Stage 2

Convict Sydney
Convict punishment: the treadmill
As a punishment, convicts were made to step continuously on treadmills to power wheels that ground grain

Why were convicts transported to Australia?
Until 1782, English convicts were transported to America, however that all changed after 1783

First Fleet Ships
At the time of the First Fleet’s voyage there were some 12,000 British commercial and naval ships plying the world’s oceans

Onsite
Colonial life at Elizabeth Farm
As they explore the home of the Macarthur family, which dates from 1793, students learn about the lives of the family and their convict servants and the impact of colonisation on the traditional owners of the Parramatta area

Activity: draw a convict from an indent
Watch this short video and learn how to use an original Convict Indent listing to draw a real convict

Virtual Excursion
First Contacts
Learn about first contacts between Aboriginal peoples and colonists that arrived as part of the First Fleet and aboard other ships in the early years of the colony of New South Wales

Onsite
Whose place?
During this thought-provoking and engaging program, students learn that the Museum of Sydney is built over the site of first Government House, from where Arthur Phillip governed the young colony of NSW