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Friday, 11th September 2015
Aurora College are Full of Knowledge!
Thursday, 28th August 2014
Students enjoyed their meal breaks at the local skate park.
Phew - what a busy day! 52 eager, energetic, and enthusiastic year 7 and 8 students from Aurora College visited the Lakes District Museum to gain knowledge about the gold rush.
These students were keen to learn about the history of the Central Otago Goldfields and particularly about the Chinese Miners. We did four different activities to help students collect information for their classroom social studies work which included:
A historic walk of Arrowtown where students visited the miners cottages, the old Gaol, St Patrick's Church, and Saint Mary Mackillop's cottage. This walk helped students understand the living conditions for the European settlers on the goldfields.
Handling artefacts and exploring the museum. Students were allowed to handle a moa bone, an adze, a pounamu mere, old mining and farming tools, and a little box brownie! Handling the artefacts and exploring the museum made students realize the different uses different groups of people have had for this region, and also how these different groups lived in Arrowtown.
A tour of the Chinese settlement really showed students how difficult life was for this settlers. The huts were basic and made out of schist rock and tin roofs, and the settlers had to deal with Europeans racist treatment towards them.
Gold panning finished off the days activities! Some students were lucky enough to find gold, they must have been really patient to preserver - finding gold is really difficult!
What was your favourite part about your visit to Arrowtown?
What was something new and interesting you learned?
Why did the Chinese settlers come to New Zealand?
How did the European settlers treat the Chinese settlers?
Do you think living during the gold rush might have been difficult? Why?
Answer my questions and comment about your visit below!
Thanks for visiting Aurora College - we hope you had a safe trip back to Invercargill!
Comments (23)
I enjoyed learning about the history of the Chinese miners and looking at older things that we have not seen before.The Chinese came to NZ to have a better life and to make their fortune and when they had earned their money they would go back to China.Life would have been difficult for the Chinese because the Europeans couldn't accept them for who they were and their beliefs.Thanks for having us there and teaching us different things that I didn't know. Dayna
My favourite part of Arrowtown was seeing the old bank and panning for gold.
I learned that the Chinese didn't have their houses in straight lines because it chases away bad spirits.
I think the Chinese settlers came to New Zealand because the government invited them and they got bad wages back in China and were hoping to make their fortune here in New Zealand .
The Europeans tormented the Chinese for years.
If I was the Chinese I would think it would of been hard for me because of the Europeans hassling the Chinese.
Thank you for having us I enjoyed the day out,I would go there again.
Zoe
I thoroughly enjoyed the wonderful experience of the trip to Arrowtown. I especially enjoyed the museum, it really increased my knowledge of the gold mining days, e.g. The tools, such as the ancient ironing tool.
The Chinese miners came to Nz to gain gold to send to their families in China.
The Europeans treated the Chinese as they barely existed, or as rats, to be beaten and bullied, not worthy of the land the Europeans claimed.
The gold rush would have been extremely difficult for the miners, not having the technology nor the comforts that may have existed outside their homes in New Zealand.
I would like to thank you again, on behalf of the year 8 students of Aurora College, and behalf of myself, for the many things you taught us while we were in Arrowtown.
My favourite part in Arrowtown was learning about the Chinese huts. I learned that some of the buildings in Arrowtown are changed into either sites for tourists or resteraunts etc I think the Chinese settlers came to nz because they weren't making enough money in china to survive , so they thought they would be able to earn more money to send back to their families . The Europeans didn't treat the Chinese miners nicely their kids would throw things at them sometimes .I think the gold rush would be difficult because they didn't have much help from the Europeans. Thank you for an amazing time in Arrowtown I learnt some many things.
Heyy :)
My most favourite part of the trip was definitely the Gold Panning, it was very tricky and to know how much patience the miners would need must have been hard.
The new things I learnt during the visit were how hard it was for the Chinese to live in the small huts and have to put up with how the Europeans treated them.
The Government had decided to invite the Chinese over to rework the tailings.
The Europeans did not treat the Chinese good at all! The Europeans would often rob the Chinese and take their gold or they would tug on the Chinese queues or cut them off!!
I don't think that living during the gold rush would have been easy at all. The shanties or huts they lived in would have been really unluxurious.Spending day and night mining or panning for gold but hopefully the hard work would've payed off.
