Part A The Task

The chosen component of curriculum for this task is a year 9 history class,
studying the effects of World War I; with a focus on a specific town and the
amount of young men that never returned home and the impact of this on
the town. The most effective way to run this component would be to
choose a variety of Victorian towns that are well known to have lost a
large number of men to active duty during the First World War. Specific
towns could include Bendigo, Shepparton and Ballarat; who lost three
thousand seven hundred men through volunteering for active service in
World War 1. Through emphasising a single towns data, students will be
able to clearly develop their research and inquiry focus and inform their
historical knowledge on the impact or effect that World War 1 had on
Australia. Students will access a range of different Australian Government
websites (i.e. www.naa.gov.au, www.cwgc.org, www.awm.gov.au) to
enhance their research and inquiry.
In groups students will choose a Victorian town to investigate and focus on
the following; the amount of men who enlisted over of the course of the
war (1914-1918), they will look at average age of men who enlisted from
and students will also record the number of men who returned to their
hometowns at the end of their service (this will be easier to do with
students researching specific towns servicemen, as students will be able
to investigate specific individuals from their nominated town). Once they
have found and recorded the necessary data students will create a series
of graphs so that they can compare the data and develop further inquiry
questions for the unit; why did so many men volunteer at such a young
age? Why did some years have higher enlistment numbers than others?
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What did it mean for the town when all their young men left? How were
these towns affected when their young men never returned home?
The aim of this activity is to scaffold students towards further research
tasks, developing and informing student knowledge on the effects of WWI.
Part B Numeracy
The numeracy that is required in order to actively investigate and respond
to this component of history includes using an existing dataset to; order
data and construct graphical representations. The construction of graphs
in the history classroom using real life data, not only enhances students
historical knowledge, but it also allows students to visualise the real life
data and therefore add context to the historical information that they are
interpreting. This also means that students will be able to draw
conclusions from the physical representation of data by unearthing visible
patterns and extracting information from the real life contexts as
represented by the graph (Blagdanic & Chinnappan, 2013).
During this task, students should complete two graphs for their chose
Victorian town; one graph should represent the number of enlisted men
per year for the duration of the War (1914-1918), whilst the secondary
graph will represent the number of returned servicemen to their
hometowns over the course of a similar timeframe (1915-1919), so that
students can easily read and interpret the data. The students should
understand that the graph needs to be constructed with the number of
men enlisting to join the army on the y-axis, and the years on the x-axis,
similarly the secondary graph should be constructed with the number of
men returning to their hometowns on the y-axis and the years on the xaxis. This knowledge of numerical skills comes under the framework
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section of the four components of constructing a graph, as outlined by

Friel, Curcio and Bright (2001). The graph should be completed by hand on
graph paper or similarly it could be digitally constructed, as seen in the
following example;

Enlistments by State

200,000

200,000
150,000
100,000
50,000
0

By

Enlistments by Year
150,000
100,000
50,000

QLD

NSW

VIC

SA

WA

TAS

0
1914

1915

1916

1917

1918

(Graphs created with data taken from Australian War Memorial;

www.awm.gov.au/encyclopedia/enlistment/ww1/)

completing a task like this in the history classroom, not only does it help
students to develop a deeper understanding of mathematics, but it also
enables students to visualise the data they are researching in a more
succinct form, whilst also allowing them to create and construct their own
representation of the collated data that will inform their historical
knowledge in a more tangible form (Shaughnessy, 2006, p. 80).
The main purpose of this task is to support students historical knowledge
and learning through the use of relevant historical data and records, with
the goal of forming the basis of future historical inquiry tasks, relating to
the effects of WWI on Australia.

