English department

IFA Children’s literature/ Area studies

Heike Bäcker

Presentation: Hanna Pflug, Ariane Möhn, Kathrin Kirberger

Date: 09.12.2005

WS 2005/06

A Sightseeing Tour through Australia

Presentation:

Sydney:

- the capital city of New South Wales

- biggest and oldest city of Australia ( founded in 1788)

- largest financial transport, trade and cultural centre

- significant global and domestic tourist destination

- one of the most beautiful and liveable cities in the world

- was the host city of the 2000 Olympics

- is host of the World Youth Day 2008

- Sydney Opera House:

- one of the most distinctive and famous 20th century buildings

- icon of Sydney

- home of the Opera of Australia and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra

- has about 1000 rooms, including 5 theatres, 5 rehearsal studios, 2 main halls, 4 restaurants, 6 bars and numerous souvenir shops

- was constructed by J. Utzorn

- was opened by the Queen in 1973, at a cost of $102 million

- Sydney Harbour Bridge:

- one of the major landmarks of Sydney

- connecting the Central business district with the north shore and commercial residential areas which are located on Sydney harbour

- is affectionately known as “the coat hanger” by many Sydney residents on account of its arch-based design

- it carries six lanes of road traffic on its main roadway, two lanes of road traffic, a footpath, two railway tracks and a bicycle path

- the road carried across the bridge is known as the Bradfield Highway and is about 2,4 km long, making one of the shortest highways in Australia

- at 48,8m wide, it is the widest bridge in the world

- Darling Harbour:

- a large recreational pedestrian precinct situated on the western edge of central Sydney

- home to a number of major public facilities and attractions including the Sydney Entertainment Centre

- Bondi Beach:

- a hugely popular beach and suburb of Sydney

- “the Beach” stands for sun, surfing, parties

- a lot of cafés and restaurants make life more amusing, hundreds of films, VIP-parties and model shootings have been done there

Victoria:

- is a state located in the south-eastern corner of Australia

- with Melbourne as capitol

- the major tourist destinations in Victoria include:

- Great Ocean Road:

o stretches along the South Eastern coast of Australia

o built during World War I and World Wore II (16 years)

o was done by hand using picks, shovels and dynamite

o offers outstanding views of rock formations and a beautiful coastline

o these formations include The Twelve Apostles

- The Twelve Apostles:

o One of them collapsed on July 4th, 2005 due to weathering by the sea after 6.000 years.

- Fairy Penguins:

o small sized, are the smallest species of penguins

o breed around southern Australia

- Activities:

o whale watching, hang- gliding, hot air ballooning and skiing

Tasmania:

- located 240 km south of the eastern portion of the continent

- being separated from it by Bass Strait

- the oldest island state of Australia and its history is characterized by the isolation

- Nickname: Apple Isle , because of the large number of apples previously grown there

- Capital and largest city is Hobart

Perth:

- Capital city of Western Australia

- the most isolated city of the world

- closer to Singapore than to Sydney

- the third biggest city in Australia

- Kings Park:

o Occupies 406 hectares of the crest of a large hill (larger than New York’s Central Park: 341 hectares)

o Contains Perth’s botanical garden as well as tracts of natural bush land

o has a world-class display of wildflowers

- Swan Bells:

o a bell tower sitting on the edge of the Swan River

o has a copper clad-structure representing the sail of a ship

o the bells were a gift from the UK to the people of Australia on occasion of Australia’s 200 year anniversary of colonisation

o were opened to the public in 2001

Red Centre:

- Ayers Rock or Uluru , as it is called by the Aborigines, forms the Red Centre, a large sandstone rock formation

- Is located about 450km south west of Alice Springs, 348m high and 9km around the base

- Changes colour during the day and turns more and more into red as the sun sets

- Is sacred to the Aborigines and has many varied springs, waterholes, rock caves and ancient paintings

- Is referred to as a monolith

- Climbing Uluru is a popular attraction for visitors, but it is very dangerous

- Every year there are several death

Kakadu- National park:

- is in the Northern Territory of Australia, 171 km east of Darwin

- name comes from an aboriginal language called Gagudju (spoken in the north of the park at the beginning of the twentieth century)

- was declared World Heritage, because of his outstanding natural and cultural value

- consists of lots of savannah woodlands, sandstone plateau and rivers.

- all over the park you can see rock paintings from the Aborigines

- many different kinds of animals; most impressive are the crocodiles sleeping on the banks of the Alligator River

- Termite hills that can get up to 6 m

- the principal magnet of tourism are the Twin Falls

Great Barrier Reef:

- itconsists of more than 3000 reefs, some are up to 18 million years old

- is the largest reef system of the world and one of the wonders of the natural world

- located in the Coral Sea off the coast of Queensland in north-east of Australia

- it stretches over 2000 km in length and can be seen from space

- declared as World Heritage on 26th October, 1981

- the area abounds with wildlife, including dugong and sea turtles, varieties of dolphins and whales, more than 1500 species of fish, about 400 different kinds of corals and more than 200 species of birdlife

Fraser Island:

- is the largest sand island in the world

- World Heritage Site since 1992

- the part for the tourists on the island is the Great Sandy National Park, the other parts are restricted areas where the land is left to rehabilitate

- you can reach the island by ferry

- you are just allowed to drive with a four wheel drive car on the beach and on the sand roads

- highest sand dune is 240m high

- there are many fresh water lakes, which are some of the cleanest lakes in the world

- the original name from the Aborigines is K’gari, which means paradise

Canberra:

- the capital city of Australia

- is an entirely purpose-built, planned city in a triangle form

- the design of the city is orientated by the nature

- Canberra means Meeting Point

- the city itself as a garden city and its architecture is a sight

- New Parliament House:

o They pulled down the top of the hill, built the new house, made a man-made, artificial top the hill with grass on it (you can go for a walk on top of the building)

- National Library of Australia:

o Every book published in Australia is required by law to be held by the National Library of Australia

Station work:

Station 1 Memory:

· first mix the cards

· then hide the sights, lay them on the table and mix again

· the player opens two cards

· the aim is to find the right pairs of the name and the picture of the sights

· the player who has the most pairs is the winner

Station 2 Crossword:

· answer the questions

· put the right words in the crossword

Station 3 Role play:

· The children get the information:

Imagine you are in Australia and you want to do a sightseeing tour. One of you works in the tourist information, the other one is the tourist. Have a conversation about sights you want to visit.

Here are some phrases which can help you:

Tourist:

o I would like to visit…

o Where can I find…?

o What do you know about…?

o Do you have some information about…?

Tourist information:

o You could go/ visit….

o Lots of people want to see…

o We have got an attractive offer to go to…

Station 4 Australia map:

· Children get a plain map of Australia and some cities and sights written in a box below

· They have to place the cities and sights from the box to the map above

· If they have done everything right they get a solution word

Station 5 sights- city:

· Children get a map of Australia and pictures with sights

· They have to select the right pictures and clue them to the right city on the map

· If they can’t find the right picture they can draw something on their own

Station 6 Australian flag:

· Children get a flag of Australia

· They have to colour it

At the end they put their sheets, they got at the station, together to a diary of Australia!

Sources:

- www.wikipedia.de

- www.australienbilder.de

- Date: all 5th of December, 2005

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