Year 7 Science · Unit 4 · Lesson 11

First Astronomers: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sky Knowledge

Foundation Worksheet

Name

Date

Class

Learning Goals

Recall how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander sky knowledge is built and passed on.
Describe, respectfully, the Yolngu People’s Knowledge of the Moon and the tides.
Recall the scientific account of the tides, and read a tide diary.

Warm Up

Fill the gap: the scientific account

Choose the correct word from the word bank. Each word is used at most once. Two words are not needed: cross them out.

Recall 5 marks

spring two temperature gravity full neap positions

In the scientific account, the tides are caused mainly by the Moon’s . As Earth rotates, most places get roughly high tides each day. The phase of the Moon depends on the relative of the Sun, the Earth and the Moon. The largest tides, called tides, happen at new Moon and Moon.

Your Turn

True or false? Fix the false ones

Circle T or F. If a statement is false, correct it on the line.

Apply 4 marks

1. There is one single Aboriginal belief about the sky, shared in the same way by every Nation.

Correct it:

2. Yolngu Knowledge of the Moon and the tides is passed on mainly through written books.

Correct it:

3. The Yolngu People hold Knowledge that the rising and falling of the tides matches the position and phase of the Moon.

Correct it:

4. Some Cultural Knowledge is sacred or held only by certain people, so it is not ours to retell.

Correct it:

Sort it: two ways of knowing

Write each statement in the correct box. The boxes do not all hold the same number of items.

Apply 3 marks

is written down recognises a real link between the Moon and the tides passed on through story, song and Lore explains the link using the Moon’s gravity built from careful observation over a long time held within Culture by the Yolngu People can be used to predict when high and low tides will come explains spring and neap tides by how the Sun and Moon line up

Yolngu Cultural Knowledge

Scientific account

Shared by both

Go Deeper

Read the data: a class tide diary

Scenario

A Year 7 class at a coastal school wrote down the Moon’s phase once a week for eight weeks, and whether the tides that week were big or small.

Table 1. The class tide diary

Week	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Moon phase	New	First quarter	Full	Last quarter	New	First quarter	Full	Last quarter
Tides	Big	Small	Big	Small	Big	Small	Big	Small

Source: made-up class diary.

1. (a) Describe the pattern in Table 1. (b) Week 9 will have a new Moon. Predict the size of the tides in week 9.

Apply 2 marks

2. The class watched for eight weeks. Yolngu Knowledge of the Moon and the tides was built up over many generations. Explain why a much longer record of observations makes a prediction more reliable.

Analyse 2 marks

Show What You Know

3. Extended response. Describe, respectfully, the Yolngu People’s Cultural Knowledge of the Moon and the tides. Say who holds it and where they live, what they observed, why it is useful, and how it was developed and is passed on.

Analyse 6 marks

Answer Key (for teachers)

Fill the gap: the scientific account

gravity; two; positions; spring; full (1 each). Not used: temperature, neap. [5 marks]

True or false

1. False: there are many distinct Nations, each with its own language, Country and Cultural Knowledges. 2. False: it is passed on through oral tradition: story, song and Lore. 3. True. 4. True. (1 each) [4 marks]

Sort it: two ways of knowing

Yolngu Cultural Knowledge (2): passed on through story, song and Lore; held within Culture by the Yolngu People. Scientific account (3): is written down; explains the link using the Moon’s gravity; explains spring and neap tides by how the Sun and Moon line up. Shared by both (3): recognises a real link between the Moon and the tides; built from careful observation over a long time; can be used to predict when high and low tides will come. All 8 = 3; 6 or 7 = 2; 4 or 5 = 1. [3 marks]

Read the data: a class tide diary

1. (a) Big tides in the weeks of new Moon and full Moon; small tides at the quarter Moons (1). (b) Big (1). [2 marks]

2. A pattern that repeats again and again over a long time is well tested, not chance (1). Eight weeks shows only two cycles; many generations show it holds every time, so predictions can be trusted (1). [2 marks]

Question 3

Marking guide: 1 the Yolngu People of north-east Arnhem Land, Northern Territory; 1 they live on Country beside the sea; 1 they observed that the rising and falling of the tides matches the position and phase of the Moon; 1 useful for knowing when the water will be high or low, for fishing, gathering shellfish or travelling safely (one use is enough); 1 built up by careful observation over many generations, many thousands of years; 1 passed on through story, song and Lore. [6 marks]

Model answer: The Yolngu People of north-east Arnhem Land, in the Northern Territory, live on Country beside the sea. They hold detailed Cultural Knowledge that the rising and falling of the tides matches the position and phase of the Moon. This tells people when the water will be high or low, for fishing, gathering shellfish and travelling safely. The Knowledge was built up by careful observation over many thousands of years and is passed on through story, song and Lore.

Common error: writing “Aboriginal people believed” instead of naming the Nation and describing Knowledge it holds today.