Welcome to 6R 2002
See the work we have done on:
Australian Explorers
We have been studying about Early white Australian explorers.
Click below to read some of our reports:
Burke & Wills
Edward Eyre
John Forrest
BURKE and WILLS
Robert O’Hara Burke was born in Ireland 1821 and in 1848 he joined the police force in the mining camps. William Wills was born in Totnes England and studied medicine. In 1853 he and his brother sailed to Australia. When they got there they worked as labourers on a farm. One year later he moved to the western districts in Victoria.
Burke and Landells led an expedition with 18 other men. They set out to cross Australia from south to north. After early troubles where Landells and Burke had a fight, Landells left the expedition with several other men. The original party got to Menindee and Burke made Wills second in command. Burke then decided to split the party. Half of the party stayed in Menindee and Burke and Wills and some other men set off to Cooper Creek. Burke left William Brahe in command of the people who stayed. Burke told Brahe if they weren’t back in four months to set off back to Melbourne. Brahe waited more than four months until he was ill with scurvy. About seven hours after he left, Burke and Wills returned and found the camp deserted. They found a message burnt into a tree saying Dig 3ft NW so they dug and found some provisions. A couple of weeks later their provisions were down. Burke knew there was a police outpost so Burke, Wills, King and Gray set off to the police outpost. They never made it and died from starvation at Coopers Creek.
By Oliver, Melody, Jelena, Sara, Thea, Andrew, Osho, Kristy
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EDWARD EYRE
Edward Eyre was born in England on August 15th 1815 and died on the 30th of November 1901. In 1840-1841 Edward Eyre traveled to Albany WA from Port Lincoln across the Nullabor plains in eight months.
In his journey Eyre’s main companion was shot by two of the aboriginal guides who ran away with supplies and guns. They probably wouldn’t have completed their journey without one last stroke of fortune. On the 2nd of June they rounded a bend in the coast and saw ships masts. Eyre made a fire to catch the ship’s attention and it worked. The ships landed and they hopped on. The ship was commanded by an Englishman called Captain Rossiter. He cared for them for two weeks and then Eyre continued his journey. He arrived in Albany on the 7th July.
By Lachlan, Liam & Michael
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JOHN FORREST
John Forrest was born in 1847 in Bunbury Western Australia and died at 71 years old. John Forrest was a surveyor and Explorer who made expeditions to the center of Australia. Together with his brother, Alexander Forrest they became the best known explorers in Western Australia. On one of his expeditions he went to look the missing Leichhardt and his expeditions. His second trip was to cross Australia from west to east. He succeed and was the first to cross Australia from west to east. On his last expedition he went to investigate on some reports on bones. But they were only horse bones. John Forrest was sailing to England for medical treatment because he was very sick but he died before reaching England in 1918. Our school and suburb is named after John Forrest.
By Anthony & Katherine
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GOLD
As part of our gold unit, some people in our class made cradles. A cradle is used to find gold in creeks and rivers. To work a cradle you have to put dirt and stones in a sifting device at the top. Then you start to rock the cradle and pour water on top of the dirt. The dirt then goes though the sieve and sorts the gravel from the dirt. If there are any good nuggets they would stay at the top and if there was any tiny flecks they would stay in small slots on the bottom of the cradle. Then the dirt goes back into the river or creek. The things we used to make our cradles are wood, paddlepop sticks and glue. We made the cradles for our homework and used them in our gold game.
On our trip to Ballarat we stopped at Glenrowan for lunch and we also visited the Ned Kelly Museum. First we waited in a large entry way where there was some information about Ned Kelly. Then we walked into a room where we saw an interactive sound and light show about Ned Kelly being captured by the police. We went through into the second room where there was a scene of a bar, with more electronic displays of people talking about the famous bushranger. In the last room, they showed Ned Kelly being hung. We all liked the museum and we advise everyone to visit it.
One of the things we did on camp was go down the Central Deborah Mine at Bendigo. We were given helmets (with a light on the front) then were separated into different groups. We went down on a lift 61 metres deep to the second floor of the mine. We saw a hall which was used for dances and things (there had even been a wedding down there).The guide turned on a drill and it was really loud even with our ears plugged. We had a great time down the mine but were glad to come back up.
