Year 8

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION


EARLY CHURCH in AUSTRALIA
WEBQUEST









Introduction
You and your team of time travellers have been teleported back in time to the early years of
the Catholic Church in Australia. Your time travel device will allow you to step into the lives
of early pioneers.
Your quest using the web is to retrieve information about the life and mission of
Caroline Chisholm
Mary MacKillop
Fr James Dixon
Archbishop Bede Polding


The Task
Your mission is to locate important information about the work and life of key figures in the
history of the Australian Church. You will have to prepare a time capsule that gives an insight
into these people. You will need to present your time capsule on your return.
To fulfil the requirements of this quest you must:
Meet with each of the pioneers though their websites, or other related library
resources
Complete a timeline for each of the pioneers
Write a newspaper article about one of the pioneers and the contribution they made to
the Catholic Church in Australia
Design and make a symbol to represent the life and mission of the person in your
newspaper article.


The Process
To complete your quest you will be working in a team of 4 from your class.
The rubric for Assessment will show you what your teacher will be looking for on your return.
Please keep referring to it throughout your quest.

Visiting the Pioneers

Use the internet links below to visit the pioneers:

Caroline Chisholm

http://www.kidcyber.com.au/topics/chisolm.htm
http://www.sydneycatholic.org/about/history/Chisholm.shtml
http://www.bbc.co.uk/northamptonshire/asop/people/caroline_chisholm.shtml
http://www.abc.net.au/btn/v2/australians/chisholm.htm

Mary MacKillop

http://www.marymackillop.org.au/
http://www.sosj.org.au/who-we-are/index.cfm?loadref=105
http://www.abc.net.au/btn/story/s3031894.htm

Fr James Dixon

http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/dixon-james-1980
http://vexilla-regis.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/convict-priest-father-james-dixon.html
http://www.catholicweekly.com.au/03/may/11/03.html


Archbishop Bede Polding
http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/polding-john-bede-2557
http://www.goodsams.org.au/who-we-are/history/john-bede-polding/
http://museumvictoria.com.au/collections/themes/2126/john-bede-polding-
archbishop-1794-1877




Bring 5 important facts back with you for each pioneer.
After meeting each pioneer, create a timeline which shows the key events in the life of each
pioneer.
If you like you can use the Stories of Democracy
http://www.abc.net.au/civics/democracy/curric/ or related library resources for some of
your information.

Exploring With the Pioneers
With your group, you will explore how one of the pioneers contributed to the life and faith of
Australians at the time, and produce a newspaper article that documents this. This could take
the form of "A Day in the Life of..." or "An Interview With..." or simply an article about the
pioneer. You will take up one of the following roles:

Researcher
Use the above sites to locate information regarding their life and their mission.

Reporter

Use the information gathered by the researcher to write the newspaper article.

Illustrator
Create or locate appropriate illustrations to support the article.

Editor
Edits the written work and supports the other team members as they complete
their tasks.

Leaving the Pioneers
You now have all the pieces of information for your quest. As a team, you need
to prepare your time capsule. The focus of your time capsule will be the symbol
you choose to design and make. You need to make the symbol in class and you
may use any materials you like. The symbol will represent the life and mission of
the person in your newspaper article.

The time capsule must be presented to the class. All team members must
participate in some way in the presentation.



Conclusion
Now that you have returned, We hope that you understand and appreciate some of the
significant pioneers and events that have shaped the identity and growth of the Catholic
community in Australia.


Evaluation

Beginning
D
Developing
C
Achieved
B
Working Beyond
A

T
a
s
k

The task is incomplete
and/or it is clear that
little effort went into
the development of
the task.
At least two areas of
the task were not
completed. The plan
followed by the team
demonstrated a
moderate level of
thought.
At least one area of
the task was not
completed. The plan
by the team
demonstrated a great
deal of thought.
All areas of the task
were completed and
handled with a high
degree of
competency. The plan
followed by the team
demonstrated a great
deal of thought.

P
r
o
c
e
s
s
:

T
e
a
m
w
o
r
k


The final product is
not the result of a
collaborative effort.
The group showed no
evidence of
collaboration.
The group had
problems working
together. Little
ccllaboration
occurred.
The group worked
well together, but
could have utilised
each other's skills
better.
It is evident that a
mutual effort and
cohesive group
created the final
product.

P
r
o
c
e
s
s
:

O
r
i
g
i
n
a
l
i
t
y


There was little
evidence of any
original ideas
expressed.
The ideas expressed
by the work
demonstrate a low
degree of originality.
The ideas expressed
by the work are
mostly original.
The ideas expressed
by the work
demonstrate a high
degree of originality.

C
o
n
t
e
n
t

The group does not
have grasp of
information and can
answer a few
questions about topic.
The group
demonstrates basic
knowledge and is only
able to answer basic
questions.
The group
demonstrates good
knowledge but fails to
elaborate.
The group
demonstrates full
knowledge (more than
required) with
explanations and
elaborations.
P
r
e
s
e
n
t
a
t
i
o
n

Lack of confidence
shown with no eye
contact and poor
posture. Pace was too
fast or slow. Read
from notes with
evidence of no
rehearsal. No interest
from audience.
Little confidence
shown with very little
eye contact. Pace was
too fast or slow. Too
much reliance on
notes at times.
Audience's interest
was sparked once or
twice.
Good presentation
with some eye contact
and good posture.
Presentation flowed
freely with little
evidence of rehearsal.
Lot of interest from
most of class.
Confident
presentation with
good eye contact and
posture. Presentation
flowed smoothly with
evidence of rehearsal.
Whole class showed
lots of interest.
C
o
m
m
e
n
t