OSC – Men of Industry
Our Sunburnt Country is your core book for this study, it is aimed at 6-12 years old. We have created a supplementary booklist and suggested activities to accompany each chapter.
We estimate it will take you 2-3 weeks per chapter, this will enable you to finish within the year. If you wish to take time to read more books, simply take two years.
We have recommended a mix of picture and chapter books, ones that are likely to be accessible via your local libraries. We have given you several options below in the hope that your library will have some of these. We are not recommending you read all of these books!
We encourage you to read one chapter book and at least one picture book per chapter. Or at least two to four picture books if available.
The books suggested are below in a visual grid.
We haven’t highlighted our favourites deliberately, as we want you to work within your local library and inter-library loans. We don’t want you to go into debt.
Create your own personalised list by opening your book choice and simply clicking the wishlist button to add to your list.
Activities are optional, feel free to choose whichever activities best suit your family.
Our Sunburnt Country – Men of Industry pdf
Themes to Cover
Sheep & Cattle Industries
- Squatters
Thomas Sutcliffe Mort
- Invention New Machines
- Refrigeration Ship 1866 – 1879
- Wool Sales
- Steamer 1856
- Railway Company
Copper Silver & Coal Mining
Wheat Industry
- Robert Smith – Stump Jump Plough
- John Ridley
- Hugh McKay Stripper and Harvester
- William Farrer – rust and smut in wheat
Sugar Industry
- South Sea Islanders – indentured labour
- White Australia policy – 1906
Iron & Steel Industry
Teacher’s Notes
Amazing Grace : An Adventure at Sea – Stephanie Owen Reeder
Bob the Railway Dog – Corrine Fenton
King of the Outback: The Story of Sidney Kidman – Kristin Weidenbach
Sing a Rebel Song – Pamela Rushby
The Locket of Dreams – Belinda Murrell
History Activities
- What was a squatter?
- What was the difference between squatters and selectors?
- Australia is said to be ‘built on the back of sheep’. What does this expression refer to?
- What are merino sheep? What part have they played in the Australian sheep industry in the past and today.
- Thomas Sutcliffe Mort was a man of many talents and interests, an entrepreneurial genius and pioneer, a hero of the working class. Research about some of his achievements:
- Invention of refrigeration and it’s instillation on a ship
- Pioneering of wool only sales
- Promoted the introduction of steam vessels
- Involvement for the first Railway for NSW
- Read about Copper, Silver & Coal Mining in Australia. Where were these mines?
- Wheat became a major agricultural export industry, where was wheat first grown and what areas began to grow wheat?
- The following men played a large part in the development of the wheat industry in Australia. Research each one and share about their major contributions.
- Robert Smith – Stump Jump Plough
- John Ridley
- Hugh McKay – Stripper and Harvester
- William Farrer – rust and smut in wheat
- Sugar became another import industry in Australia. Much of it was built upon the backs of Pacific Island people, who were coerced, deceived and even kidnapped from their islands of origin to work in slave-like conditions. Research more about how the South Sea Islanders came to Australia, their contribution to the sugar industry and how they were treated.
- In 1906 with the introduction of the White Australia policy what did this mean for the South Sea Islanders?
- Another major industry in Australia became the Iron & Steel Industry. What works began in this time period?
Further Research Areas & Discussion Questions
- What part did squatters play in the pioneering of the interior of Australia?
- What were the Robertson Land Acts?
- What impact did the land Acts have on Aboriginal people over time?
- What was the significance of a refrigerated ship?
- What exactly was the contribution of the Stump Jump Plough to the Wheat Industry?
- The White Australia policy meant that many South Sea Islanders who had been here for many years, or were born here with at least a third having First Nations parentage were to be deported. What are your thoughts around this?
- Are there any descendants of the South Sea Islanders who were ‘blackbirded’ to Australia in Australia today?
Language Arts Activities
- Imagine you were a squatter’s child, write a letter to your friend back in Sydney describing your home, your surrounds, your lifestyle.
- Write about Thomas Sutcliffe Mort many achievements. Either write briefly about each or pick one or two and write more in depth on them.
- Imagine you are Thomas Sutcliffe Mort, write a letter to your business partner sharing your emotions about the continued failure of your refrigeration experiements.
- Select one of the four men above who contributed to the Wheat Industry and write about him. The length expected depends on your age.
- Write a newspaper article about the stump jump plough.
- Imagine you live in a ‘sugar town’ and are opposed to the deportation of the South Sea Islanders, write a letter to your local politician.
- You are a child on a sugar plantation on the North Coast or Far North Queensland that your family owns, you become friends with a South Sea Islander child. Write a diary entry about all you hear and observe.
Geography Activities
On a blank Australian map mark where:
- The Copper, Silver & Coal Mining in Australia in this period are.
- Where the well known sheep stations are.
- Where the first wheat farms are.
- Where the following men lived when they made their inventions: Robert Smith, John Ridley, Hugh McKay, William Farrer.
- Where the sugar plantations areas were.
On a world map mark the journeys from the:
- South Sea Islands to Australia
STEM Activities
Hands On Activities
- 10 Crafts with Wool for Younger Children
- Craft Activities with Wool for Kids
- Play the Squatter Board Game
Online Resources