Concluding Activities - Documenting Modern Australia

Activities

1. Have students design their dream house using appropriate tools—grid paper, protractors, set squares, compass. Students should draw floor plans and elevations of their house. Ask them to consider the form and function of the house. What style is it in, how did they incorporate elements of this style? Ask them to consider how they would use the spaces within.
    
2. Later in his career Wolfgang Sievers was saddened by the effect of industry on the environment. Have students research the impact of a large-scale industry (such as mining or cattle grazing) on the environment. As a class, discuss if the industry or company has an obligation to mitigate or rectify the damage done to the environment. What steps can industry take to minimise their environmental impact?
    
3. Look at the above photographs showing reforestation and environmental protection efforts at Alcoa’s Anglesea brown coal mine in 1977. The mine closed in August 2015. Use Google Maps to view the site of the mine today. Have students consider what land rehabilitation would need to be done to return the site to its unworked state. Research other similar locations where mines have closed and land needs to be rehabilitated.
    
4. What role does industry play in the future? Ask students to consider the world in 50, 100 or 200 years. What kind of industries will be emerging? What kind of machines or tools might be developed to deal with new situations or industries? What kind of industry and technology will be obsolete? Have students produce a creative work based on their projections.