Fremantle Excursion Prep

Overview

This lesson builds students’ background knowledge about Fremantle’s colonial and maritime heritage so they can participate confidently in the upcoming museum visits. Students use structured planning templates to form strong inquiry questions about prison life, colonial sites, and shipwrecks, with light English scaffolds for note-taking.

Learning intentions

• Students will explain key reasons Fremantle developed as a colonial port and why maritime travel mattered.
• Students will describe how convict presence and colonial establishments shaped Fremantle.
• Students will generate inquiry questions using question frames and evidence-based wording.
• Students will plan what to look for during the excursion using a structured template.

Success criteria

• I can explain at least two reasons Fremantle was important as a port in the colonial period.
• I can use colonial and maritime vocabulary correctly (e.g. convict, port, harbour, shipwreck, settlement).
• I can write 3 inquiry questions that include a focus area and what evidence I will look for.
• I can complete an excursion note-taking plan (site, question, evidence to find, key term).

Curriculum links

• History: Students investigate colonial development and causes, including social and political factors affecting early settlements.
• History: Students explore the impact of colonial development on different groups and the environment, including convict and maritime contexts.
• Humanities inquiry skills: Students locate, organise, and use information from sources to support explanations and note-taking.
• Communication: Students present descriptions and explanations using appropriate historical terms and conventions.

Lesson structure (60 minutes)

1. 0–5 min · Hook (object image + quick think). Teacher shows a “mystery object” style image (a ship’s log page or old port map) and asks students to think: “What clues might this object give about Fremantle’s past?” Students quick-write 1–2 ideas in their notebooks.

2. 5–15 min · Explicit teaching: Fremantle as a colonial port. Teacher provides a short, clear overview: Fremantle grew because ships needed safe places to dock, trade goods, and transport people (including convicts and settlers). Teacher uses a simple timeline line on the board and labels: port/harbour, settlement, ships, trade. Students fill a “Key Facts” two-column sheet: “What I learned” and “Why it matters”.

3. 15–25 min · Explicit teaching: Convicts and colonial establishments. Teacher explains convict establishment in general terms (focus on purpose and daily life factors, without graphic detail): prisons/holding places, labour, rules, and how communities were shaped by arrivals and departures. Teacher models one example inquiry question (“How did prison rules affect daily life?”) and highlights what makes a good question (specific + answerable + evidence-based). Students underline keywords in the model question using the classroom vocabulary bank.

4. 25–35 min · Guided practice: Inquiry question workshop. Teacher distributes the Inquiry Planning Template (3 questions total: prison life, colonial sites, shipwrecks). Teacher moves through question types:

• “What was…?” (description)
• “Why did…?” (cause)
• “How did…?” (change/impact) Students, in pairs, complete Question Frames:
• “How did ____ affect ____ in Fremantle?”
• “What evidence shows ____ at a colonial site?”
• “Why were ships important for ____?” Teacher circulates, prompting students to make questions narrower and more answerable.

5. 35–47 min · Structured group task: Source clues & planning what to look for. Teacher provides short, teacher-prepared “clue cards” (mixed sentences and key terms) from different formats: a “port” description, a “convict life” note snippet, and a “shipwreck” artefact caption-style text. Students sort clues into the three focus areas on the board (Prison life / Colonial sites / Shipwrecks) and then add one “evidence I will look for” item to their template (e.g. “a written rule”, “a model of a dock”, “tools used for wreck recovery”). Students justify their placement with a partner sentence starter: “I put this with ____ because ____.”

6. 47–55 min · English support: Note-taking rehearsal (guided gradual release). Teacher models a one-minute “mock museum note” using a frame:

• Site: ______
• My question: ______
• I notice: ______
• Evidence words: ______
• Answer so far: ______ Students practise filling one box only (Site + I notice + Evidence words) for one predicted stop at the museum. Teacher checks quickly using a student checklist.

7. 55–60 min · Exit ticket: Question quality check. Students submit their best 1 inquiry question (from the three) on a sticky note or half-page. Teacher uses a rapid rubric: Focus + Historical vocabulary + Evidence/what to look for.

Resources

• Inquiry Planning Template (3 sections: Prison life, Colonial sites, Shipwrecks)
• Question Frames and Sentence Starters sheet
• Vocabulary bank card set (convict, port, harbour, settlement, trade, shipwreck, artefact, evidence, rule)
• Clue cards (teacher-prepared snippets/labels)
• “Key Facts” two-column sheet
• Mock “museum note” frame sheet
• Coloured pencils/highlighters

Assessment

• Formative: Teacher observations during pair question drafting (does each question include focus and evidence angle?).
• Formative: Clue card sorting accuracy and partner justification sentence.
• Summative-for-today (light): Exit ticket using a 3-point check (focus, vocabulary, answerable/evidence).

Differentiation

• Support: Provide sentence starters and a word bank on the desk; allow students to choose from pre-made question starters before refining.
• Support (EAL/low literacy): Offer an additional “question starter menu” with icons (e.g. a magnifying glass for “What evidence shows…”).
• Extension: Students write an extra “predict” question beginning with “I think…” and state what evidence would confirm their prediction.
• SEN: Provide a partially completed template for one section (e.g. colonial sites) and reduce to two questions for that section, then add one stretch question.