Years 7-10 History
Stage 5, Topic 4
Australia and World
War II
HSIE AND STAGE 5
Curriculum K-12
January 2005
Page 1 of 9
NSW Department of Education and Training
http://www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au
History Sample Programs
PLEASE READ THIS STATEMENT ABOUT THE PROGRAMS AND THEIR PURPOSE
Officers from Curriculum K-12 Directorate worked with a number of schools on
a programming project. The purpose of the project was to take the
programming focus off the restrictive, often slavish, following of every dot
point in the old syllabuses to focus on the big picture learning and to
incorporate the elements of the Quality Teaching document into student tasks
to increase the significance of the learning for students.
The programs are not lesson plans and do not contain the excessive detail
and overlays of some programs that have developed in the HSIE subjects.
They have a simple format that provides a small number of large tasks to
cover the learn about and learn to statements for each topic.
In using these programs students take more responsibility for their learning,
work more in groups and have greater choice about what case studies and
examples they engage. Teachers can act more as facilitators, but will still
need to intervene in the learning to teach explicitly concepts, skills and
terminology when students find difficulty within particular tasks. All the tasks
can be used for assessment for or assessment of learning purposes.
Teachers can use the tasks to provide feedback to students and assess the
products and processes of the task for the purpose of recording data that will
be used for school reporting purposes. When using the tasks in these ways
for assessment, there is no need to create additional assessment tasks and
end of topic tests are not needed because teachers will have already the
assessment information needed for school reporting.
Schools can add their own resources and vary the ICT suggestions, within the
syllabus requirements, to match their school resources.
Feedback is welcomed and adjustments will be made to improve the units in
response to feedback.
Other History sample programs as well as programs for Geography and
Commerce can be accessed on the Curriculum Support site under HSIE 7-10
History, Geography or Commerce 7-10: Programming Ideas
http://www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au/secondary/hsie/
History Stage 5
Curriculum K-12
Page 2 of 9
NSW Department of Education and Training
http://www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au
Topic 4
Inquiry questions
Australia and World War II




Time
Why was Australia involved in World War II?
What were some of the experiences of Australians as a result of their
involvement in the war?
What was the impact of the war on the Australian home front?
How did Australia’s relationship with Britain and the USA change during
World War II?
Outcomes
5.2 assesses the impact of international events and relationships on Australia’s history
5.3 explains the changing rights and freedoms of Aboriginal peoples and other groups in Australia
5.4 sequences major historical events to show an understanding of continuity, change and causation
5.5 identifies, comprehends and evaluates historical sources
5.7 explains different contexts, perspectives and interpretations of the past
Now easier to achieve with
Suggested ICT
 create a formatted, multi-paged document as part of an historical inquiry.
1:1 laptop use as part of the
Digital Education Revolution
Resources :
 Defence of Australia – Anzac Day Education Resource – World War II - 2002, Commonwealth
Dept of Veterans Affairs, PO BOX 21, Woden. ACT. 2606.
 The Spirit of Anzac – Investigating a century of Army service – 1901 – 2001: Evidence and
Activities. 2000 Australian Army, Ryebuck Media Pty Ltd. Commemorations Branch, Dept of
Veterans Affairs, PO BOX 21, Woden. ACT. 2606.
 Standard Stage 5 History textbooks.

Websites:
Individual access to the internet now
www.awm.gov.au – Australian War Memorial site
possible with wireless access
www.anzacsite.gov.au
www.dva.gov.au (Department of Veterans Affairs)
www.peoplesvoice.gov.au
www.australiansatwar.gov.au (compliments the TV series) Hard copies of the Australians at War
Education Resource are available from the Australian War Memorial shop or through its online
shop at: shop.awm.gov.au for $25.00 each.
Secondary Schools - Code 12453
For enquiries concerning ordering, contact the sales unit on:
Telephone: (02) 6243 4438 Facsimile: (02) 6243 4469 E-mail: esales@awm.gov.au
Suggested site studies include:
 a local or national war memorial site
 a local site
 a virtual site of a theatre of war/event in World War II
 a museum study.
All students now have the
opportunity and equal access to
virtual site studies
History Stage 5
Curriculum K-12
Page 3 of 9
NSW Department of Education and Training
http://www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au
Learn abouts
Learn tos
Assessment: The activities require
students to demonstrate their learning
and are all assessment for learning
activities. Some activities might be
selected and included in a school
assessment schedule for assessment of
learning.
Digital Education Revolution
NSW
Teacher note:
A glossary of terms may need to be
created at the beginning of the unit and
added to as per need, e.g.
appeasement, Australian Imperial Force
(AIF), blitzkrieg, censorship,
communism, conscription, enlistment,
fascism, fuzzy-wuzzy angels,
lebensraum, militarism, Nazi,
propaganda, rationing, reparations.
Revise some terms from the WWI unit
that may be relevant.
Glossary of terms can be
created and shared online, or
emailed to all students for
future use.
A private wiki could be created
to allow all students to
contribute knowledge and build
up the glossary.
Task 1: This is a variation on Task 1
outlined in Topic 2 (Australia and World
War I). If the class did this activity in
Topic 2, the class can build on the
knowledge obtained on WWI and
determine how the reasons for
Australia’s involvement in WWII were
similar/different to WWI. Alternatively,
this activity can be completed on WWII
alone.
________________________________
Task 1. Mapping and Research