My day in Arrowtown was one of the best, To Denise and Amy I would like to give a nice big Thank You. You both definitely taught me a lot about the history of Arrowtown. :)
My favourite part was seeing the Chinese settlement. The way the Chinese we're treated and how they live.the Chinese came to NZ because they wanted to earn money and the Europeans asked them to come here. The Europeans treated the Chinese badly because the were different to them. Because it would of been tough because the Chinese wouldn't make enough money to live.
Thanks for letting me come I enjoyed the day I would definitely come back to Arrowtown. Jade
My favourite part about going to Arrowtown was getting the opportunity to see the Chinese village and special parts of Arrowtown.
Something interesting I learned on my trip was how poor the living conditions were for the Chinese.
I think the Chinese settlers came to Arrowtown because they got invited over and for a better life.
The Chinese were treated very poorly by some of the Europeans for example sneaking behind the Chinese men and cutting off their braids.
I do thinking living in the gold Rush time was very difficult because their gold could get stolen and they have to work very long and hard house to collect any gold at all.
Thank you so much for the learning opportunity to explore some of your history I had great fun :)
It was so fun and I enjoyed touring Arrowtown. I learnt more about how the Chinese lived and their many beliefs. The Chinese came to New Zealand because they wanted a better life than they had in China. The way the Europeans treated the Chinese was horrible, just because they were different. It wouldn't be easy to live in the gold rush because of all the long hours of work and all the arguing and fighting. Thanks for a great day I learnt heaps and loved it.
My favourite part about my visit was the gold panning because it was very fun, although I found no gold the trip was worth it. I learnt how the Chinese were very good at gold mining. The Chinese settlers came to New Zealand because they wanted to find a fortune so they came and found lots of gold. The Europeans treated the Chinese really poorly because of what the Chinese believed in and how they lived. I believe if you were a Chinese settler back then your life would of been difficult because of how the Europeans treated them and how they had to live in such small hutts. The Europeans life would of been hard because of how much they worked for gold but they found hardly any. I would like to say thank you for teaching us all about the Chinese settlers and teaching us about Arrowtown.
My favourite part of our trip to Arrowtown was the gold panning, where I was lucky enough to find a speck of gold. Something new and interesting I learned on the trip was that the Chinese huts had really low windows and that the Chinese had their chimneys and fireplaces near the door to keep an eye on things and also to repel evil spirits. I think the Chinese miners came to Arrowtown because they thought they would make a fortune for their families back in China, which, unfortunately they didn't. The European settlers treated the Chinese settlers like rubbish and didn't respect the Chinese culture. I think that living during the gold rush was hard because the living conditions were harsh. Over all I had a really good day and I would like to thank Denise and Amy for showing us the new things we learned.
My favourite part was going through the museum because of seeing the school and what it looked like back then and the bakery.
Something interesting I learnt was about the jails and the people that went into the jail also about the violoce alcohol caused.
I think the Chinese settlers came to Arrowtown so they could mine for gold as there was a gold rush at the time.
I think it might of been really difficult because there was a lot of people wanting to mine for the gold.
I had a really great time learning everything that happened at that time :) thanks for putting up with us during the day :') Maddi.
My favourite part of our trip is learning about the Chinese miners huts witch I thought was very interesting, the fact that the fact that the Chinese came for a profit but many died alone was also interesting I mean having the English treat them with higher taxes and more disrespect than the other community's was disheartening and must of been tough, anyway I enjoyed the visit a lot.
Arrowtown was so fun my favourite part was gold panning, I even found a speck of gold!
I think that the interesting part was visiting the Chinese villages because it looked so old, I didn't know their houses were so small.
I think the Chinese settlers came to New Zealand because of the gold rush.
The Europeans were horrible to the Chinese because of their looks and their claim of the gold.
I do think that living during the gold rush was difficult because it would've been cold and small to live in.
Thanks for having us on an awesome trip...
My favourite thing in Arrowtown was Gold mining,one thing interesting I learnt was the first person who found gold in New Zealand,I think the Chinese came to New Zealand for gold rush,they Chinese were treated really badly,yes the gold rush would be hard because a lot of people crowding you.
I had a wonderful time up in Arrowtown I learnt a lot ,I was told amazing history,the river was nice and refreshing,the gold mining was fun I just wish I had got a speck of gold. By lacie
My favourite part about my visit to Arrowtown was finding out the history behind the Chinese miners and getting the privilege to do panning as well.
