During visit learning: student activities, project ideas and questions

To assist in recall and post-visit activities video and/or still images should be taken during the visit to Mt Morgan.

• Dee River Sampling - Teachers can choose from activities such as testing for turbidity, flow, pollutants, and chemicals; measuring temperature; identifying aquatic life; and habitat surveys. Information about conducting these activities can be obtained from Waterwatch and the Wowan Dululu Landcare Group Dee River Sub Committee (PS 3.3, TCC 4.1). During these activities students should apply the knowledge they have gained from pre-visit lessons to identify pollutants, habitat disturbance and flow reduction and the causes. It is preferable that students are not hampered with worksheets and writing equipment during their visit to Mt Morgan as they often inhibit full appreciation of the experience. However, it will be necessary to record facts gathered during the water testing so that the students can use these in post- visit activities (Resource 3). By putting the students in groups and assigning them specific facts to record, writing can be kept to a minimum and information can be shared on return to school. Photographs or video footage should be taken and used to enhance the quality of post-visit activities. Students with learning difficulties could be assigned this task if they have concerns about recording facts in a written form (TCC 4.1).

• Interviews – Using questions developed during interview techniques lessons prior to the visit, students can interview guest speakers at sites in Mt Morgan, and/or representatives of the Wowan Dululu Landcare Group to establish why they value these places in Mt Morgan and their actions towards these places (PS 3.5, PS 4.3 and SRP 4.5). These interviews can be tape recorded or video taped and used in post-visit activities.

• Still photographs to add to timelines – As students visit various sites and travel around Mt Morgan they should be reminded of the time lines they constructed during pre-visit activities. This will enable them to choose appropriate photographic opportunities that will enhance the quality of their time lines and to successfully match photos and dates.

  • 1870's - First settlers in the Mt Morgan area
  • 1888 - Boer War (Light Horse connect to Mt Morgan, Mafeking Bell)
  • 1902 - Coronation of Edward VII - Coronation Light
  • 1903 – Copper mining equipment
  • 1912 – Mt Morgan High School
  • 1914 - World War I
  • 1941 - World War II

• Mining Mt Morgan – By visiting various sites in Mt Morgan students can experience in a real life setting, the knowledge they have gain through research in the classroom. Because the students conducted their research in the classroom in groups, each group should then focus on their particular area of interest– alluvial mining, shaft and tunnel, open cut, transport.

  They can pan for gold as William Mackinley did when he first discovered gold in a rocky outcrop on the side of the mountain. By visiting old mine sites they can experience first hand the difficulties of removing gold from the mountain, crushing the rock, removing the gold and transporting it to Rockhampton. During their mine tour they will be able to see the open cut process and walk along the railway line that took away the gold and brought people and supplies to the town. At the museum they can view photographs of the miners carrying out these activities and equipment used.

  Listening to tour guides and the sensory experiences of being in an old mining town will bring to life the facts the students have only read about. Photographs or video footage will recapture the experiences once they return to the classroom (TCC 3.4, PS 3.3, TCC 4.1).

• Mine tour – During the tour the students can have the mining process explained to them and view the actual equipment used. They can see how the Dee River pollution problems began and relate them to the current situation, as well as help them understand occupational specialization and interdependence in the mining industry. This site will contribute to a greater understanding of the issues enabling the students to increase the quality of the products they produce in the post-visit activities (TTC 3.4, PS 3.3, SPR 3.2, TCC 4.1, PS 4.1, PS 4.2, PS 4.3).

• Town tour – A bus tour or walk through the town, accompanied by a guide, will enable the students to view the historic buildings, develop an understanding of the size and infrastructure of the community in its hay day and compare these to current activities. The classroom groups who investigated the economic benefits of gold and life on the gold fields would especially benefit from this tour (TCC 3.4, PS 3.3, TCC 4.1).

• Students can walk on land that was once a Chinese vegetable garden tour the court house, banks and historical stores view hills which were once covered with homes wander through old hotels which catered for thirsty miners and provided shelter for the thousand of travellers who visited the town visit the railway station and imagine the bustle of arriving and departing trains.