Education Kits

The Museum has Education Kits which they hire out to schools/teachers for a fee.  Trish has designed these kits to cater to the set curriculum of different age levels. 

This is a diorama, where children put together parts of the environment in the correct place.  Where does the ochre belong, where does the shell belong? They could easily be made from cardboard with laminated prints on the boards.  They could be directed toward, science, history, biology or art.

This interactive wheel tells children what an item is used for.

Posters are made from vinyl and pvc, which make them long lasting and durable.

Laminated fact sheets - Stone work, Boomerangs, Breastplates, Artifacts etc.

Mini pvc images of relative items.


Each kit includes a teachers guide and a check list on contents and comes packed in a plastic labelled tub.

For our Museum we could include:

• Gubbi Gubbi History fact sheet
• Gubbi Gubbi today and conservation fact sheet
• Stone tools fact sheet
• Bunya Nut gathering fact sheet
• Dala Dreaming story
• Environment of the Dala fact sheet
• Gecko Dreaming story
• Environment of the Gecko fact sheet
• Model of the Gecko made of Clay
• Pvc map of the Gubbi Gubbi Territory
• Boomerang made as an example specifically for the kit
• Nulla made as an example specifically for the kit
• Magnetic match up game with traditional language and images.

These kits would bring in revenue for the keeping place.  Trish has given me a few ideas on acquiring funding to create the kits.  I am really excited by this idea as we are always getting enquiries at the museum from education and child care facilities, asking about ways to introduce cultural studies to their students.

Strand Ephemera - Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition.

I was lucky enough to arrive in Townsville to catch a wonderful exhibition.


Strand Ephemera, first held in 2001, is a biennial outdoor sculpture exhibition held along Townsville’s beach front, The Strand. Strand Ephemera is complemented by a developed public program of artist talks, workshops and performances, and regularly attracts 70,000+ visitors. Each incarnation includes a point of difference and in 2013 the exhibition will pay attention to artworks that also have a presence in the dark, that is, to be viewed by the considerable number of people who walk The Strand in the evening. Performances and Fringe Events will occur on each day of the festival. - See more at: http://www.tnqcalendar.com.au/events/event_detail/1889#sthash.Hv7yOAii.dpuf

Here are some of the pieces close to my hotel:

Origin of the word Kangaroo

Here is a story I learnt yesterday.  I liked it so much I thought I would share it with you.



On 7 June 1770 Lieutenant (Captain) James Cook and Joseph Banks had noted in the ships diary that they had seen smoke from campfires ashore on the right of the ship, and some large canoes and several people as they passed a number of islands which we now know as Magnetic Island and then the Palm Island group. Later that month Joseph Banks documented a sighting of campfires at when anchored off Yarrabah in North Queensland. Cook later claimed to take possession of the whole east coast of Australia by raising the British flag at Possession Island off the tip of Cape York Peninsula.

Perhaps the most famous and first Aboriginal word ever documented is ‘ganguru’ from the Guugu Yimithirr language near Cooktown. Although it originates from an Aboriginal language of northern Queensland, it has become the name for Australia’s iconic fauna. Lieutenant (Captain) James Cook and his botanist Joseph Banks saw a large grey native animal bouncing across the landscape in 1770,

"One of the men saw an animal something less than a grey hound, it was of a Mouse Colour very slender made and swift of foot."

They heard the local people utter the word ‘gangurru’, and wrote ‘kanguru’, now spelt kangaroo.

Links to Research, Funding and Government Organisations

AIATSIS - Search to all collections.
http://mura.aiatsis.gov.au/uhtbin/cgisirsi/?ps=4MiKCoMhKk/x/184850026/60/1180/X

Caring for our Country - Resources -  Best practices - Indigenous Communities and NRM.

http://www.nrm.gov.au/resources/best-practices/indigenous-communities.html

Indigenous Art Code.

http://www.indigenousartcode.org/

Centre for Indigenous Family History Studies.

http://www.cifhs.com/default.html

Australian Museum - Nature, Culture, Discover - Journals of Walter Roth.

http://australianmuseum.net.au/journalfinder?type=&title=&author=roth&year=&keyword=&submit=Search

Stone Implements of Australia - Australia Museum

http://australianmuseum.net.au/journal/McCarthy-et-al-1946-Aust-Mus-Mem-9-194

http://australianmuseum.net.au/Uploads/Journals/17336/515_complete.pdf

1897 Aboriginal Basket - Trish Barnard - Youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7TaKjwMRZY

Australian Government - Heritage Grants and Funding.

http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/programs/

RADF - Round Five.

http://www.regional.gov.au/regional/programs/rdaf_round_five.aspx

Collections Map

These clear posters show the locations of different collections.  We could use this at Noosa to encourage visitors downstairs.

Interactive Displays

Touch Screen - Varied audio and visual information.  Visitors touch a button to hear a recording of stories or pictures of the relevant country with its cultural information.  At the Townsville museum a young cultural person has been recorded on video telling us about the rainforest, its history and its continued value to her people and us all.  This is played repeatedly on a large screen but we could make a similar history available through a touch screen or dvd set up.

Touch and View - A small box is attached behind the button, containing bugs, pictures of trees, or such.  A second button next to the main display button turns on a light for a preset period of time.  Creates a sense of discovery and surprise.

A children's setting creates an inviting work station.

For the younger children.

Magnetic Board - Match up game.  In this case we are asked to match the name of the collector with what they would collect.  For our Museum we could ask visitors to match the cultural name of animals and towns with the english names or pictures of the animals.

Worksheet Displays

Rainforest Detective -  Pens and paper supplied along with a list of questions give visitors a fun way to discover the finer details of any display.  Recycled office paper would work fine for this project.

Fun quizzes encourage exploration of the collections.  Pens and bins are provided.

Display Ideas

This lovely chest of drawers and old trunk have been turned into very useful display cases with just a little bit of glass or perspex.

The drawers removed from this old cupboard create shelf space and neat display boxes.

Townsville - Tropical Museum of Queensland

The main building is huge and backs on to a marina.  A huge spider hangs suspended across the street in front and the doorman is a prehistoric beast.