On the Wednesday and Thursday of our camp we went to a place in Ballarat called Sovereign Hill. When we walked through the door, somebody directed us through to a room where we watched a short film about the Gold Rush. After that we were split into groups then we walked to a lolly factory where we saw a man make boiled lollies. We felt like we could NEVER get sick of that… but we soon did. 5 minutes later we were all sitting down in a replica of an old school house. There we listened to a lady called Ann-Marie talk to us about what life was like for families during the Gold Rush. Some of us even got to dress up in olden day clothing. One hour later we were heading down to a replica of the gold mine were the ‘Welcome Nugget’ was found. We went through a self-guided audio tour and all came out coughing and spluttering from all the dust. We then had lunch and did a bit of ‘free roaming’ time.
At about 2:00pm we all met up at a large building and went in and watched a man melt gold then pour into a mould of an ingot. The gold he melted was 3kg worth of 99.9% gold. Then we had 45minutes of free time, but after that we had to leave. We didn’t want to though! The next day we went back to Sovereign Hill and had 3 more hours of free time. Most people panned for gold.
Panning at Sovereign Hill.
At Sovereign Hill there is a small creek which the staff would pepper every morning with tiny specs of pure 24K gold. To pan you get a metal dish with circular ridges to catch the gold. You use it to scoop dirt and gravel (hopefully containing gold) from the bottom of the creek. Then you swirl it around with water and all of the gold should stay there because it’s heavier than all the other rocks and gravel. Many of us grabbed a pan and began looking for gold. We put our gold specs we found in a small jar so we could keep them forever, if we were lucky enough at panning. We slaved for hours only to find $1 worth of gold but the whole experience was strangely rewarding.
On Wednesday night we went back to Sovereign Hill to watch a sound and light show called Blood on the Southern Cross. When we arrived we got off the bus and went into a room with a big screen TV. We watched a short introduction about life on the gold fields in the 1850’s. Then we went onto some open carriages to an old motel. We watched a 15 minute show about the Eureka Stockade and how it started. Then we went back to the main street and a man acting as Peter Lalor, the leader of the Eureka Stockade who lost his arm, told us that after the Eureka Stockade diggers and miners were tried and set free. The miners got the right to vote and better rights on the gold fields.
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Book Reviews
Read our book reviews on:
Something's Fishy, Hazel Green - Odo Hirsch
Blue Fin - Colin Thiele
Artemis Fowl - Eoin Colfer
Pigs Might Fly - Emily Rodda
The Gathering - Isobelle Carmody
Saddle Club - Rodeo Rider - Bonnie Bryant
Thieves of Ostia - Caroline Lawrence
The Hollow Hills - Mary Stewart
The Fellowship of the Ring - J.R.R. Tolkein
Thorn Ogres in Hagwood - Robin Thart
The Deadly Series - Paul Jennings & Morris Gleitzman
What we like in a book, by the children of 6R
Something’s Fishy, Hazel Green - Odo Hirsch
Hazel Green is a lively, determined eight year-old girl in 2nd Grade who lives in the Moodey Apartment Building. Her friend Marcus, an eight year-old boy with a crush on Hazel, also lives in the Moodey Apartment Building very close to Hazel. They both live near Mr Petrusca, the owner of a fish shop on the ground floor of the same building. And then there’s Yakov Plonsk, a nine year-old genius, who plays a huge part in the solving of the mystery.
One day, one of Mr Petrusca’s huge lobsters was stolen from its tank, and it’s up to Hazel, Marcus and Yakov to get it back. In place of the lobster there is a tiny note in the tank addressed to Mr Petrusca. When Hazel opens the note she finds it is written in a mysterious code. She takes the note straight to Yakov and he works for hours trying to crack the code. Can Hazel, Yakov and Marcus solve the mystery and retrieve the stolen lobster? Read it and find out!
I liked this book because the characters are well thought out and there is a descriptive plot with an interesting and exciting twist.
If you read this book you’ll never see fish shops the same way again.
By Deborah.
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BLUE FIN by COLIN THIELE
Blue Fin is another book from well known author Colin Thiele. Like most of his books it is set around the tuna fishing town of Port Lincoln, South Australia. The main character is 16 year old Snook, who would love to be a fisherman but he is not very capable and is clumsy and weak. Snook’s father owns a tuna boat called Blue Fin and does not believe that his son has the qualities of a tuna fisherman.
When Snook is called up for action it is only the start of the adventure. When they are caught in a waterspout, the tiny boat must battle the extremes of the ocean, with Snook at the helm of the boat.
The adventure, the sadness and the terror make the book thrilling from start to finish.
By Angus
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Artemis Fowl - Eoin Colfer
Artemis Fowl would have to be one of the best and well written books in the existence of the world. It has clearly written descriptions of all the characters and settings, and the plot is interesting throughout the whole book.
