History Detective

In the early 1950s, the Prime Minister of Australia, Robert Menzies, received a request from the Prime Minister of England, Clement Attlee, requesting if Britain could conduct their nuclear weapons testing in Australia. Without so much as talking to the politicians in his cabinet or requesting any information or reports on the possible health or environmental risks, Menzies said yes, and even committed Australian servicemen to help the British carry out their tests. Thus, began the testing in Monte Bello Islands off the coast of Western Australia, and the 2 sites in South Australia, Emu Field and Maralinga.

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The History Detective Season 1 & 2 Album is  now available on Spotify and all of your music streaming services.

Accompanying teaching resources for season 1 and 2 episodes can be found on my Amped Up Learning Store or on my Teachers Pay Teachers store.

Accompanying teaching resources for this podcast can be found on my Amped Up Learning Store

Season One Cover Lesson Bundle

Reflection Questions

1. Although newspapers of the time are not particularly reliable, could they be considered as useful. Explain why or why not.
2. Hypothesise why do you think the newspaper coverage was so superficial.
3. Research the Royal Commission into British Nuclear Testing in Australia and summarise the findings.
4. The Doomsday clock moved away from midnight after the 1963 Partial Test Ban Treaty. Explain what events have occurred since then to make the hands move closer to midnight, to the point that it is closer than ever now.
5. What do you think was the motive of the Prime Minister in agreeing to nuclear testing in Australia without consultation with his cabinet?
6. Research methods of nuclear debris disposal.
7. In reference to Stalin and Truman’s conversation at the Potsdam conference. Explain the two perspectives of this same conversation.

Contact: Twitter @HistoryDetect, Instagram @HistoryDetective9, email  [email protected]

All original music written and performed by Kelly Chase.

Before there was the Warrior Nun on Netflix, there was Hōjō Masako, “Shogun Nun”, who was the wife of the very first shogun of Japan and a formidable political activist. After her hubby died, she shaved her head, and became a nun, but she continued to hold political sway until her death at 69 years of age, outliving her husband and 4 children.

Click to join my mailing list

The History Detective Season 1 & 2 Album is  now available on Spotify and all of your music streaming services.

Accompanying teaching resources for season 1 and 2 episodes can be found on my Amped Up Learning Store or on my Teachers Pay Teachers store.

Additional  resources can be purchased from my Amped Up Learning Store

Season One Cover Lesson Bundle

(Find transcript here) https://history-detective.simplecast.com/

1. Have you ever studied a topic where there have been very few stories about the women present?
2. Considering women generally make up 50% of the population, should we be sharing more stories about women?
3. How have ideas about women in leadership changed over time?
4. Are there ideas about women in leadership from the past that are still carried on today?
5. What is your opinion on hereditary leadership positions? Should these positions be inherited or earned? Justify your point of view.
6. What are the ethical issues surrounding seeking revenge for wrongs done to another family member? Can you think of instances of this behaviour in modern society?
7. Can songs and films be a reliable source of historical information? How would you corroborate the information presented in a creative interpretation?

Contact: Twitter @HistoryDetect, Instagram @HistoryDetective9, email  [email protected]

All original music written and performed by Kelly Chase.

For a few hundred years, historians had a vague idea of how long Aboriginal people had lived in Australia. Estimations of a few thousand years were generally accepted, but then the discovery of one body, forever changed the way that we thought about Australian history. That body belonged to none other than Mungo Man.

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This episode is designed to align with  Year 7 Ancient Overview or a Year 11 Ancient: Digging up the Past unit.

The History Detective Season 1 & 2 Album is  now available on Spotify and all of your music streaming services.

Accompanying teaching resources for season 1 and 2 episodes can be found on my Amped Up Learning Store or on my Teachers Pay Teachers store.

Contact: Twitter @HistoryDetect, Instagram @HistoryDetective9, email  [email protected]

All original music written and performed by Kelly Chase.

If you do a Google image search of Lakshmibai you will see a fierce Indian woman dressed in a man’s uniform, with her son strapped to her back, holding a sword and leading a charge against British soldiers. This was Lakshmibai, Queen of Jhansi.

Click to join my mailing list

The History Detective Season 1 & 2 Album is  now available on Spotify and all of your music streaming services.

Accompanying teaching resources for season 1 and 2 episodes can be found on my Amped Up Learning Store or on my Teachers Pay Teachers store.

Find transcript here: Link to transcript

An accompanying teaching resources- PPT and worksheet  - can be found at my Amped Up Learning Store

Season One Cover Lesson Bundle

Reflection Questions

1. What is the difference between the words mutiny and rebellion? 
2. Why would the British textbooks refer to it as the Indian Mutiny and Indian perspectives the Sepoy Rebellion or the First War of Independence?
3. Why do you think that Lakshmibai is celebrated in Indian culture, but barely mentioned in the modern Western History books about the Sepoy Rebellion?
4. Why would early Western novels depict her as a seductress and jezebel?
5. Why do you think paintings depict her son as an infant?
6. How useful are songs in telling stories of the past?
7. From whose perspective is the song written?
8. How might you check the reliability of a song?

Contact: Twitter @HistoryDetect, Instagram @HistoryDetective9, email  [email protected]

All original music written and performed by Kelly Chase.

A resource that shares stories about history that we may not hear in a conventional textbook, stories that give a voice to the marginalised people in history and stories that spark interest and excitement in learning about the past.