Free
Information
Where
Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
Key Stage
KS1
Curriculum
Anthropology,
Archaeology
Theme
Discovery,
Early Civilisations,
Exploration
Type of Activity
Critical Thinking,
Object Handling,
Sharing Ideas
Type of Session
Handling collection

Extreme Environments (90 minutes)

How have people adapted to extreme environments such as deserts, jungles or polar regions? How do these environments impact their way of life and culture? These are some of the questions students will think about as they look at and handle objects from around the world.

A museum teacher leads the first 30 minutes of the session. Students are then divided into two groups. One group completes a self-guided worksheet. The other group will take part in a handling session that includes objects such as a woven song from the Amazon rainforest, Himalayan boots and a boomerang from Australia. After 30 minutes the groups will swap, then the visit ends with a short plenary session.

Explorers (60 minutes)

Learn about the people of the world and the European explorers who encountered them.

A museum teacher leads the first 30 minutes of the session.  Pupils will see objects collected during the first encounters between Europeans and Pacific Islanders and learn about objects from the Torres Strait Islands as well as Alaska and Greenland. Students use the remaining 30 minutes to complete a self-directed map activity.

Learning from Objects (90 minutes)

Through enquiry based learning and handling real artefacts, students will discover how archaeologists and anthropologists use objects to learn about people.

A museum teacher leads the first 30 minutes of the session. The students are then divided into two groups. One group completes a self-guided activity inspired by the objects in the gallery. The other group takes part in a handling session that includes objects such as a Fijian club, a woven song from the Amazon rainforest and an Indonesian printing block. After 30 minutes the groups swap, then the visit ends with a short plenary session.

Ready to book your visit?

Click here to find out more about booking your session, or get in touch with us at education.bookings@maa.cam.ac.uk.

Looking for classroom resources? Click here to explore our downloadable resources, based on our taught schools' sessions for use as part of your curriculum teaching.