Teacher information

Overview

Mount Morgan: Gold from the Mountain aims to develop students’ understandings about the problems faced in collecting the natural resources from Mount Morgan and the importance and impact upon the water in the region. Students will investigate the scientific problem of separating materials from each other. They will focus on Gold, how it is found and why it is considered so valuable. They will look at some of the processes used to obtain the gold and other valuable resources from Mount Morgan and look at the impact of these processes on the water supply.

The students are encouraged to approach science from a problem-solving approach and to either discover or experience separation processes for themselves. The concepts of sustainable science are featured, together with the key learning area outcomes of getting students to:

• understand the nature of science as a human endeavour, its history, its relationship with other human endeavours and its contribution to society
• use the practices and dispositions of scientific investigations, reflection and analysis to refine knowledge and pose new questions
• use scientific language to communicate effectively
• use decision making processes that include ethical considerations of the impact of science on people and the environment.

Activities in this unit are developed around three themes:

• simple separation techniques
• mining gold at Mount Morgan
• the use of water and the impact on the Dee River

The pre-visit activities aim to develop student understandings about some simple separation processes and the introduction to getting the gold out of Mount Morgan.

Activities during the visit offer the students the opportunity to see the mine "close-up" and experience the various roles and processes involved in the collection of this resource. Students travel on the mine tour, view a range of machinery involved in the separation processes, see photographs and images of the mine at different stages of its history and collect water samples from several sites for later testing in the classroom.

The post-visit activities draw upon students’ experiences during their visit, including the scientific testing of the water samples, the preparation of a report and a poster presentation.

The following activities relate closely to the strands of Science and Society, Energy and Change and Natural and Processed Materials. However the strands of Life and Living and Earth and Beyond are touched upon and could easily be developed further.

Teaching science at the primary level

The teaching of science is often considered a challenging one for classes of younger students especially when the teacher is not a scientist. Young children are full of questions about the world around them. How? and Why? are common questions. Remember they are exactly the same questions our greatest scientists continue to ask. We do not know everything and it is important to promote science as a way of trying to find out. Do not be afraid to admit you do not know when asked a really difficult question and respond with “how do you think we can find out?” Adopt a learner centred approach to learning and teaching. Encourage your students to work scientifically and investigate their world.

Integration into a classroom teaching module

Mount Morgan: Gold from the Mountain can easily be integrated into classroom units. The focus on separation techniques is clearly directed at working scientifically, but the venue and its historical significance allows the possibility of rich tasks incorporating studies on the social impacts of the demands for labour and skilled engineers. A rich cultural history exists at Mount Morgan and opportunities for incorporating creative writing, history, art, mathematics and many other key learning areas should be obvious. Science is not something that should be seen in isolation and the visit itself is an invaluable experience placing the scientific concepts into a real world situation with the benefits of the gold mine clearly contrasted with the impact on the environment. Mount Morgan provides an incredible historical perspective of using science and technology to achieve a goal as conditions at the mine varied with time. It also provides a wonderful backdrop for discussions about the future challenge of ensuring sustainable uses of science and technology to create benefits for all of society.

Extension Activities

If interested, extension activities looking in more detail at water quality could be easily incorporated into this unit of work. Students could:

• look at water monitoring projects on a local creek or river
• investigate ways of collecting, purifying and recycling the school’s rainwater and sewage

This is a challenging module but do not worry if you do not know these processes. This is designed as a discovery unit for the students and we, as teachers, should also continue to learn.

The resources should provide ideas for the teacher and you should find they can be easily adapted to fit your specific needs.