Stage 3 – STEM Activity 8

Settler’s hut

A photo showing a rough hut made of planks of wood. The hut is rectangular in shape with a sloping roof. There are 2 windows, one of which is open, the other is shut. The door is open and a man is sitting on the small step leading to the front door. Another man is sitting on some logs, facing the man in the doorway. Both men are wearing hats. There is a large box-like structure on the side of the house. It has a chimney, made out of the same type of wood attached to the top of the structure. This structure probably contains the kitchen/cooking area of the house.

Description of activity

Students design and build a model of an early settler’s hut using information gathered from historical images and natural materials that settlers may have had access to at the time.
This model will then be used to investigate the extreme conditions that early settlers had to live with, eg heat, rain and wind.
This activity will take approximately 90 minutes to:

research and design the hut
build the structure
test conditions.

Context

Students complete this activity in conjunction with History Stage 3 to have an understanding of the harsh conditions early European settlers endured. They will have opportunities to view and analyse related primary sources from that era, eg artworks depicting early settlers and their houses.

Students will design and build a colonial hut replicating those used by the first settlers. The huts will be built from resources available to the settlers and students will investigate how the settlers experienced the Australian climate.

Outcomes

Skills

ST3-4WS investigates by posing questions, including testable questions, making predictions and gathering data to draw evidence-based conclusions and develop explanations
ST3-5WT plans and implements a design process, selecting a range of tools, equipment, materials and techniques to produce solutions to address the design criteria and identified constraints
MA3-3WM gives a valid reason for supporting one possible solution over another

Knowledge and understanding

GE3-2 explains interactions and connections between people, places and environments
HT3-2 describes and explains different experiences of people living in Australia over time
HT3-5 applies a variety of skills of historical inquiry and communication
MA3-9MG selects and uses the appropriate unit and device to measure lengths and distances, calculates perimeters, and converts between units of length
MA3-18SP uses appropriate methods to collect data and constructs, interprets and evaluates data displays, including dot plots, line graphs and two-way tables
ST3-13MW describes how the properties of materials determine their use for specific purposes
ST3-14BE describes systems in built environments and how social and environmental factors influence their design
ST3-16P describes systems used to produce or manufacture products, and the social and environmental influences on product design

Resources

Materials gathered from the natural environment to make a hut, eg bark, sticks, grass, leaves, soil, sand, clay, water, pebbles, stones, string, cotton material
Desk lamp or heat lamp, fan, watering can, tissue paper
Thermometers

Work, health and safety

Check relevant Work, health and safety guidelines.
Ensure that all collected materials are clean.
Provide warnings concerning the use of cutting devices.

Evidence of work for assessment purposes

Labelled design plan of the hut showing reasons for the use of materials
Photo of a model of early settlers’ hut, that matches the plan
Table showing data gathered from investigations.

STEM teaching and learning activities

View images of early settler huts and discuss the following:
- What do we know about the homes of early settlers?
- What did the early settlers use to build their homes?
- What items came on the ships with them?
- Were these items useful?
- How did settlers get the resources they needed?
- How were the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples affected by the settlers taking these resources?
- What materials could you use to replicate the huts of this time?
Students work in pairs or individually to consider the resources needed and design a hut.
Students sketch their design and label showing materials they are considering to use. They record the reasons informing their choices.
In their design students must consider:
- How did early settlers connect and join the materials?
- What tools could have been used for building and what tools will students use?
- How will students actually build their hut?
Students use their design plan to construct a settler’s hut.
Once huts have been built, students investigate how much protection the huts provide. Students test protection from:
- heat
- wind
- rain.
Students devise ways to test these factors, describe the methods they used and record their results.
Students write their observations about the hut and how it stood up to the elements of heat, wind and rain.
Class discussion regarding which natural resources were the most effective.
- Did the size of the hut make any difference?
- Did the shape make a difference?
Discuss the conditions and frustrations the early settlers had to deal with.

Vocabulary list

Controlled variables – all the factors in an investigation that could change but are kept constant to make it a fair test
Dependent variable – the factor that is affected by the changes in the independent variable and is measured or observed
Independent variable – the factor that is changed during the investigation
Model – a small object, usually built to scale, that represents another, often larger object
Natural resources – material found in nature. Earth’s natural resources include light, air, water, plants, animals, soil, stone, minerals and fossil fuels
Primary sources – objects and documents created or written during the time being investigated, eg official documents, such as laws and treaties; personal documents, such as diaries and letters; photographs; film, documentaries, artefacts, and oral histories. These original, first-hand accounts are analysed by a historian to answer questions about the past
Secondary sources – accounts about the past that were created after the time being investigated, and which often use or refer to primary sources and present a particular interpretation, eg writings of historians, encyclopaedia, documentaries, history textbooks and websites

Key inquiry questions

What materials should be used for construction?
Ensure that students use only natural materials, ie no glue or sticky tape. Students reflect on what materials the early settlers would have used and the processes that would have been available to them.

Support materials

My place: a resource for teachers describing life in the 1820s
YouTube video: Building a primitive wattle and daub hut from scratch

Diversity of learners

For extension

Limit or specify the resources students can use to build their huts, eg some huts built from bark, string, leaves and others from mud and straw. Other huts could have cotton material added to the inside of the hut.
Fair testing can be incorporated into the investigation with:
- independent variable – resources used to build hut
- dependent variable – temperature inside hut or wind factor or amount of water collected inside hut
- controlled variables – distance of lamp/globe from hut, distance of fan from hut, amount of water and how it is poured over hut.
The class works together to build several buildings and place them together to represent a whole township of a new colony. Consideration of what businesses were needed in the townships as population grew, eg blacksmith, storekeeper, etc.

Review

This STEM activity is an opportunity for students to understand the hardships and restrictions that early European settlers to Australia experienced. They will also explore the use of natural resources in the past.

By limiting the resources available, students further develop their problem-solving skills in a very practical context.