Contributions from the Past

Stage of Schooling

Lower secondary

Learning Focus

Time, Continuity and Change (Asia Scope and Sequence for Studies of Society and Environment, p28–9)

Elaborations

Students understand some of the significant ideas, peoples and movements that have shaped past and present societies in the Asia-Pacific region. They can:

• explore the social, political and cultural achievements of early civilisations in South and East Asia and compare these to the achievements in ancient civilisations in Africa, West Asia and Europe (e.g. river valley civilisations, political organisation, development of writing).
• examine the origin, development, spread and lasting impact of significant belief systems originating in Asia (e.g. Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism), and explore how these are living religions for many people in Australia.

Resources

• Spinning a Nation (AEF website, 2007)
• CrossCurrents (Curriculum Corporation, 2005)
• The Really Big Beliefs Project(Curriculum Corporation, 2005)
• Australia Kaleidoscope (Curriculum Corporation, 2003)
• Exploring North-East Asia (Curriculum Corporation, 1999)
• Images of Asia Cards: Innovations and Beliefs (Curriculum Corporation, 2004)
• Blank cards or labels

Focus questions

Were the ancient civilisations of India and China as vibrant and dynamic as those of Egypt, Greece and other ancient civilisations? How have the ancient civilisations of China and India contributed to life as we know it today?

Overview

Exploring the past not only provides us with knowledge of a particular period in time, but also provides us with insights into why we live life the way we do today or may wish to live it in the future. Studying history requires many skills, e.g. gathering, analysing and interpreting evidence from a variety of sources, such as letters, cartoons, articles, books, film, magazines and interviews. From here we can generate hypotheses and establish a historical context. This unit focuses on the ancient civilisations of China and India. It is an investigation of how these ancient societies were governed, the belief systems underpinning each society and an exploration of their significant achievements and their lasting impacts on us.

Duration

This unit should be completed over a term as part of a unit incorporating other Ancient Civilisations such as Egypt and Greece. The overall assessment outlined in the section Responding, Reporting and Reflecting could be one of a suite of Ancient Civilisation research options.