The First Inventors teacher guide

This teacher resource accompanies NITV and Network 10 documentary The First Inventors, presented by Rob Collins and produced by Ronde Media. A different section of the resource will launch as each of the four episodes airs. This resource is authored by proud Yankunytjatjara and Wirangu woman Shelley Ware, with contributions from Wiradjuri & Gamilaroi woman Associate Professor Dr Lynette Riley.

The resource will include: 

• Protocols and guidelines for establishing a respectful and culturally enriching learning environment for all students; 
• Discussion questions to encourage critical and deep thinking; 
• Classroom activities based on the stories from each episode to help enrich your students’ learning; 
• Classroom ready clips of each story from the four-part documentary series The First Inventors; 
• Episode 1 – Could you survive in Australia 65,000 years ago? From engineering volcanic landscapes into fish farms to mastering deadly fire, the unique survival inventions that let First Nations people thrive; 
• Episode 2 – Can oral stories accurately store vital knowledge? A bold expedition sets out to prove that the First Nations science of storytelling recorded ice age events ten thousand years ago; 
• Episode 3 – Vast communication networks, trade superhighways, and sophisticated Kinship systems. How First Nations people built an extraordinarily connected society on this enormous and often inhospitable continent; 
• Episode 4 – Indigenous knowledge teams up with cutting-edge science. These stories cover developments in lifesaving medicines and combating climate change, but to tackle humanity’s future challenges, first we need to heal the past.