big ideas enables for enriched and targeted learning experiences central to the unit topic. According to Wilson and Murdoch a unit based solely on learning through individual inquiry will not only promote learning but will also enhance learning (2004), therefore this unit was based around individualised learning and the concept of ‘big ideas’.
Skills Developed: Conclusion of the unit students will be able to:
Compare/Contrast: Diverse characteristics, local to global (VCGGC085)
Locate/Evaluate: Asian countries relation to Australia (VCGGK092)
Describe/Explain: Causes and reasons why people migrated to Australia (VCHHK091)
Justify: Who can be an Australia Citizen (VCCCC014)
Identify: Perspectives of Vietnam people who migrated to Australia and why. (VCHHK095)
Produce: Written and Digital Assessments (VCHHK095), (VCCCC014) and (VCGGK098)
Assessment:
Wondering Journals entries, outlining wonderings, ideas, thoughts and understandings of weekly tasks.
Passion Project based on a wondering entered into their wondering journal. Assessment against rubric. (VCHHK095)
Immigrant Profile completion; understanding of what it would be like to leave and relocate becoming a migrant. (VCHHK095)
Family Tree and KWL’s (VCCCC014)
Scribble Map and Excursion (VCGGK098)

2. Lesson 1:
Lesson 2:
Lesson 3:
Lesson 4:
Lesson 5:
Learning Intention: Develop an understanding of what the ‘Australia way of life’ is past and present.
Activity: Students will create a definition/meaning of ‘Australian way of life’.
Create a wondering book, where students will enter individual wonderings about the topic.
Resources: Wondering Journal.
Australian Curriculum: (VCICCB009) Assessment: Personal writing pieces, and wondering book entry.
Learning Intention: How immigration has impacted Australia's history past and present.
Activity: Students explore real life stories of immigrants who migrated to Australia and why. Students will research and present their migrant to the class. Second entry into Wonderings Journal.
Resources: Wondering Journal, Immigrant Question Worksheet, Immigration Stories.
Australian Curriculum: (VCHHK091), (VCHHK095)
Assessment: Presentations of migrants, Wondering Journal entry.
Learning Intention: How have Asian migrants impacted on Australia as we know it.
Activity: Students explore Vietnamese immigrants and create a timeline of their migration. Students will explore the book ‘The Little Refugee’ and create a new flag combining both the Australian and Vietnamese Flags. Students will enter predictions of ‘What Australia might look like in 2080, 100 years on? Into their Wondering Journals.
Resources: Wondering Journals, ‘The Little Refugee’, Vietnamese Immigration Timeline:
Australian Curriculum: (VCHHK095), (VCGGK098) (VCHHC082)
Assessment:
Wondering Journals
Activity: Students will look at what Australia might look like without the impact of immigration. Looking specifically at transport, food and celebrations. Students will investigate and do their own research on their given topic either transport, food or celebrations and create a drawing/story of what Australia would look like without immigration. Students will enter their findings and research into their Wondering Journals.
Resources: Wondering Journals
Australian Curriculum: (VCHHK091), (VCGGK098) (VCCCC016)
Assessment: Wondering Journals, Evidence of Research.
Learning Intention: How have Asian migrants impacted on Australia as we know it. Where students as individuals fit into Australia.
Activity: Students will look at stories of other students who have recently migrated to the US, where they will then imagine they have to immigrate and leave for Australia. Students will create their own profile of how they felt, what they brought and why they needed to leave their current country. Students will make their 5th entry into Wondering Journals
Resources: Immigrant Profile Template, Young Immigrant:
Australian Curriculum: (VCEBR001)
Assessment: Wondering Journals, Wiki Presentation.
Lesson 6:
Lesson 7:
Lesson 8:
Lesson 9:
Lesson 10:
Activity: Students will look at the Vietnam war and the effect it had on the Vietnamese who immigrated to Australia. Using the National Museum Australia website to look at the conditions an reports of how the Vietnamese travelled to Australia. The students will then build and design their own boats according to the Boat Design Brief, in order to represent a family traveling to Australia from Vietnam.
Resources: Boat Design Brief, National Museum Australia
Australian Curriculum: (VCEBR001), (VCHHK091)
Assessment: Wondering Journal,
Rubric in Boat Design Brief
Learning Intention: Where students as individuals fit into Australia.
Activity: Students will fill out a KWL about Australian Citizenship, watching a video by BTN on Citizenship, after which the students will look at their own heritage and see where they have come from and place that into a family tree.
Resources: KWL, BTN Video: Family Tree Template.
Australian Curriculum:  
(VCCCC014), (VCPSCSO030) (VCECU010)
Assessment: Wondering Journal, Family Tree
Activity: Students will be writing Pen Pal letters to Warrnambool’s sister city Miura, Japan. Where the students will introduce themselves and explain which 10 items they would take with them if they were to immigrate tomorrow and justify why they are taking these items.
Students will then make their last entry in their Wondering Journals.
Resources: Wondering Journals, Pen Pal
Australian Curriculum: (VCGGC085) (VCGGK098)
Wondering Journal
Learning Intention: Students will be developing their own projects based from their Wondering Journals. Understanding 1,2,3,4 and 5.
Activity: Students will be developing an individualized project, on a topic or wondering in which they wish to further investigate from their Wondering Journals. Students will be required to complete a planning sheet for their projects and present the projects to class.
Resources: Materials needed for passion projects.
Australian Curriculum: (VCHHK095), (VCCCTQ021)
Rubric of Passion Project
Learning Intention: Contributions migrants have made to the ‘Australian way of life’
Activity: Students will attend an excursion looking at the local cuisine of Warrnambool and the impact that the Asian Immigrant culture has had on this. Students will attend 4 restaurants, looking at their cultural heritage, ingredients (imported/locally grown) and what Warrnambool’s food industry would look like without Asia’s impact.
Resources: World Map, iPad’s, ScribbleMaps
Australian Curriculum: (VCGGK092), (VCGGK098),
(VCGGC085)
Completion of ScribbleMap.