Something new and interesting I learned was the tree and how you'd walk around it three times to make a wish. Which also had a stone at the bottom of the tree with Mary Cotters name on it.
I think the Chinese settlers came to New Zealand because they wanted to support there families back home, by bringing back money and supplies.
The Europeans treated the Chinese settlers horribly, they were honestly treated really badly. Throwing stones, walking up behind the Chinese men trying to cut their plaits of without them noticing, disgusting!
Yes, I do think that living during the gold rush would've been difficult. Especially for the Chinese, having to go through a lot of hatred everyday. But I also remembered that they believed in there huts in a zig zag to prevent bad spirits away from there village. I also think that it would've been difficult to mine as well. The struggle everyday of possibly not finding enough gold.
I was so happy that I got to learn about Arrowtown's history as well as the gold rush information, I felt lucky! Arrow town is amazing! The museum and the artefacts were great to see and learn about.Thank you so much for giving me/us your time and talking about all the good information behind everything.
Chynah.
Our favourite part of Arrowtown was going and exploring through the huts which were way smaller than we thought. We learned that the Chinese were treated horribly by the Europeans and that the European children took after their parents and grew hatred for the Chinese. They were invited but others came to New Zealand to make a fortune then return to China for their wages were very low back in China.
The Chinese were hard working and the Europeans still treated them with no respect. They were treated horribly. Living in the gold rush would have been hard because there was a lot of competition to find gold. Because the Chinese had their own ways of finding gold the Europeans grew jealous and made it hell for the Chinese to live in New Zealand. It was made hell by the Europeans taunting them for years and making fun of them for being different.
Thank you for having us and showing us around our history in Arrowtown, while teaching us about the old gold mining ways.
My favourite part was seeing the Chinese miners huts and how they made them. I learned that the British and Chinese used long drops and used newspaper instead of toilet paper. The Chinese came to NZ because of the gold rush. The Europeans disliked the Chinese and they would always play evil tricks on them. It was hard on miners who came to NZ because the population would of doubled or tripled and they had to move from claim to claim. also they were away from their families for along time.
Thank you so much for having us it was a cool experience.
Zoe
My favourite part I had in Arrowtown was,gold paning and getting I little speck of gold even though Mr Scott found It.
Something new and interesting I learnt was,listening about the story of the trees and walking around the Mary Cotter tree 3 times.
The Chinese settled here because of the gold rush in 1860. They came to the "new gold mountain" to get money for there family to send back to China.
The European settlers treated the Chinese settlers nastily, the Chinese would be working for their gold and the Europeans would sneakily cut the Chinese men's long plat which meant the Chinese would get angry because it's a tradition for them to keep there hair long.
Yes,it would of been hard to live During the gold rush because. The Europeans took over and the Chinese found it hard to survive with a little amount of money.
Thanks Denise and Amy for giving us the opportunity to tour around Arrowtown and learn why the gold rush was so important to them.
My favourite part about going to Arrowtown was gold panning. The thing I found interesting was they use their poo as fertiliser I think that the Chinese settlers come to New Zealand was because they had no money in China. Europeans treated the Chinese bad because they had different beliefs. Thank you for having us
My favourite part of the visit to Arrowtown was the was the walk through the Chinese village something interesting I learnt was that in the late 1860s the Arrowtown river was covered in gold the Chinese came to New Zealand to finish gold mining that the Europeans had started. The Europeans would throw stones at them they would sneak up behind them and cut off there plats yes it would have been hard living during the gold rush because every one wanted the gold so they would have been arguing over the gold.thank you for showing us through the Chinese village the museum and round Arrowtown.
WOW! Sounds like the Aurora College students learned a lot during their visit to the Lakes District Museum. We really enjoyed having you visit - come back again soon!
My time at ArrowTown was exciting and I learnt heaps about the Chinese settlers and the Europeans. Between the Europeans and the Chinese settlers there was a lot of arguments and they had up and downs. The most I enjoyed was looking for gold and sadly I didn't get any. Hope Aurora College gets. To come back to ArrowTown. I really enjoyed coming to ArrowTown. But the main thing that i enjoyed was walking round to see all the chewiness places that they lived in when they came to New Zealand but the saddest part was that they didn't get along with the Europeans when they of.
I enjoyed my visit to Arrowtown, and I learnt a lot. I was even lucky enough to pan a speck of gold!
By: Laura on Wednesday, 3rd September 2014 @ 08:36:52