During visit learning: student activities, project ideas and questions

During their Mount Morgan Experience, students should be encouraged to take photographs (digital or disposable cameras are particularly suitable for this) at the sites they visit and of the people they meet (after asking permission of course). These will assist recall after the visit, enhance the quality and vividness of their descriptions and be mounted as a photo essay to be on display during the presentation of their performance poetry. Ideally, students should take their own photographs, as this will help them to develop their own impressions of their Mount Morgan Experience.

Students should visit a wide variety of sites to assist them in developing a balanced view of the life of Mount Morgan. These could include:

• Bouldercombe and Struck Oil – where students can view the sites where the Mount Morgan gold rush began. Sites like Crocodile Creek where racism against and jealousy of the success of the Chinese diggers led to riots in 1867.

• Razorback – where students can see the steep back track that bullock teams negotiated on their way to and from Mount Morgan.

• The Lookout – where students can experience a panoramic view of the town and the famous Mount Morgan Mine.

• The Railway Station – where students can ride the old steam train, look at old train memorabilia and learn how to pan for alluvial gold.

• The Mt Morgan High School – where students can see the first high school opened in Queensland.

• The School of Arts Hall – where students can see the site of many an entertaining evening throughout Mount Morgan’s history. Debutante balls, live theatre, local dances, school graduations, wedding receptions and local meetings have all been held within these walls. It may be possible to arrange a local bush poet to perform for the students from the stage of this once grand hall.

• The John Cani Nursing Home – where permission may be sought to interview residents and document their memories and impressions of Mount Morgan.

• The Cutter and Cutters Lane – where students can see where children once ran billy- cans of beer to thirsty miners.

• The Museum – where students can see a wonderful collection of objects and photographs that re-create the past.

• The Mount Morgan Mine – where students can see the famous site where fabulous fortunes where made and many lives lost. This mine created the finance responsible for creating one of the world’s most powerful multi-national enterprises, British Petroleum (BP).

• The Cemetery – where students can see the Linda Memorial, built in 1909 in memory of 26 miners who lost their lives at the Mount Morgan mine; the Hayes Memorial built in memory of three members of the Hayes family killed in a plane crash in 1934 on the beach near Yeppoon; a Cairn under which lies the remains of Aboriginal people taken to a Scottish University and now returned and laid to rest; the Chinese “Heung Lew” or Prayer Oven where money and gifts were burnt as a means of transferring them to the spirit world; the large number of children’s graves as a result of various epidemics that passed through the town. Grave rubbings can be made to take back to school.

• The Dee River – where students can see the environmental costs of mining techniques used throughout the twentieth century and modern attempts at rehabilitation.

Because of the number of sites available, the teacher will need to consider the organisation of the visit with questions such as:

• What arrangements need to be made regarding access to residents of the nursing home, local guides, demonstrations, performances, meals and tours?
• What route will be taken to Mount Morgan?
• Will all students visit all sites?
• Is a single day visit enough time to gather all information and impressions needed?
• In what order should the sites be visited?
• How many supervising adults will be needed?
• Where and when will all students regroup for discussion and sharing of experiences?

Depending on the time available, the interests of the students and the topics or sites and themes investigated during the pre-visit activities, teachers can select places to visit from the list above. Many of the sites have explanatory plaques and information leaflets, however teachers can organise for guides to conduct tours of the sites explaining their history and importance. The guides have many stories to tell about Mt Morgan and help bring the sites and events that occurred to life, thus providing the students with a greater feeling for the place. Opportunities for hands-on activities, such as gold panning and train rides are available. Such guides can be contacted through the Railway Society, the Museum or the Mine Tours.

It would enhance the quality of students' experience to pause at the conclusion of each site visit for a de-briefing and reflection. Students might like to take this time to make notes of their sensory impressions, thoughts and opinions and perhaps to draft ideas for poems. Alternatively, they may like to review their understanding of events discussed and ask further specific questions of their guide.

Some students may like to draw line sketches of the places they visit and/or the people they meet.