Australian Colonial History: Squatters & Wool Economy Simulation Game (Digital)

This no-prep Australian Curriculum year 9 Colonial History lesson and classroom simulation game helps students explore how the wool industry and squatters shaped colonial Australia. Through an engaging economic strategy game, source analysis activity, and comprehension tasks, students investigate how the pastoral boom transformed the Australian economy, land ownership, and relationships with First Nations peoples.

Perfect for middle and high school history classrooms, this digital and printable resource brings the famous phrase “Australia rides on the sheep’s back” to life by helping students understand why wool became the foundation of the colonial economy.

🐑 What Students Learn

Students investigate the key question:

How did the wool industry transform colonial Australia?

The lesson explores:

• The rise of squatters who moved beyond official settlement boundaries to establish sheep stations
• Why Merino sheep were highly valuable to British textile factories
• How wool became Australia’s most important export by the mid-1800s
• The growth of a powerful landowning elite known as the “Squattocracy”
• The environmental and social impacts of pastoral expansion on Aboriginal communities

Students also analyse competing perspectives about land ownership during the pastoral boom.

🎲 The Wool Empire Simulation Game

Students become colonial sheep farmers building their own pastoral stations.

Each player must:

• Choose a farm location on a map grid
• Manage sheep and wool production
• Survive environmental challenges
• Grow their wealth through trade and expansion

Players begin with 20 sheep and 10 coins, then produce wool and respond to events such as drought, floods, and bushfires.

The goal is simple:

Finish the game with the greatest wealth through smart pastoral management.

The simulation helps students understand:

• Why water access mattered
• The risks of frontier farming
• How environmental events affected success
• Why some squatters became extremely wealthy while others failed

📦 What’s Included

Teaching Materials

✔️ Editable PowerPoint lesson: Australia Rides on the Sheep’s Back

✔️ Historical background reading on squatters and the wool economy

✔️ Vocabulary and guided reading activities

Student Activities

✔️ Source analysis task: “Who Owns the Land?” comparing settler and Aboriginal perspectives

✔️ Comprehension questions on the rise of squatters

✔️ Quick knowledge check on Merino sheep

✔️ Answer key included

Simulation Game Components

✔️ Sheep cards

✔️ Wool bale cards

✔️ Coin tracker board

✔️ Event cards (drought, floods, bushfires, dingoes, market changes)

✔️ Pastoral station map grid

✔️ Game instructions and quick reference guide

🧠 Skills Developed

Students build essential historical thinking skills:

• Cause and effect analysis
• Perspective and empathy
• Economic reasoning
• Source analysis
• Evidence-based discussion
• Systems thinking

The simulation also helps students understand how environment, economy, and politics interacted in colonial Australia.

💻 Perfect For

• Year 9–10 Australian History
• NSW Stage 5 History
• Australian Curriculum – Making a Nation
• Gold Rush and colonial economy units
• Inquiry-based classrooms
• Sub plans
• Interactive history lessons
• Review before assessment

📘 Curriculum Links

NSW Syllabus: Stage 5 History

HT5-1, HT5-4, HT5-5, HT5-6, HT5-7

(Historical forces, cause and effect, source analysis, perspectives, evidence-based communication)

Australian Curriculum

ACDSEH020

ACDSEH021

ACHHS170

ACHHS174

Bring colonial Australia to life with this engaging pastoral economy simulation and inquiry lesson.

Students will not only learn about squatters and wool production — they will experience the challenges of building a pastoral empire in nineteenth-century Australia.

Download today and transform your Australian Colonial History unit with an immersive, classroom-ready resource.

Learn more about this product’s features, care instructions, and other useful details to help you make an informed choice.

Learn more about this product’s features, care instructions, and other useful details to help you make an informed choice.