The computers at Susan’s school are all connected to each other and the school has an online notice board where students can ask questions and give their opinions. Susan posted a question about the discovery of Australia on the online notice board. Read the questions and what her fellow students replied.Reading task on P72 Discovery of Australia40,000 years ago People from Asia settled in the place we now call Australia. The continent was then cut off from Asia 10,000 years ago. 1421 Some people think a Chinese fleet led by Zheng He may have visited Australia. 1606 A Dutch sea captain first mapped the north coast. 1644 Abel Tasman made a map on which he combined all known land and guessed the rest. 1770 Captain Cook sailed up the east coast of the continent1802 Mathew Flinders sailed around the continent, mapped it and called it Australia. 1. Why do you think school children in Australia in the 1950s were told that Captain Cook discovered Australia? Captain Cook claimed the land for Britain and as Australia was originally settled by people form Britain, this is the part of the history that they were taught.Discussion 2. Why does Mary White think European explorers didn’t discover the Australian continent until the 17th century? Before 1644, explorers didn’t know they had found a continent. They just visited small parts of it. 3. Why does Nick Chance think Chinese explorers reached the continent so much earlier? He read about the Chinese explorers on the Internet. 4. Patrick Hall says that the ancestors of the Aborigines discovered Australia at least 40, 000 years ago. Why do you think the other children didn’t give this answer? They may have thought that Aborigines always lived on the continent so they didn’t think they discovered it. 5. Which of the student's answers do you agree with and why? Remember, that you first need to decide what “discovered” means and what “ Australia” means. Many possible answers will depend on how students interpret discovered and Australia. Homework Since you’ve learned so much about Australia in this Unit, choose several aspects that you think are interesting to write a report (e.g. its animals, plants, scenery, cities, beaches, people, leisure activities, history or something else).
