A visit to your local cemetery (optional)

Before visiting the cemetery, research the history of the local cemetery — when was it established? Can you find any local maps from that time? Have there been any news articles about the cemetery? What about local stories? Trove  might be a useful place to begin the research.

Look carefully at the headstones and pay close attention to details of the lives of people, like those in Sources 1 and 2.

Bring a pen, paper and a digital camera with you to record your research findings.

Work in a group or with a partner to locate, identify and record the grave of:

• a woman who died young
• a woman who died in old age
• a young child
• a baby
• a man who died young
• a man who died in old age
• a prominent member of the community, e.g. the mayor
• an early settler
• a person who died from a natural disaster, e.g. bushfire, flood
• a person who died from an accident
• a person who was born overseas
• a person whose religion is mentioned
• a person whose occupation is mentioned.

Encourage students to take photographs or video footage.

On return to school, work in pairs to develop an online exhibition for the local cemetery to be displayed on the local ‘hub’ or ‘cultural centre’ website. You will need to conduct research about the history of the area and the history of the local cemetery. Trove might be a useful place to begin before connecting the information from the site study with what it uncovers about life in the area and the changes over time.

Students may use iMovie, MS PowerPoint, Sway, or another digital app to develop their online exhibition.