Mr Wong's Emporium

• Students can research why and when Chinese people came to Australia. Mr Wong is a significant character in this episode and his story could be a good starting point for discussing the reasons Chinese people came to Australia at different times. Why might Mr Wong have come to live in Australia?

• As a class, look at the laws and policies of Australia that have had an impact on Chinese Australians. How might Mr Wong have been affected by Australian laws and policies?
• Students could develop a timeline of Chinese migration to Australia. The timeline should use dates, images and reasons for coming to Australia.

Student Activity Sheet H11.4: Timeline of Chinese immigration

• Students can research the Chinese community in Australia in the early 1900s.  A good place to start might be National Archives of Australia, 'Chinese Australians', http://www.naa.gov.au/whats-on/online/showcases/chinese-australians/index.aspx

• Who is Mr Wong? Students can create an imaginary profile for Mr Wong using the 'historyface' template in Student Activity Sheet H11.5, with information and old photos from their research on the Chinese community in Australia  in the early 1900s.  Students need to include his date of birth, background information, family information, status updates and anything else of interest.
• Ask students to design a postcard that Mr Wong might have sent back to China, informing his relatives about his life in Australia. The postcard should have an image on one side and text on the other.

Student Activity Sheet H11.5: A profile of Mr Wong

• Coins and notes from the early 1900s were different to the coins and notes of today, and so was the amount families needed to spend on everyday items like milk and bread.
• Research the currency of the 1900s using the following websites:

1. Museum of Australian Currency Notes, http://www.rba.gov.au/Museum/Displays
2. Printing, 'A New Currency: 1900–1910', http://printingcolor.blogspot.com/2009/09/new-currency-1900-1920.html

• The reference book, Australian decimal currency: an introduction for teachers by the Australian Decimal Currency Board (1965) has some interesting information.

• Ask students to bring current Australian coins of each denomination to class. Photocopy or download pictures of coins from the early 1900s. Students can compare the coins they use today to the coins of the 1900s by using the table in Student Activity Sheet H11.6. They can trace or rub over the coins they have brought into class, as well as cutting and pasting the pictures of the old coins.

Student Activity Sheet H11.6: Comparing coins

• What did a loaf of bread cost back then? In pairs, students research the cost of everyday essential items like bread and milk in the early 1900s, and compare it to the cost of the same items today. Ask students to conduct an online search and utilise reference books in the library.
• Students can develop a cost-comparison chart by listing the items they have researched and converting the pre-decimal amounts into decimal currency. They can use the list on the template provided in Student Activity Sheet H11.7 and add other items if they wish. On the chart, include images of actual advertisements for these commodities.

Student Activity Sheet H11.7: Comparing prices

• In this clip, Evelyn, Edward and Freddie try to create fireworks by obtaining gunpowder. Why does this plan fail? What are the ingredients of gunpowder; where and when was it invented, and by whom? A useful website to start your research with is Wikipedia, 'Gunpowder', http://cunnan.sca.org.au/wiki/Gunpowder
• As a class, discuss the benefits and risks associated with gunpowder.

• Ask students to research the origins of gunpowder and list some technological advances in its use across time. They could develop a timeline of the developments associated with gunpowder.

Student Activity Sheet H11.8: Timeline on gunpowder

• View the clip and observe the box construction and the designs on the outside. Also look at the designs of the fireworks. As a class work out how many fireworks are in the box. What varieties are included? What type of effects would each firework produce when lit? Consider what instructions would be needed to inform people of the dangers involved and the safe procedures for lighting the fireworks. Ask the class to estimate the cost of the box and its contents.

• Ask students to design their own box of fireworks based on Mr Wong's 'No. 5' assortment. They need to design the box itself; a label and instructions for the outside; and include images to decorate the outside of the box. They could also design two or three fireworks that are to be placed in the box. Each should have a different design drawn around it to denote the type of firework it is.

Student Activity Sheet: E11.4: My box of fireworks

• As a class view carefully, without sound, the scene where Evelyn tries to pay for the box of fireworks. Examine how the filmmaker uses visual clues to tell the audience what is happening.
• Focus students' attention on the actors' body language and gestures; the use of camera shots and camera angles; and the way link shots connect ideas and establish relationships between the characters. Why does Evelyn rearrange the coins? What does Mr Wong think she is doing? How do we know?

• Give students a blank storyboard and have them note each of the camera shots used in the exchange between Evelyn and Mr Wong.
• Watch the scene from where Mr Wong puts the box onto the counter up until where the children turn to leave the shop. As a class, discuss the information recorded in the storyboards and create a class list of camera shots used. Replay the scene to allow students to focus again on the types of shots used and how they influence the viewer.

Student Activity Sheet E11.5: Inside Mr Wong's Emporium

• Have students work in pairs to script a dramatic silent exchange between two characters, using body language and gesture to convey the story. Ask them to consider carefully how they will draw audience attention to the important events and interactions in the scene. Have students present their silent scene to the class. Encourage students to give specific and constructive feedback to each other about the effectiveness of their scenes.

• Ask students to use a storyboard template to create a wordless comic strip version of the same scene, this time including specific camera shots that will draw attention to the important moments in the exchange. They must decide which character or objects they will show in close-up and why. How will the action between the characters convey the intended message to the audience? The completed storyboards can be made into a class book to share for a viewing activity.

Student Activity Sheet E11.6: Camera shots