Wadjela
learning
Resources for Noongar Boodjar
This section will explore some resources and activities for schools and education sites on Noongar boodjar (Country). If you are not on Noongar Boodjar then these activities will need to be adapted to represent the First Nation on which your school stands.
Find your food
This has been one of the most useful resources when teaching Aboriginal perspectives on Noongar boodjar (country). It includes a large range of plants from across the south west of Western Australia, their Noongar name and how they were used.
I love using this book to teach about Noongar bonar (seasons) and which plants were harvested during each of the six Noongar seasons. It's also fun to see students discover that some of the plants they see along the footpaths on their way to school are edible (e.g Bain - Coastal pigface).
Noongar bonar (seasons)
All students should know the Aboriginal seasons of the Country they are on. Learning about each of the seasons invites curiosity and students develop their connection to and understanding of Country. Let Country lead the curriculum.
Makuru activity
This activity was designed for a Kindy class but as you will see it is easily adapted for older years (any age I think would enjoy some of these). I’ve included two of the three activities that we did during the season of Makuru. I prefer to teach about the season the students are experiencing so they can observe the changes as the season progresses.
Activity 1: Introduction to Makuru and bird game
Activity 2: Country takes care of you, wanil and booka
Activity 3: Makuru clay bowl or wall hanging
The three took activities together took between 30 and 40 minutes with the bowl taking up the majority of the lesson. Despite their young age all the children were engaged when I ran it with two different kindy classes.
Makuru Activities 1, 2 & 3
Noongar djerap (bird) cards
Makuru season information
Lesson Ideas
Incursion:
It's always exciting to have guest come and share their knowledge of Noongar bush tucker. The kids love it because they get to eat during class and it is an experience of the food that is from their area. There is always something extra special when students discover something new about where they live. There are a few places around that will come to schools. It is also worth considering how you will follow up with this information. Incursions are wonderful to experience but to get the most out of them it's important to consider how you might remind your students of this knowledge and how you can incorporate it across Learning Areas.
If you're curious check out our excursion and incursions database of Noongar providers.
Find this plant:
Are there edible plants on your school grounds that you didn't know about? Have a look around and see what you can find (make sure that students don't actually eat anything though!). An activity I've used with university students is to give them a few pictures and they have to find it around the school grounds, noting where they found it. It involves a little research beforehand but it gets students up and about and they love it.
Changing with the seasons:
This one is more of an ongoing one that could last the whole year. Ask students to find one plant and see how it changes in each of the seasons. They can take pictures, draw or describe it. You can link this to a number of learning areas and they can show the changes by graphing it or displaying it visually.
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