Part C Difficulties
Some potential difficulties that I could foresee within this task will lie with
those students who may already struggle with mathematical concepts
such as; organising data, constructing and interpreting data and graphs
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and working with statistics, chance and data. Shaughnessy (2006) writes
that the teaching and learning of statistics or chance and data is
considered a separate discipline, even within the maths classroom, which
requires a unique way of thinking, therefore bringing it into the history
classroom is bound to create some challenges for students. Similarly,
Koparan (2015) found that many students do struggle with data
representation as a task, the main area of concern involving the creation
of graphs, and include students; being unable to correctly plot multiple
sets of data on a single graph, failing to appropriately label the x and y
axis and failing to appropriately arrange values along the axis.
These challenges could include; a failure to fully understand the task, an
inability to contextualise and interpret the data, an inability to construct
an inquiry question with reference to their collected data and finally a
failure to engage with the activity, which as Garfield and Ahlgren (1988)
wrote, many students are disinterested in statistics because they cannot
see the relevance to society or their own lives.
A final difficulty that I could foresee within this task could be the historical
task in itself, creating and developing a historical inquiry research task. By
initially asking students to use mathematical skills to inform an inquiry
based question, the teacher is challenging the students to move into
unfamiliar territory in their history classroom. Inquiry in history is already
a challenging task for students to undertake, therefore adding pressure to
this task by including numeracy elements, could potentially place
unnecessary challenges in the way of a students progress.

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Page 5 of 10

Part D Lesson sequence

SECONDARY LESSON PLAN
YEAR LEVEL & SUBJECT: Year 9 History

DATE:

NO. OF STUDENTS: 25

LESSON
60mins

DURATION:

TOPIC/FOCUS: Australia at War (1914-1945)

World War I (1914-1918)

AusVELS/VCE STATEMENTS:

Analyse the long term causes, short term triggers and the intended and unintended effects of significant events and developments
(VCHHC127)
Identify and evaluate patterns of continuity and change in the development of the modern world and Australia (VCHHC126)
Analyse and corroborate sources and evaluate their accuracy, usefulness and reliability (VCHHC123)
Effects of World War I, with a particular emphasis on the changes and continuities brought to the Australian home front and society
(VCHHK142)
Causes of World War I, the reasons why men enlisted to go to war, and how women contributed in the war effort (VCHHK139)

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES (INCLUDE LINK TO AusVELS/VCE):

The students will be able to:

Make inferences as to why men enlisted to go to war

Identify towns heavily affected by the war (i.e. affected by the amount of men enlisting)

Analyse and interpret historical sources

Identify the effects of WWI specific to individual towns around Victoria

SUMMARY OF RESOURCES REQUIRED:

Computers/iPads, loose leaf paper/workbooks, pens, pencils, ruler, useful websites; Commonwealth War Graves Commission http://www.cwgc.org/, Australian War Memorial www.awm.gov.au and the Nationals Archives of Australia www.naa.gov.au

LESSON PROCEDURE
TIMI
NG

RESOUR
CES

STEPS OF THE LESSON

EXPECTED STUDENT
REACTIONS OR
RESPONSES

TEACHER RESPONSES TO
STUDENTS

GOALS & METHODS OF

EVALUATION
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10mi
ns

Opening:
The task will be introduced
and explained to students.
They will be required to (in
small groups 3-person
maximum) select a town
within
Victoria
and
investigate the lasting effect
that World War 1 had on that
town.
Students will do this be
researching
enlistment
records associated to their
chosen town and making
note of the number of men
who enlisted per year for the
duration of the war.

40mi
ns

Devices,
pencils/p
ens,
paper &
workbook
s

Lesson Development:
In their groups students will
collect
the
data
using
Australian Government and
War memorial sites (as listed
above), it may take some
time for the students to find
the relevant information, but
once they have, they will
need to compile the data and
construct a graph.
By doing this, students will
have
a
physical

Students at this stage will

be familiar with the topic
of World War 1, however
this will be an introductory
lesson on the effects of
WWI on Australia.
Students will be expected
to select their workmates
carefully and choose a
town to investigate.
Students will also be
expected to be familiar
with navigating research
websites.
Students will be engaged
in this interactive task,
searching
through
enlistment records in order
to construct a readable
graph
that
illustrates
enlistment rates for the
duration of the war in
country towns throughout
Victoria.
Through
the
physical
representation of data, and

The teachers role for this

stage of the lesson is to
introduce the task for the
days lesson.

