Activities
Here are some suggestions for activities based on the Becoming Queensland exhibition. They can be done in a group, in the classroom or on your own. You are welcome to send us your findings and creations.
- Using the Nicholson family album as a guide, create your own album to tell the story of how your family came to settle where you now live. There are a range of online photo sites you can use to create an online album: Snapfish; Shutterfly; Webshots; Google Picasa; Flickr; Kodak Gallery; Photobucket
Lock of hair from the Nicholson family album
Bat photographed on the ship carrying the Nicholson's to Australia
- Write down a special story from your family’s past like the one Robert Christison recorded for his daughter. Try to recreate the setting where you first heard it.
- Queensland has experienced many natural disasters like Cyclone Mahina. Research another example and describe how the local community was affected and how the people responded. Check out the State Library of Queensland’s information provided on floods. Use the State Library’s One Search to help with your research. Search for disasters – floods, cyclones, drought etc.
- Find examples of government spin from today that use sales pitches like the 1899 Emigration to Queensland pamphlet. Use the State Library’s One Search to help with your research.
- The Lorenz family collected many fascinating postcards. Find a postcard that you find interesting and describe what it tells you. Why do people send postcards today? Search for postcards in Picture Queensland. Check out your local café for postcards.
Page from the Lorenz family album showing postcards and a birthday card
Lorenz family album with postcards and greeting card
- There are several early maps of Queensland in the exhibition. Can you find your own example for your district? Use the State Library’s One Search to help with your research. Also, try the National Library of Australia Maps collection or Perry Castaneda Library Map Collection for international examples.
- What is the Indigenous name for where you live? Who was the first European explorer or settler to come there? How did the Indigenous people respond? Document how your town got its name (using, for instance, Place names of Australia). Check your local library/council website.
- Using Samuel Griffith’s illuminated addresses as a model create your own to present to a politician today. What would you say and how would you decorate it?
- Record your memories of a favourite veranda and the times you spent there. Search for verandas in Picture Queensland.
- Write up and share one of your family’s cherished recipes.
- Tell a story about what things your great grandparents grew in their gardens and the challenges (e.g. pests, droughts) they had to overcome. Compare this to gardens today.
- Design your own Q150 celebration poster. How is it different to the celebratory images of 1909?
Last updated: 12th January 2012
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