My father's house

• Ask students to describe the 'big house' that belongs to the Owen family. They could consider the following questions:

1. What were the living rooms used for?
2. How many rooms would be in the house?
3. Where was the kitchen in relation to the bedrooms?
4. What was the house made of?
5. What was the style of the Owen's house?
6. What types of window were used?
7. What other buildings would have been erected beside the main house?
8. Were there separate servant quarters in the house?

• Ask the students to compare the Owen house to the modest house owned by Johanna's family. Ask students to consider:

1. What was the style of Joanna's house?
2. What was house made from?
3. How many rooms were in the house?
4. Were there any other structures outside the house?
5. How many fireplaces were there in the house?
6. Did the house have a separate kitchen and dining room?
7. Were there any servant quarters?

• Discuss with students the idea that many people had to share bedrooms and other areas in the house.
• Ask students to research house styles used in the 19th century. They could find some examples of Australian homes. The following websites may be useful:

1. Australian Heritage Council, 'Our house: histories of Australian homes', http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/ahc/publications/commission/books/ourhouse/nsw.html
2. Culture Victoria, 'Melbourne's Homes', http://www.cv.vic.gov.au/stories/melbournes-homes/
3. National Library of Australia, 'Cooee: Australia in the 19th century', 'Shelter', http://www.nla.gov.au/exhibitions/cooee/shelter.html
4. National Trusts of Australia, http://www.nationaltrust.org.au/Australian-National-Trust-Properties
5. Victorian Department of Planning and Community Development, 'What house is that?', http://www.dpcd.vic.gov.au/heritage/heritage-places-and-objects/What-house-is-that

• Introduce the concept of house plans. Ask students to imagine they are looking down from the top of a house like a bird. Then ask students to imagine they can see through the roof to the rooms below. To help facilitate the understanding of this concept, students could be shown examples of architectural plans.
• Ask students to draw a plan of the Owen's house. They could also draw a plan of Johanna's house.
• Ask them to consider the location of the kitchen and bathroom. Ask students to think about how the basic amenities of houses are different to those in the houses of today. They could also find out if outdoor plumbing and toilets were a common feature, and how many houses had only a single heating source.

Student Activity Sheet H17.5: Houses

• As a class, ask students to list five favourite toys that they play with today. They are to name them and answer the following questions:

1. What are they made of?
2. Where were they made?
3. How do they operate?
4. What source of power do they use?
5. Who are they made for?

• Ask students to research toys of the 19th century, considering the differences between toys of today and those of Johanna's time (1840s). As a class, ask students to consider:

1. What types of toys would a girl have played with?
2. What types of toys would a boy have played with?

• Students could use the following websites to help them:

1. Toys of the Past, http://www.museumeducation.bedford.gov.uk/bedfordbytes/toys/images_toys/gallery_toy_photos/index.htm
2. Powerhouse Museum, http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/collection/database/search_tags.php?tag=toy
3. Museum of Childhood, 'Toys', http://www.vam.ac.uk/moc/collections/toys/index.html

• Using a Venn diagram ask students to compare and contrast toys from Johanna's time with the types of toys they play with today.

• Introduce students to a digital museum box tool at http://museumbox.e2bn.org/. This tool will assist them to collect images, data and facts to help their reflection. A digital museum box provides a tool for students to collect information on an event, person or historical period by placing items in a virtual box. You can display anything from a text file to a movie. Students should find examples and information on toys for both girls and boys.
• Using the information and images they have collected in their museum boxes, students can create a Photo Story or slideshow presentation using the title Boys' and girls' toys: then and now. Within their presentations, students should be directed to reflect on how much has changed or not changed in how gender influences the manufacture of toys.

Student Activity Sheet H17.5: Toys of the past

• In this clip Johanna asks a number of people to tell her about her father. She tells Granny Sarah that everyone has lied to her. Ask students to view the clip carefully to find out when Johanna realises the stories are not true, and to think about why every person might tell Johanna a different story.
• There seems to be a conspiracy between the characters not to tell Johanna the truth. Ask students why they feel that so many people would agree to withhold the truth. Johanna may be young but she is intelligent and she hatches a plan to uncover the truth.
• Divide the class into small groups of four. Each group is a CSI investigation team and they are to find the clues throughout the episode that lead Johanna to the truth. Ask students to locate five important clues that Johanna tracks down as she tries to find out who her father is. They should also note the 'red herrings', or the untruths, that people tell her.
• Ask students to view the clip again, looking at the ways in which the filmmaker reveals Johanna's, Granny Sarah's and Maryann's feelings through the dialogue, but also at times without them needing to say anything. Have students role-play each of their interactions, emphasising an accurate portrayal of each character's thoughts and feelings through the use of body language such as gestures and facial expressions. 
• Discuss the ways in which the filmmaker aligns the audience with Johanna's character. Ask students to discuss the following questions:

1. Who does the filmmaker align the viewer with in this clip?
2. What filmmaking techniques are used to do this?
3. Why is the character Johanna the most significant character in this clip?

• Ten Questions game: In their CSI groups, have each member of the team elect to be a character from the episode. They should study the character thoroughly and produce a character profile. The other students in the group can ask a total of ten questions to the person in character and try to guess who they are. The character can elect to answer only five questions correctly and the other five questions can be 'red herrings'. The rest of the group needs to work out which answers were true and which were red herrings in order to guess the identity of the character. They should observe the body movements, expressions and language of the character in order to do this. 
• Ask students to each create a 'Missing person' poster that illustrates and describes what they think Johanna's father's appearance and personality might be like. Display and discuss reasons for the choices made by each student.

Student Activity Sheet E17.5: Red herrings

• As a class, view the clip My father's house in order to establish the settings, the main and secondary characters and the key events. Ask students to examine the role and status of various characters including Johanna, Granny Sarah, Miss Hannah, Maryann, young fair-haired woman customer, older customer and the dark-haired young customer. It will assist students to replay the clip and consider where each of the characters lives or works and their actions in the clip. 
• Maryann chastises Johanna for putting a frog in the chamber pot to scare Edgar Owen, and putting a potato in the pram to replace Christabel's doll. Maryann and Johanna talk about Maryann's job at the 'big house', a place that Johanna is forbidden to enter. Ask students why Maryann might refer to her employer's home as 'the big house'? Maryann emphasises that her job is too important to lose. 
• Explore the idea of women in the workforce during the 1840s. Ask students to report on what work they did, what payment they received, and what the conditions of their employment were. Have students discuss the roles of the female characters in the episode and identify which of the female characters work outside the home.

• Imagine that Maryann leaves the Owens family to go to Bathurst. Have students draft a job description for Maryann's position to be placed in the local newspaper. Students could also write an application for Maryann's job.
• In pairs, students enact a mock interview for the position of domestic servant. One student could be the interviewer and one person the interviewee. Ask students to devise a set of questions to ask the applicant about their experience, background and references. The interviewee should have a set of questions to ask about the position.

Student Activity sheet E17.6: The chambermaid