My Science School

The Port Arthur Historic Site is an open-air museum in Australia’s Tasman Peninsula. It is a part of the Australian Convict Sites, a World Heritage Site consisting of 11 former penal sites built during the 19th and 20th centuries. Australia had been a British colony at the time. Located along the coastal strip, these sites are an important part of Australia’s history and culture. Port Arthur became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2010 as a part of the Australian Convict Sites.

Port Arthur was named after George Arthur, lieutenant governor of Van Diemen’s Land. It has around 30 buildings, ruins and restored homes dating back to the early 19th century. Though Port Arthur began as a timber station, it became a colony for convicts from 1830 to 1877. Nearly 12,500 prisoners had served their sentences-here. One of the most horrific events related to this site is the Port Arthur Massacre of 1996, when a mass shooter named Martin Bryant killed 35 people and left 25 injured. Port Arthur gets around 250,000 visitors every year, making it one of the most popular historical sites in Australia.

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The Greater Blue Mountains Area in Blue Mountains of New South Wales, Australia is a 25,51,730-acre national park. The site has eight protected areas. There are many valuable examples of evolutionary adaptation present here. The aboriginal heritage sites and post-European settlements add to the cultural importance of the park. The site is managed by the Australian government and the state of New South Wales.

Most of the park consists of temperate Eucalyptus forest. The 1500 and more plant species found here include many rare plants. The flora of the Greater Blue Mountains Area shows the different stages in the evolution of Australia’s famous gum trees. In 1994, Wollemi pine, also known as dinosaur tree or living fossil, which was believed to be extinct, was found in this site. The diverse geographical features found in the park include sandstone cliffs, slot canyons and waterfalls.

The Purnululu National Park is a 350-million-year- vow old site located in East Kimberly region of Western Australia. The Aboriginals have been protectors of this land for 40,000 years.

The park has orange and black striped karst sandstone domes called the Bungle Bungles Range. The range, also known as Bungle Bungles, is often compared to a large beehive. They make a striking image, rising 250 metres above the surrounding savanna grassland. Bungle Bungles was unknown to the outside world until 1983. It is now one of the most popular tourist attractions of the region.

Purnululu was declared a World Heritage Site in 2003. Since then, the areas next to the park including the Purnululu Conservation Park and the Ord River Regeneration Reserve have also been declared as special areas by the government of Western Australia.

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Australia’s biggest National Park, Kakadu, has been continuously inhabited by Aboriginal people from 20,000 to 40,000 years ago. This cultural site also has waterfalls, rainforests, wetlands and exotic wildlife. The park covers 20,000 square kilometres, which is roughly half the size of Switzerland. It has 5000 art sites giving proof of thousands of years of aboriginal culture. The Ranger uranium mine is surrounded by the park. This is one of the most productive uranium mines in the world. The Kakadu National Park was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981.

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The Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia is the oldest remaining exhibition pavilion. It was built in 1879-80 for the Great Exhibition of 1880. The building showcases the prosperity of Victoria in the 1870s. The same building had also housed the Commonwealth Parliament in 1901.

Though many parts of the Royal Exhibition Building were destroyed at various times during the twentieth century, its Great Hall survived. The structure, including large galleries and high domes, was restored in the 1990s.

The location continues to be used for trade shows, fairs and other events. The international flower and garden show is one of the annual events held in the Great Hall. In 2004, it became the first Australian building to join the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

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Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world. It is protected as a part of the Great Sandy National Park. The name of the island had been Great Sandy Island for a short period. Then the present name was adopted from the stories of a woman named Eliza Fraser who survived a shipwreck on the island.

The island is filled with the most unusual natural phenomena. For instance, it is the only place on Earth where rainforests grow on sand dunes, rising to more than 200 metres. Half of the perched lakes in the world can also be found here. These are formed when depressions on dunes are permanently filled with rainwater. Fraser Island is home to the purest strain of dingoes in Eastern Australia.

Humans have lived on Fraser Island for nearly 5000 years. Explorer James Cook sailed by the island in 1770 and Matthew Flinders landed near the northern tip of the island in 1802. Added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1992, the island is a popular tourist destination. In addition to the spectacular scenery, it is also a great spot to watch female humpback whales and their babies.

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