Australia’s
involvement in WWII

explain the reasons
for Australia’s
involvement in WWII
As a background to Australia’s
involvement in World War II, you will be
researching the reasons why countries
went to war.
You will be divided into groups and your
group will be allocated a country to
research from the following list: Britain,
Germany, France, Italy, Japan, Turkey
and USSR
1. Answer the following questions:
Students can work on one document
at the same time using OneNote
They can import pictures and draw
on them, pointing out features to
each other
History Stage 5
Curriculum K-12

Where is this country situated on
a map?

What reasons did this country
have to go to war?

Who was the leader of this
country?

Who were their allies?

What involvement did it have in
the war?
Use Google Maps and focus in
on a region.
Internet searches and results
provide real-time information
for students
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NSW Department of Education and Training
http://www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au
2. Divide an A4 sheet of paper
horizontally. Write your answers to
these questions on one half of the
paper.
3. On the other half of the paper, write
the name of your country in large
letters. When asked by the teacher,
display your poster on the classroom
wall.
Posters can be created using
websites such as www.glogster.com
This is just one of a range of
websites that allow for the
development of posters online.
Use Microsoft Publisher to
create a poster, brochure or
newsletter
4. Complete the Handout Countries in
World War II, by obtaining answers
from other students’ displays.
Task 2: Research task
1. Using your textbook, the Internet and
other resources find out why
Australia became involved in WWII.
You will need to consider the
following:
A very useful function for larger
documents with a variety of sections

Australia’s relationship with
Britain.

Young men’s sense of
adventure.

Perceived threats from
overseas.

People’s views of war.

Pay and working conditions in
1930s.

Feelings of pride and bravery.

The enlistment campaign by the
Australian government.
2. Find some examples of recruitment
posters from WWII by using your
library or the following websites:
Try a range of search engines, such
as Bing, Google, AltaVista, Yahoo,
and Answers



Use Microsoft Word or
OneNote to set out your
information logically.
If using OneNote, use the
points listed as separate
sections. You can then add
pages to each section.
If using Word, you can use
formatted headings then insert
a contents page automatically.
amw.gov.au
www.dva.gov.au
www.australiansatwar.gov.au
Look at how the posters are set out and
consider how they try to encourage
young men to enlist in the armed forces.
Explain why these posters were
designed this way?
Task 3: PowerPoint presentation

the experiences of
Australians serving in
WWII, with particular
emphasis on one of
the following:
History Stage 5
Curriculum K-12
1. Form groups of four, and select one
of the following:

Kokoda or another New Guinea
campaign, e.g. Milne bay

Prisoners of war, e.g. Changi
Import free pictures from a
range of sites such as
Flickr.com
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NSW Department of Education and Training
http://www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au
- Kokoda or another
New Guinea
campaign

campaign in another theatre of
war, e.g.
-
North African campaign
(Rats of Tobruk, El
Alamein)
-
Middle East
-
Mediterranean (Greece and
Crete)
-
European campaigns in
Britain, France,
-
fall of Singapore,
-
war in the Pacific e.g. Coral
Sea
- prisoners of war
- a campaign in
another theatre of
war
- Australian nurses
serving in the war
 identify the places
where Australians
fought in WWII

If in doubt about copyright Issues,
visit www.smartcopying.edu.au
 the impact of the war
on Australian civilians
with a particular
emphasis on ONE of
the following:
- bombing of Darwin
- Japanese
submarine attack
on Sydney
- internment of
‘enemy aliens’
History Stage 5
Curriculum K-12
Australian nurses – served in all
major conflicts.
2. Prepare a PowerPoint presentation
on your selected area. Your
presentation should provide the
following information:

A map showing where the
Australians were fighting.

Dates of their involvement.

