Education at Torquay Museum

With fossils now part of the primary curriculum this self-guided information and activity pack for schools is a brilliant way to find out more about these fascinating objects. Torquay Museum has all manner of fossils in its collections, from 400 million year old sea creatures to the partly fossilised bones of our human ancestors.  The notes accompanying the sketching trail provide information for teachers to encourage  further questioning and for getting children to think more deeply about the objects on the trail.  There is also information about other interactive fossil-linked activities at the museum that you can do as part of your visit.

With significant historical events, people and places in the locality on the curriculum Torquay Museum has much to offer.  There are many stories to tell of significant people from Torbay  who have contributed much to science,  as well as furthering our knowledge of the world around us.  For this activity pack we have focused on two explorers.  Frank Browning, who was a member of Scott’s team in the race to the South Pole, and  Percy Harrison-Fawcett, who served in the forces before becoming a government  cartographer, mapping little known places in South America and the African continent.  His need for adventure sent him on his quest to find the lost city of Z, which led to his mysterious disappearance. This activity pack brings to life the  objects held in the museum that speak to us  about the adventures of these two brave men.  The notes accompanying the activities  provide information for teachers to encourage further questioning and for getting children to think more deeply about  Fawcett and Browning as explorers. There is also information about other activities at the museum that you can do as part of your visit.

The Stone Age to Iron Age strand of the curriculum is a fascinating topic and Torquay Museum has a fantastic collection of objects to help children learn.  From ancient human skulls to mammoth bones and beautifully crafted stone age tools, this activity pack brings the Stone Age to life for primary schools. The notes accompanying the pack provide information for teachers to encourage further questioning and for getting children to think more deeply about the subject. There is also information about other Stone Age linked activities at the museum that you can do as part of your visit.

The Museum is lucky enough to hold over 400 artefacts from Ancient Egypt, the core of which form the permanent Egyptology exhibition in the Explorers Gallery. The exhibits offer teachers and children alike the opportunity to discover more about the daily life, beliefs, burial practices and writing of these extraordinary people. The activity pack focuses on aspects of life and death in ancient Egypt by looking at genuine Egyptian objects before moving on to mummification, exploring the processes that the ancient Egyptians went through in order to achieve their goal of eternity in the afterlife.