Not only is the plot unique and different to most plots containing fairies, trolls, leprechauns, sprites and the law of the People (all of the above); but Eoin Colfer has basically made up his own world. These are just a few of the reasons I liked the book.
Twelve-year old criminal mastermind, Artemis Fowl, and his bodyguard Butler kidnap Captain Holly Short. Commander Root is Holly’s employer. Foaly is a centaur who’s always worrying about one of the Mud People’s (human’s) satellites tracking his technology (Foaly is an expert technician). When they try to get Holly back, things soon start to get messy…
I recommend Artemis Fowl for anyone aged 8+ who likes good books.
reviewed by Sarah
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Pigs Might Fly - Emily Rhodda
This story is set in our world where not many exciting things happen. The main character is a girl called Rachael. She has a brother Jamie a mum and dad. She is about twelve years old and she is sick in bed, bored at home and in her life.
Other characters are Sandy a strange man, Bert and Enid two old people, Cathy Titterton a woman who believes in star signs, Mr Len Murray a bank owner and Connie Coolie a librarian.
Rachael wants more excitement in her life, then falls asleep and wakes up in a world where many exciting things happen. She wants to go home, and finds out how in a library and by asking people how. I liked this story because it is weird. The moral of this story is "nothing is impossible."
Reviewed by Louis
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The Gathering - Isobelle Carmody
Nat (Nathanial) a tall slender teenager, arrives in Chesunt where he and his mum are to live for the next little while. He looked out of the car window at the school he was to go to and immediately as he first saw the school he had a bad feeling about it.
Nat’s first day did not go well. He got home and decided to walk The Tod, his dog. During his walk he noticed a boy sitting on top of a light pole. That’s weird, really weird, no one sits on top of a light pole in the dead of night with his eyes shut meditating, he thought.
Nat meets some people while he is walking The Tod and they threaten to kill him, but then a girl appears and said to the others that Nat should be one of them and that he answered the call. Nat at this time did not know what any of this meant but he followed them up into the attic of the school library. He then knew. . . . . . something was not right about Chesunt.
I like this book because it has a lot of power and mystery in it and even though it has good in it, it also has evil. There are also a lot of funny, sad, embarrassing, hair-raising moments. I also like the way Nat and his friends have to work together and persevere to achieve certain goals. - Alex
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Saddle Club-Rodeo Rider - Bonnie Bryant
The story is about three girls, Lisa Atwood, Stevie Lake and Carol Hansen. They love horses so much that they make up a club, The Saddle Club. It has only two rules: to be horse-crazy and be willing to help each other out.
Lisa is a straight-A student and in a grade higher than the others. Stevie is a practical joker with a good sense of humour. Last but not least, Carol, the horse-craziest of them all, thinks all problems can be solved with horses.
The Saddle Club travels to Virginia to visit their friend, Kate Devine, and her family at the Devine’s ranch, The Bar None. But the Bar None is losing business to another ranch and the Devines can’t afford their place any longer.
The Saddle Club along with Kate and another friend, Christine Lonetree, hatch a plan involving
the upcoming local rodeo, to save the Bar None.
I really enjoyed reading Rodeo Rider because of the adventure and humour.
Reviewed by Tasnim
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Thieves of Ostia - Caroline Lawrence
The story is set in ancient Rome in the town of Ostia. Flavia Gemina is the daughter of a sea sailor called Captin Gemasus. She has blonde hair, blue eyes, a big mind and is a free born child. She makes friends with Jonathon, her new next door neighbour. They met one day while being chased by a pack of angry, wild, rabid dogs. With 700 sencir (money) she buys a slave girl for company. All three of them become good friends mucking around. One day Jonathon’s watchdog Bobas is brutally murdered!!
There is a fishy feeling around Ostia……..
The story is very interesting with its many different characters as well as it’s well built plot. The beginning is slow but it picks up quickly. The further you read the better it gets. It’s a mystery story full of surprises and suspense. The book is excellent and keeps you guessing till the last page.
reviewed by Jelena
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The Hollow Hills by Mary Stewart
Merlin is an enchanter who lived in Britain at about 1300 AD. He is the most powerful enchanter in the world. Merlin is a prophet and can predict someone’s death and he talks with dead people. He owns a cave in a hill at Bryn Myrddin.
Arthur is tall and strong for his age, a very fast horse rider and a skilled swordsman. He is young so he has a short temper.
