Investigating the Ancient Past - Stage 4 History, Depth Study 1 - Australian curriculum

Aug 30, 2026

Unit designed for NSW Stage 4 History (Years 7–10) and developed for Year 7 at Kooringal High School. It supports teachers in introducing the NSW NESA K–10 History Syllabus through structured syllabus-based tasks rather than lesson plans. Depth Study 1 builds historical concepts and skills via investigation of the ancient world, linking to “The Ancient World” overview, including the “Out of Africa” theory and migration patterns, with assessment for learning and inquiry questions.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryPaper Templates

FormatDOCX

Pages11

Reading Time4 min

AccessFree to download

History Stage 4 Depth Study 1

How this unit fits into a pattern of study for Stage 4

Learning continuum from HSIE K-6

Depth Study 1: Investigating the Ancient Past

Key inquiry questions

Overview – The Ancient World

Outcomes

Historical concepts

Assessment

Task 1: Investigating skills

Task 2: Out of Africa

Investigating the Ancient Past This document supports NSW Syllabus for the Australian curriculum history years 7-10 and is developed for year 7 by Kooringal high school. History Stage 4 Depth Study 1 NSW Learning and Leadership Directorate have been working with a number of schools on a programming project. The purpose of the project has been to explore the principles of curriculum planning and programming and to support teachers in the introduction of the new NSW NESA K-10 History Syllabus. The programs are not lesson plans but they provide a number of tasks based on syllabus content. How this unit fits into a pattern of study for Stage 4 In Depth Study 1, teachers have the option of incorporating part of the overview of ‘The Ancient World’ into the unit. This Depth Study looks at further developing historical concepts and skills that students engaged with in Stage 3. It allows students to explore the ancient world and make connections to today’s world through examining the ‘Out of Africa’ theory and migration patterns. It is envisaged that this unit will give students an understanding of the ancient world beyond Europe. This is done through looking at the migration patterns and site studies of ancient Australia by enabling appropriate and relevant connections to be made for the students. Learning continuum from HSIE K-6 This unit connects to the K-6 history learning continuum in that it allows students to explore Ancient Australia using their background knowledge in Australian history - Stages 1-3. Investigating the Ancient Past studies migration patterns of some ancient societies, so it gives students the opportunity to expand their knowledge as well as developing their historical concepts and skills introduced in the primary school. This unit connects to the K-6 learning continuum as it allows students to explore Ancient Australia with background knowledge in Australian history from Stages 1-3. Depth Study 1: Investigating the Ancient Past Suggested teaching time is 20 hours with 2 hours for the overview and 18 hours for the Depth Study. Key inquiry questions Teachers need to consider where, how and when to address these questions throughout the unit of learning. How do we know about the ancient past? Why and where did the earliest societies develop? Overview – The Ancient World The Depth Study ‘Investigating the Ancient Past’ is partly integrated within the ‘The Ancient World’ overview. The ‘Out of Africa’ theory and migration of peoples throughout the world is embedded within the content of the Depth Study. Teachers note: the evidence for the emergence and establishment of ancient societies, including art, iconography, writing tools and pottery; and key features of ancient societies will be incorporated within Depth Studies 2 and 3. Outcomes A student: describes the nature of history and archaeology and explains their contribution to an understanding of the past HT4-1 identifies the meaning, purpose and context of historical sources HT4-5 uses evidence from the sources to support historical narratives and explanations HT4-6 locates, selects and organises relevant information from sources to develop an historical inquiry HT4-8 uses a range of historical terms and concepts when communicating an understanding of the past HT4-9 selects and uses appropriate oral, written, visual and digital form to communicate about the past HT4-10 Historical concepts Continuity and change: some aspects of a society, event or development changes over time or remains the same Cause and effect: events, decisions and developments in the past that produce later actions, results or effects. Perspectives: people from the past may have different views shaped by their different experiences. Empathetic understanding: the ability to understand another’s point of view, way of life and decisions made in a different period of time or society. Significance: the importance of an event, development, group or individual and their impact on their times or lat

FAQs

What is the purpose of this Stage 4 Depth Study unit?

It explores curriculum planning principles and supports teachers in introducing the NSW NESA K–10 History Syllabus, using syllabus-based tasks built around content rather than providing lesson plans.

How does “Investigating the Ancient Past” connect to other learning stages?

It connects to the K–6 history learning continuum by enabling students to explore Ancient Australia using background knowledge from Australian history (Stages 1–3).

What historical skills and activities are included in Task 1?

Task 1 focuses on chronology, terms, and concepts, including BC/AD and BCE/CE terminology, timelines, and identifying and sorting primary versus secondary sources.

Aug 30, 2026

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