Tag Archives: HSIE

Comparing reindeer to boomers

Posted on by

Stage 2 students are still investigating People and their beliefs in HSIE. Today we compared Santa in Australia, a picture book by Maryann Pfeifer & David Van Asten with the song popularised by Rolf Harris, Six white boomers:


Six white boomers – a Rolf Harris tribute

We have read several Australian parody versions of “The twelve days of Christmas”, but here is a Youtube ciip of the original carol:


12 Days of Christmas – Christmas carol

Early Stage 1 students asked me to add this Youtube clip, one of their classroom favourites:


Aussie Jingle Bells – Bucko & Champs – the original

Learning about Buddhism and Judaism

Posted on by

The following Youtube clips should provide some field knowledge for the Stage 2 students’ research into Buddhism:


BUDDHISM the history and belief explained (using first five mins only)


What is Buddhism?

Mahabodhi Temple at dusk 6
“Mahabodhi Temple at dusk 6” by Triratna Photos on Flickr Creative Commons


Facts about Judaism

Investigating world religions

Posted on by

Stage 2 students are studying world religions and festivals in their HSIE work. A useful website should be Religion for kids.

These Youtube video clips will be our starting points to start explore essential field knowledge:


Religion Global History Timeline 1 min 30 sec (Was: History timeline: world religions conquest map HD)

See also:
The world must watch this video to respect Vedic Hinduism (from “Proud Hindus of India”).
The link above does not allow embedding of the clip into a blog entry.


Krishna: history or myth 1
(First few minutes are a broad overview of Hinduism; then moves to Krishna sect.)


Hindu creation story


Explanation of the Hindu Gods


Hindu Gods Ganesh

Akshardham Temple, Delhi
“Akshardham Temple, Delhi” by travfotos on Flickr Creative Commons


5 Pillars of Islam – part 1 | Cartoon by Discover Islam UK


The 5 pillars of Islam animated in English (includes previous clip at the beginning)

Taj Mahal
“Taj Mahal” by ndj5 on Flickr Creative Commons

More about national parks for Stage 2

Posted on by

This week, Stage 2 students are notetaking from the following Youtube videos about Australia’s national parks:

“Australian Wilderness Adventures”:

Cathedral Rock National Park, NSW (Part 1): To Cathedral Rock


Cathedral Rock National Park, NSW (Part 2): To Woolpack Rocks

From UNESCO/NHK:

Click on this HYPERLINK to view
Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Northern Territory.
Note that this clip is not of Australian origin, so some pronunciations and terminology is incorrect. It has an excellent explanatory diagram of Uluru’s formation.

News Ltd’s “News Interactive”:

“Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park – Tasmania”: doco Sydney 2000 Olympic Torch Relay

“Australian Wilderness Adventures”:

Burning Mountain Nature Reserve, NSW

This next clip is an example of persuasive text. The subject matter is an emotive one: the essential eradication of feral cats from a small island, which is a natural native bird sanctuary


Tasman Island Natural Values Restoration Project – removing feral cats