Secondary Museum Trail

In this self-guided excursion, students trace the stories of people who have left their country to make Victoria home. They look at the many experiences of migration and its impacts on the First Peoples of Australia.

Students will experience

• An introduction to the museum by a staff member.
• A visit to first floor galleries with their teachers.

Students will learn

• The different journeys people have taken to Australia and what these journeys reveal about migration. 
• The reasons people have migrated to Australia and the emotions connected to these experiences. 
• The impact of immigration on First Peoples and its ongoing significance. 

Other key information

• Teachers are advised to acquaint themselves with the contents of the galleries (see below) before arriving at the museum. You may want to create your own activity program or worksheet.
• A free Museum Teachers subscription provides entry to the museum and you are welcome to visit and scope your excursion prior to your class visit.

First Floor gallery map

Your excursion will focus on the following galleries on the first floor.

Gallery and exhibition details

Leaving Home
Using sound, objects, still and moving images we explore the reasons why people left their countries to come to Australia and what they brought with them.

Voices Across Time
First Peoples' culture and connections stretch back into Deep Time and their sovereignty is unceded. People from around the world left their homes and arrived here, impacting the Country and lives of First Peoples. They also brought their memories and cultures, and they continue to contribute to an evolving diverse society. Journey through time to hear how the stories of First Peoples and the migrants that followed have intersected in joy, sorrow, loss and resilience.

Customs Gallery
The Immigration Museum occupies the Old Customs House, one of Melbourne's most important 19th-century public buildings. For over a century the Customs House was the focal point for Victoria's trade and shipping.

Getting In
Since the 1800s, various immigration policies have dictated who gets in. This exhibition shows how and why our immigration policies have changed.

Suggested activities

Activity 1 - See Think Wonder

In the museum

Use the See, Think, Wonder strategy and have students spend 10 minutes in each gallery space.

Download or create a template for students to use and ask them to respond to either an object or an exhibit in each of the four galleries.

Back at school

Once you return to class have students share their observations with others either focusing on one particular gallery at a time or across the entire four galleries at once.

Discussion could focus on the cultural diversity of Victoria and Australia and the ways in which a visit to the Immigration Museum offers opportunities to think about cultural diversity

Activity 2 - Small Object Trail

In the museum

Provide students with a 4 page booklet and set the following task.

Choose one object in each gallery.

Draw or photograph the object.

Answer the following questions:

• What is it made of?
• Where was it made?
• Who did the object belong to?
• Why is this object in the museum exhibition?

Back at school

Ask students to create a small exhibition of their drawings/photographs and discuss what they discovered from the objects on display

Activity 3 - Understanding our Cultural Diversity

Task: Evaluate the ways in which the community demonstrates the value it places on Cultural Diversity.

For teachers:

Before excursion

Have students Brainstorm and develop a set of criteria to measure ways of "valuing cultural diversity".

Back at school

Set the following tasks for groups of students in the class: Use data collected and criteria developed previously, measure ways in which Immigration Museum and its associated programs contribute to valuing Cultural Diversity.

For students:

• The Immigration Museum opened in 1998 and established an extensive community programs calendar. Watch an overview of Community Festivals.
• After visiting the Immigration Museum and recording observations as described in either Activity 1 or 2 (above) conduct a survey of programs offered at the museum. What conclusions can be drawn from the observations?
• Use the Origins website to create a presentation that tracks changes to the cultural composition of Victoria over time. Object descriptions and observations from the museum visit, plus images from Museums Victoria Collections Online can be included.

Related links

• Secondary Museum Trail Worksheet|  42.8 KB .pdf file
• Online resources and tools
• What's your story?