The bets

• Ask students to reflect on why boats were useful in Alice's day. As a class, discuss how this might have affected where people lived and worked at the time.
• Students should research early-19th-century boats and their sailing routes. On a map, ask students to mark out routes that ships used in Alice's era.
• The following websites may be useful:

1. Discover Murray River, 'History of the Murray River', http://www.murrayriver.com.au/education/history/ 
2. National Museum of Australia Canberra, 'Australian Paddle Steaming History', http://www.nma.gov.au/collections/ps_enterprise/paddle_steaming_history/ 
3. Paddle Steamers of Australia, http://www.steamboats.com/research/australia.html

• The following questions can be used to focus students' research:

1. How important was transportation by boat in the 1820s? Why?
2. Where were the key sea/river ports during the 1820s in Australia?
3. Do these sea/river ports still exist today? Where?
4. How has the use of boats for transport changed today in comparison to the early 1800s in Australia?
5. What types of boats were used for transportation in the 1820s compared to those today?
6. Are there still boats operating today that were used for transport in the 1820s?

• Ask the students to pretend that they are the captain of a river boat or sea vessel in the 1820s. They should consider the work of the boat, the passengers or cargo that they pick up and unload, where they travel to for their work and what might happen to them along the way. Ask students to write a captain's logbook for a week on a river/sea boat.

Student Activity Sheet: H19.3 Boats

As a class, watch My Place Episode 19, 1828: Alice and list all the jobs being performed by characters.

• Ask students to research the establishment of the new colonial settlement in Australia and find out what was the most essential work for convicts to do. They should also research what types of convicts were allowed to work outside the prisons.
• The following websites may be useful:

1. Convict Trail, 'The Ticket of Leave', http://www.convicttrail.org/history.php?id=a3b4c2%f%5
2. Historic Houses Trust, 'A Day in the Life of a Convict', http://www.hht.net.au/discover/highlights/kids_fact_sheets/a_day_in_the_life_of_a_convict
3. Museum Box, http://museumbox.e2bn.org/

• The students should use the following questions to guide their research:

1. What types of work did convicts perform during this era?
2. Who was allowed to work outside the prison?
3. Were they paid? Why or why not?
4. What was the difference between an 'assigned' convict, a 'ticket-of-leave' convict and an 'emancipated' convict?

• Introduce students to a digital museum box tool (http://museumbox.e2bn.org/). The tool will help them to collect images, data and facts to aid their reflection. A digital museum box is a tool for students to collect information about an event, person or historical period by placing items into a virtual box. You can display anything from a text file to a movie.
• Ask students to create a museum box of images and information about the different types of work that convicts performed in Alice's era. Using the information and images they collect in their museum boxes, students should create a photo story based on the title Convict labour.
• Using the Student Activity Sheet H19.4 Convict labour, have students create a profile of a convict worker, including their skills, attitudes and the types of work they were engaged in.

Student Activity Sheet H19.4: Convict labour

• When the colony of New South Wales was established, initially there were no internal currency and no banks and so trade arrangements were rather chaotic, often involving bartering or credit notes. In 1825 the British Government legislated a sterling currency for the colony and pounds, shillings and pence formed the basis of Australian currency until the introduction of the decimal system in 1966.
• Encourage students to investigate what types of emblems or illustrations were used on the old coins and compare them to the emblems used today. Have students use the information from their research to create a class currency timeline as a poster or online timeline.
• As a class, view the clip The bets and ask students to note the references made by various characters to the currency used in the 1820s, for example, sixpence, florin and shilling. Ask students to find an image of some of the old currency and find out what it was worth in today's money. Ask students to find out the average wage for various workers during the era and estimate whether their bet was big or small depending on the work of each character.

• Provide current Australian coins of each denomination for the class to examine and to undertake coin rubbings. Students can compare the coins and notes they use today to the currency of the 1820s using the table in Student Activity Sheet E19.3 Currency values. Students can trace or rub over the coins of today, as well as drawing or cutting and pasting pictures of old coins and adding them to the table.
• Ask students to imagine that they are a famous coin collector. They would like to auction some of their old coins from the 1820s in Australia. Students are to develop profiles of two coins or notes that would appear in the auction catalogue. The information needed for the catalogue should include the following:

1. illustrated or photographic image of the currency (front and back)
2. age?
3. where was it minted?
4. any significant details or stories about the currency?
5. size and materials it is made from?
6. colour, any distinguishing marks?
7. who last bought and sold it?
8. how rare it is and its history?
9. anticipated value at the auction?

Student Activity Sheet E19.3 Currency values

• As a class, view the clip The bets and ask students what they have learned about language and accents in Australia in 1828 by observing the characters speaking in this clip.
• Replay the clip to the class, instructing students to make notes about any unusual ways of speaking, odd sayings and references to currency by various characters. Create a large class graffiti wall on which students are invited to add information they hear in the clip, for example, these references to currency: sixpence, florin, shilling; and also phrases such as the following:

1. ahoy there!
2. wee chappie
3. quick as a flash
4. t'other one
5. cider
6. low rations
7. hasn't got a prayer
8. tar and feather meself
9. Bennie's 'the favourite'.
10. Everyone thinks he's the cat's whiskers.
11. They'll be putting their blasted money on him.
12. Every shilling they put on Bennie I'll have to pay them two shillings.

• Ask students to work with a partner, replay the clip and use Student Activity Sheet E19.4 Who is the favourite? to write what they think the unusual words and phrases mean.

• Ask students to imagine they are a reporter for the local newspaper and have to report on the pig race. The reporter finds out about the fraud being perpetrated by Alice to swap Bennie the black pig for a 'ring-in'. Ask students to write a front-page article about the fraud and the ensuing race. They should consider a snappy headline for the story and incorporate interviews with some gamblers offended by the fraud, the parents of Alice and how disappointed they are in her behaviour, and other bystanders. They should also interview Freddie the forger for his side of the story, and Alice, who is able to defend herself. Make sure the article incorporates the language of the time and some of the old sayings and expressions that each of the characters use in speaking.
• Host a courtroom scene where Alice is brought before the court to defend her actions in fixing the race. Select members of the class to be the judge, lawyers, victims and witnesses.
• Provide opportunities for students to play the pig race games found at:
  Primary Games, 'Pig Race', http://www.primarygames.com/arcade/action/pigrace/start.htm
  My Place for Teachers, http://www.abc.net.au/abc3/myplace/

Student Activity Sheet E19.4 Who is the favourite?