Who the Australians were
fighting.

An outline of the major events in
this conflict.

The significant experiences of
the participants, e.g., dangers,
hardships, living conditions,
injuries and casualties,

The commanders in this conflict.
Were they good leaders? How
and Why?

Primary sources to illustrate
your subject.

What was the outcome of this
conflict?

How your subject contributed to
the war effort.
Insert sound files, video files
for a more engaging
presentation. Some copyright
free material is available at
Australian Screen and the
Australian War Memorial
Create a timeline using Adobe
Presenter and Flash
animations
Task 4: Empathy task – letter
1. Select one of the following to consider
the impacts on Australian civilian life
during WWII.

bombing of Darwin

Japanese submarine attack on
Sydney
Accurately reference material
used
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NSW Department of Education and Training
http://www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au
- significant local
event or issue
 describe the
experiences of
Australians serving in
WWII, with emphasis
on the chosen study
 explain the impact of
the war on Australian
civilians with a
particular emphasis
on the chosen event
or issue



wartime government
controls including:
-
conscription
-
manpower
controls
-
rationing
-
censorship
describe the controls
on civilian life
imposed by the
wartime government
outline the
arguments for and
against such
controls in wartime.

internment of ‘enemy aliens’

a significant local event or
issue e.g. conscription,
censorship, rationing, the Black
market, changing women’s
roles, e.g. the land army.
2. For your selected topic, use your
textbook, the Internet and other
resources to research the effects on
civilian life.
3. Imagine you are one of those
civilians living during WWII. Write a
letter to a friend overseas describing
your experiences. You should
include:

A description of the event or
issue.

A description of how this event
or issue has changed your life.
(Consider how life was before
this event or issue)

Descriptions of how you feel
about these changes.

Historical terms appropriate to
the time period.
History Stage 5
Curriculum K-12
Wireless access to real texts
and real time information
Task 5: TV panel interview
1. Working in groups of four, list some
of the controls (information,
censorship, movement) that were
placed on the Australian people
during WWII. Draw up three columns
and in column one name the control,
in column two explain:
a.
Why the control was
introduced?
b.
What impact did it have on the
civilian population?
Construct a letter using
templates provided in
Microsoft Word
2. Create an interview for post WWII
radio, where the government
minister responsible for these
controls in WWII is being interviewed
about his government’s policy.
The radio panel will consist of:
You can also create your own
opening title page, credits and
acknowledgements at the end of the
interview. Some parts of the TV
interview can be backed by music
as well. Use the Adobe tutorials to
familiarise yourself with the program
Use Internet Explorer
-
the journalist asking the questions,
-
the government minister
-
a panel member who is hostile to
the minister
-
a panel member who is
sympathetic to the government
minister
Create a multimedia
presentation depicting the
interview Adobe Premiere
Elements
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NSW Department of Education and Training
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Your group will need to create
questions and answers for each of the
panel members that show the opinion
of each panel member, except for the
Journalist who should be unbiased.
The reasons for and against controls
should be examined.
Your interview should also include
some argument between members with
opposing opinions. Each member will
be trying to prove and justify his/her
opinion. Therefore, your group should
try to supply some historical evidence
based on your research to support their
opinions.
3. Present this interview to the class as
a role play.
Record the interview on the
web cam and present to the
class using a data projector.
Task 6: Speech

the changing roles of
Australian women in
WWII

Australia’s changing
relations with Britain
and the USA during
WWII

describe the changing
roles of women during
WWII

explain how and why
Australia’s relationship
with Britain and the
USA changed during
WWII
1. Using your textbook, the internet and
other resources find out about the
changing roles of women during
WWII and how Australia was drawn
closer to the USA and away from
Britain.
2. Imagine you are a politician in 1947
who is speaking to a group of high
school students at a speech day
about the changes that occurred
during WWII to the role of women
and the now changed relationship
between Australia, the USA and
Britain.
Write a speech of about 350 words (two
pages).
See How to notes on the use and
operation of a Audacity
Record the speech using
Audacity (audio recording
software).
Include in your speech historical
evidence where possible. Use historical
terms and phrases appropriate to the
time and present a coherent argument.
Some students will be asked to read
their speech to the class.
History Stage 5
Curriculum K-12
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NSW Department of Education and Training
http://www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au
Countries in World War II
Country
Reasons for
war
Leader
Allies
Reasons for
alliances
Involvement
Britain
Germany
France
Japan
USSR
Italy
Turkey
History Stage 5
Curriculum K-12
Page 9 of 9
NSW Department of Education and Training
http://www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au