This document showcases the 95 new content elaborations for the Australian Curriculum: Science (Foundation to Year 10) that address the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures cross-curriculum priority.
Certain important stars and asterisms are seen as the skyworld counterpart of many terrestrial animals, and their annual appearance and movement through the night sky informed people of the seasonal migrations, lifecycles, abundance and food resource availability of the animals they represent.
For thousands of years, First Nations people have studied the night skies to predict weather patterns, navigate seas and rivers and understand the seasonal behaviour of plants and animals (Hamacher et al. 2019). First Nations astronomy knowledges have always been an active and integral part of First Nations Creation stories, and these knowledges have been passed down through generations through songs and stories.
First Nations people have understood the changing seasons for thousands of years by using sophisticated methods for monitoring change, such as noticing when certain flowers bloom or when certain animals migrate.
The rich oral histories preserved by the indigenous peoples of Australia cover learnings collected over tens of thousands of years. Without written libraries, the amazing memory of aboriginal groups is stored in their ancient “songlines”—memory aids which pair places with specific vivid and detailed memories through rituals of stories, song, dance, and art.
The Aboriginal Weather Seasons Indicator Map is an engaging online interactive activity that explores the environmental knowledge that different language groups around Australia used to predict the weather.