150 Year Celebration of Australian Overland Telegraph Line

The challenge of this unit is to gain student interest. Starting with a wooden pole and a message , the initial interest is not great. Add many thousands of poles over 4,000 kms of wire, 11 repeater stations , some camels, bullocks ,horses , challenging environments and the interest grows. By using visual resources of photos, diagrams and maps, students begin to understand the importance and challenges of the construction of the line from Adelaide to Darwin.
Technology of communication eventually made this line obsolete but the significance of the line for Europeans opened up the inland of Australia. Use the attachments to help students develop written details of this achievement completed 150 years ago in 1872.