Work in small groups for these activities.

Activity 1: What do we know? What do we need to find out?

Read the text, Towards responsible government about the beginnings of responsible government in Victoria.

This text does not tell you the whole story about the beginnings of self-government or responsible government in Victoria. Ask:

• What information is missing?
• What other questions might you need to ask to find this information?

Discuss these questions with other students. Share your group's ideas with the whole class. Be prepared to give reasons for your point of view.

Make a class list of questions to guide your future investigations. Display this list of questions so you can refer to it. Check the list regularly to decide which questions have been answered satisfactorily. Add new questions for investigation as you think of them.

Activity 2: Making sense of a jumble of dates

Download the text, 'Key dates' at www.parliament.vic.gov.au/key.html.

In your group, cut this timeline up and rearrange the timeline into four sections that will help you to understand better the way government has changed over time. The four sections are:

• Making our government more responsible
• Giving more people the vote
• Making it easier and safer to vote
• Making it easier to be a candidate in an election

Share findings as a class. Resolve any differences about the way you grouped these dates. Ask:

• Are there any dates left over?

Check that they do not belong to one of the four categories. Think of new categories in which to group any 'leftover dates.

Add the most important dates to your 'Landmarks of Victoria' timeline. If you do, discuss how you can group or classify dates on the timeline so they make sense to other people reading your timeline.

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• Introductory activities
• Investigating the past
• Visiting the exhibition
• Going further
• Extension activities
Links
• Towards responsible government
• Key parliamentary dates