Teachers' Notes for
A Swag of Tales

This exercise with the class can be done as either a Pre or Post show activity
At the  beginning of the show, to explain how long ago the character in the show lived, he talks about Great (Times 9) Grand Parents.  On the picture chart that was used to explain how long ago the character lived, we only showed one set of parents, each time we went back a generation. But of course we each have one Mum and two Grand mothers and four Great Grand mothers etc.

You might want at this stage to ask the class to guess how many Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Grand mothers they think they have.

ANSWER: You have:-

1 Mother
2 Grand Mothers
4 Great Grand Mothers
8 Great Great Grand Mothers  
16 Great Great Great Grand Mothers
32 Great Great Great Great Grand Mothers
64 Great Great Great Great Great Grand Mothers
128 Great Great Great Great Great Great Grand Mothers
256 Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Grand Mothers
512 Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Grand Mothers
1024 Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Grand Mothers

and of course 1024 Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Grand Fathers

Starting at the bottom and explaining as you draw the following diagram on the blackboard is a good way to help Students understand the concept.

If you are the adventurous type you could explore with your students the possibility/probability that two of  their great great ?? Grand Mothers and/or (some number of Great) Grand Fathers were the same person.  This happens when 3rd, 4th, 5th etc cousins marry. More then likely, these people would not even know they are distantly related.

Another 'follow on' activity is to have the students (with help from home) fill in the above table with the names of their ancestors.

If you want to show students an example of a family tree, try the English royal family.  Go to  http://www.royal.gov.uk/files/pdf/European monarchs family tree.pdf  If this doesn't work go to   http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page135.asp   then click on,   Download a family tree showing the relationships of The Queen to European monarchies  which is at the end of the second paragraph.

Houses from  approximately 1850 to 1900

These three images taken at the Historical Village just off the Highway between the towns of Calliope and Mt Larcom, approximately 60 ks South of Rockhampton (Central Queensland)
	Slab hut circa early 1880's. Things to note in the photo. 1. Can you see the window?  There is no glass. It is timber and is opened by pushing out the timber and propping it open with a stick. 2. The house is off the ground, on wooden stumps.  This allows air to circulate under the house which helps keep it cool. 3. Note the name on the house EMOH YM.  Another popular name for houses was EMOH RUO.  Write the names backwards to discover their meaning.
	Closeup of the slab hut. Two things here worth noting:-  First the chair that the young boy is sitting in.  It certainly was not bought in a store, it was hand made from materials at hand, probably by the owner of the house or a relative. Secondly look at the width of the slabs of timber.  Timber was the one building material that was readily available.  Timber this wide is not used now days on the side of buildings.
	Early Queenslander (veranda & stumps help keep the occupants cool by allowing air to circulate around and under the house). Possibly mid to late 1880's. If you look carefully on the veranda you can see a stove, refrigerator and at the far end two washing machines.  These are from the 1940's and 1950's.

This ad is from the Murrumbidgee Irrigator November 1932. Nowadays there are laws governing what people can say about their products when they advertise "truth in advertising".  However in 1932 there was no such law. List all the claims made in this ad.  Discuss with the class which claims they think are 100% true.  Which claims have an element of truth and which claims are total lies. Get a cake of today's Palmolive soap and compare the two.  One of the first things you'll notice is the shape.  In 1932 Palmolive soap was a rectangular block, today it is much more curved and rounded corners.  Why is it now this shape?