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The Land Down Under Comes to Your Classroom
by John Loeser

Children love to hear stories about kangaroos, koalas, and tasmanian devils. They often ask "Where is Australia?" "Is everything up-side-down there?" "How far away is Australia?". As parents and educators, we often answer these questions with funny responses, and we leave children to wonder what exactly is happening on the other side of the world.

This web-page is offered as a way to bring Australian culture into your classroom. Australia is often ignored in the curriculum, and many students finish high school barely knowing where Australia is located. It is important that children learn at a very young age about the different lands, peoples, and cultures that encompass our planet. This web-page is designed to give teachers and students a background on the history, culture, and people of Australia.

At the bottom of this page, you will find links to other web sites that describe the history, culture, and people of Australia. The five links listed are simply suggestions for where to start looking when planning a unit or lesson on Australia and its people. There are countless web sites available for use when creating a unit on Australia, but for now start with the few listed at the bottom.

Let your imagination take you on a journey to the land down under, and bring one of the most beautiful countries in the world into your classroom. Have fun! If you have any questions or comments, please e-mail me with the link at the bottom of this page.


Links

Tales from the Billabong: Interactive Games Provides many interactive games for young children and elementary school students to learn about Australia.

Stories of the Dreaming: Aboriginal Stories A web-site devoted to the Aboriginal people and their stories of creation.

About Australia Provides detailed descriptions of Australian government, news headlines, weather, cities, etc. Check this site out!

Australia Online Provides up-to-date information on current events in Australia and many other aspects of Australian culture.

Virtual Tour of Australia Tour Australia virtually!


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