Total population: 19 million
Number of children: 4.6 million

FACTS

 

 In Coober Pedy, there is an underground church, movie house and grocery store. Many hotels are in caves, too!
     
  There is not one blade of grass on the entire golf course in Coober Pedy.
     
  Australia is the only continent that is also a country.
     
  Over 85% of the people in Australia live in cities.
     
  Kids in the Outback sometimes live so far from schools that they study at home – where their classes are conducted over short-wave radio (or the Internet) by the School of the Air
     
  Because Australia is in the southern hemisphere –November, December, and January are the summer months - many people celebrate Xmas with a barbecue on the beach.
     
  In Australia, ‘cobber’ in means friend, ‘tucker’ means food, and ‘g’day’ means hello!
   

Ian's Underground Life
IIan is an ordinary 11 year-old boy who lives in the most extraordinary kind of home – a cave. Coober Pedy, a barren opal mining town in the middle of a desert, has no trees, little water, and temperatures that can reach 120 during the day – and drop to below freezing at night. All good reasons to live in a cave, where the temperature remains a steady 68 degrees – and the furnishings can match any suburban home. Some caves have 3-piece suites, microwaves, DVD players and even indoor swimming pools. Every Sunday, Ian goes to church – in a cave. On weekdays, most dads go to work – 80 feet underground. But instead of briefcases, Coober Pedy dads take dynamite to work.

Your students will learn about:

  • The Australian Outback
  • Environmental adaptation
  • Opal mining

Curriculum Tie-ins:

  • Social studies (different types of housing)
  • Geography
  • Environmental studies

Keywords

  • Cave Dwellers
  • Desert
  • Environmental adaptation
  • Opal Mining
  • Outback
Although Coober Pedy is in the middle of a desert, people still go to church - in a cave.
 
And people still like to play golf – even though there is no green
 

 

  
But even in caves, moms bake cakes
Beds must be made
Dinner prepared
and the ground swept clean

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