A goal at this stage of the

lesson would be that the
students understand the
instructions for the lesson.

The teacher will begin by

demonstrating where the
students are able to find
their data / enlistment
records from WWI. The
teacher
will
also
demonstrate how students
will transform the data they
have collected into a graph
(physical
representation)
helping them to visualise
what
exactly
they
are
required to do for the day.

A method of evaluation of
achieving this goal will
come
from
brief
questioning, asking that
students understand the
instructions.

The teacher will be available

to
assist
all
students
throughout the entirety of
the lesson, making sure that
students are accessing the
correct
data
and
constructing their graph in
the correct format.

Some goals for this stage

of the lesson include;
students being able to
find/access
and
use
relevant data for this task,
that
students
are
successfully
able
to
construct a graph (physical
representation) for their
data, that they are able to
interpret their data and
that the whole class is able
to successfully compare
their data.
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representation of the data,

hopefully making it a little
easy
to
process
and
interpret.
Once students have created
their graphs with true data
that they have found, they
will be asked to share their
data with the rest of the
class, this will allow them to
make comparisons between
different towns in Victoria.
Once this is done, students
will be asked to review all of
their information and create
their own historical inquiry
question, which
will
be
developed
into
an
assessment
task
further
down the track.

the
comparison/sharing
stage
of
the
lesson,
students will hopefully be
able to make inferences
about why enlistment rates
were so high in some areas
compared with others and
what
it
meant
when
certain amounts of people
were all to leave one area
at the same time.

A method of evaluation at
this stage of the lesson will
occur during the shared
discussion of the whole
class data.
A final goal for this stage of
the lesson will be that all
students will be able to
create their own historical
inquiry question.

Students will hopefully be

confident in their research
and be able to develop an
initial
inquiry
question
based on their research
and inferences of the data.

The
historical
inquiry
question must be based on
the data that the students
have collected, an example
question a student might
come up with could be;
-

Why did X amount

of men all enlist from
the same town in
Victoria in 1915? And
what was the impact
of this many men
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leaving?

10mi
ns

Closure:
The final stage of the lesson
will be used as conference
time between teacher and
student/s, where students
will be able to discuss their
research and question/s with
the teacher, making sure
that they have utilised their
research/data correctly and
have
been
able
to
successfully create an initial
inquiry
based
research
question.

At this stage students are

able to collaborate with
their teacher in working
out the best way possible
to create an in depth and
informed historical inquiry
question.

For the final stage of the

lesson, the teacher will work
their way around the room
and conference with all the
students
regarding
their
tentative inquiry questions.
At this time the teacher will
be able to evaluate what the
students have been able to
achieve during this lesson
and assess each students
ability to create their own
questions in the history
classroom.

A
final
method
of
evaluation will occur during
conference time, where the
teacher will be able to
have
one-on-one
conversations
with
students regarding their
inquiry questions.
During
this
time
the
teacher will be able to
evaluate whether or not
students have been able to
extract what they needed
to from the lesson and that
they were successfully able
to interpret their collected
data.

Page 9 of 10

References:
Blagdanic, C. & Chinnappan, M. (2013). Supporting students to
make judgements using real life data. The Australian Mathematics
Teacher 69(2), 4-12.

Friel, S. N., Curcio, F. R., & Bright, G. W. (2001). Making Sense of

Graphs: Critical Factors Influencing Comprehension and Instructional
Implications. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 32(2), 124158.

Garfield, J., & Ahlgren, A. (1988). Difficulties in Learning Basic

Concepts in Probability and Statistics: Implications for Research. Journal
for Research in Mathematics Education, 19(1), 44-63.

Koparan, T. (2015). Difficulties in learning and teaching statistics:

teacher views. International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science
and Technology, 46(1), 94-104.

Shaughnessy, J, M. (2006). Thinking and Reasoning with Data and

Chance. Research on Students Understanding of some Big Concepts in
Statistics (p. 77-99). Reston, Va: National Council of Teachers of
Mathematics.

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