Merlin is on an epic quest to raise Prince Arthur from 3 days old to 14 yrs and present him to his father, King Uther (brother of Ambrosious, the late Old King and Merlin’s father). He takes Arthur to another kingdom and leaves Arthur with his servant Ralf so he is safe. Merlin took him there in secret so no enemy would know where he was and try to kill him. Merlin comes back when Arthur is 9 and looks after him. Merlin is also trying to find the great sword used by Mascen Wledig, a great King who lived 100 years ago. This sword will help Arthur in his leadership. Will he succeed in his quests or fail miserably? Read the book to find out.
I liked the book because I thought I was really in old Britain in 1300 AD because there was a lot of description about the people, buildings and emotions. I couldn’t put it down because I wanted to know what happened next. In conclusion I think this is a fantastic book.
Reviewed by Liam
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The Fellowship of the Ring – J.R.R. Tolkein
The fellowship of the ring is the first book of the well known Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R Tolkien. It is set in Middle Earth, a large fictional land filled with enchanted forests and strange creatures. Two of the main characters in this story are Frodo, a small Hobbit (hobbits are by nature small) who is exceedingly brave for his size and Gandalf, a very old and wise wizard who helps Frodo and his friends along the way.
This story starts when Frodo inherits a ring, but not just any old ring, a magic ring which holds great power. But there are evil forces that want the ring, so Frodo and some of his Hobbit friends leave their safe shire and go on an adventure to find a wise elf king and ask him for advice.
I like this book because it uses interesting descriptive words to set the scene.
Reviewed by Lachlan
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Thorn Ogres in Hagwood - Robin Thart
Thorn ogres, servants of the High Lady(the Queen) have arrived at Hagwood and will destroy everyone and thing to retrieve the Lady’s missing treasure.
Gamaliel was a main character. He belong to the race of werglings who are mostly round and roly-poly.
Gamaliel himself is very self-contitious and likes to collect rocks, feathers and the like. He also has a big, bossy sister called Kernella.
Werglings have a form of magic that gives them the ability to change shape, into mice, rabbits, etc. It keeps them safe and has kept them safe for centuries. Living in the forest is also very good protection.
Gamaliel must go to school to learn how to ‘wergle’ (change shape). He meets some other young werglings, Liffidia and Tollychook. Liffidia is sweetempered and her love for animals sometimes gets her and her friends into trouble. Tollychook is a very good wergler but is sometimes unsure of himself and loves his food. Finnen has been training for two years and is the best wergler. He is also very sympathetic towards Gamaliel when he fails at wergling.
Finnen helps Gamaliel, Liffidia and Tollychook when two other members of the group run away into the forest. Retrieving them is very hard and dangerous and the ending is sad, amazing and different.
I liked the story because it is different and has good ideas.
Reviewed by Sigrun
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The Deadly Series - Paul Jennings & Morris Gleitzman
Spocket, that’s what he thinks his name is, wakes and finds himself in the middle of nowhere on the ground. Then all of a sudden he is being chased by a group of kids wanting to kidnap him.
Amy, on the other hand, thinks her Dad’s having an affair. When her Dad is on his way to work she hides in the boot of the car thinking that her Dad’s not really on his way to work, but to the woman’s house. When the car stops she hops out of the boot to have a look where she is. Her dad is nowhere to be seen.
Later in the story Amy and Sprocket join forces to see what the kids want with sprocket. I found the series a thrilling and exciting adventure that was enjoyable to read. - Reviewed by Nick
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We have all read and enjoyed good books.
These are some of the elements we think makes a book "good"
It should have at least one sad bit.
A good plot.
Characters you can relate to.
When you stop reading it leaves you in suspense.
It needs to have a bit of mystery to which the answer is not revealed until the end of the book.
A book that leaves the reader thinking.
Well described characters and settings.
Suspense at the end of chapters and action, humour and adventure.
If someone said it was a good book.
Not wanting to put the book down because of exitement.
A book with a mysterious ending.
If the theme and the title of the book makes you want to read it.
It needs to keep the reader guessing all the way through the book.
It needs to be exciting all the way through with interesting twists.
Something that can put a picture in your head.
Intense excitement and suspense keeping you hanging on to bits.
It has to have mystery all the way through
The book has to be adventurous and have some fantasy in it.
The characters have to be inspiring.
Good information.
It has to have a good beliveable plot with a little fantasy.
It has to have adventure that will make the book hard to put down.
It actually has something happen that is exciting.
So much suspense and action you can't put the book down.
The plot has to be funny.
If you have read one of the author's books before and you like how the writer writes.
A good book should have some fantasy.
It should have someone in the story who dies.
Interesting vocabulary and descriptions throught the story.
Interesting cover blurb.
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