ANZAC day today – and another change to reflect on what the day is all about, and the lessons we have learned (or not?) about the significance of this event in the history of our nation. I have a number of images in my mind, formed from conversations with those who were involved in the campaign, and from the books and movies I’ve been exposed to over the years – along with the stories that are told at ANZAC parades. So I was very interested when I came across this resource from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, which brings to life what happened at Gallipoli on that day.

Gallipoli: The First Day was created when ABC Innovation producer Meena Tharmarajah saw the terrain at Anzac Cove and realised that seeing the terrain gave her a whole new perspective on the battle. She realised that you could use mapping technologies that are now available to tell the story of these events in a recreation of that environment, giving people a far deeper insight. It would be the next best thing to being there.

The 3D Map of the peninsula was built using topographic data taken from 1916 Turkish maps. Surveys of all the Gallipoli battlefields were made in 1916 by the Turkish Mapping Directorate under Brigadier General Mehmet Şevki Paşa and 43 maps were made. As the data is true to the period our 3D map doesn’t show contemporary building developments and roads. Sydney University Archaeology Department then supplied the GIS data used to shape and create the terrain topography.

The scenes that tell the story of the day were created in 3D using Cinema4D software. The models of soldiers and objects that populate these scenes were meticulously created for Gallipoli by Plastic Wax, Sydney, based on photographs and descriptions recorded at Gallipoli.

The site contains a useful teacher resource area that provides a range of ideas for you to implement in the classroom.

There’s also the option to download a version of the resource to run it directly from your own computer (NB need Adobe AIR installed).

Although it is developed in Australia, there’s plenty here to make it relevant to NZ, including reference to several New Zealanders in the profiles section, which provides some excellent background material for use with the teacher resource ideas.

All in all, an excellent resource that I can see would capture the imaginations of many school students. I can imagine it being used particularly effectively with a whole class and an interactive whiteboard.