July 31, 2013
Last week Year 3 students from St John’s Lutheran School, Kingaroy, got to experience life in the colonial days.
The students travelled to Toowoomba’s Cobb & Co Museum for the day to explore the galleries and interactive activities to develop a firsthand understanding of what life was like 100 years ago.
The history topic forms part of the Year 3 Australian curriculum.
The museum has a designated student program which gives pupils the opportunity to learn about life in early Australia by listening to guest speakers and watching demonstrations, such as wheel making.
The Year 3 classes have been exploring in class how early settlers communicated with each other and the modes of transport used.
On the excursion, they also learned how jobs have changed due to changes that have come with time and technology.
In early colonial days, for example, some jobs included horse groomers and blacksmiths as horses were extensively used for travel.
The children learned how some of our English language today is derived from early speech eg. the word “car” is now used instead of “carriage”.
One story the children found amusing came from the days when people travelled in a coach. If the passengers wanted to stop they would pull on a rope tied to the driver’s foot. Sometimes they would do it as a “joke”. Hence the saying: “He’s pulling our leg!”
“Students got so much more from hearing the museum’s characters tell their story of what life was like early this century,” Year 3 class teacher Mrs Walden explained.
“The museum has focused on letting children interact with the displays and this is more meaningful for them rather than reading simply from a book or seeing pictures on a screen.
“The museum also has displays explaining how we have become a multicultural community and how electricity has changed our lifestyles since these early days.”
The day trip allowed the students to begin to understand the terminology of “primary” and “secondary” sources of information.
They now have a fuller understanding of how objects and stories from the past can help us know more about our life now and the things that have changed from the past.
Students, teachers and parents all agreed that the visit to the Cobb & Co museum was a worthwhile learning experience that enhanced the work they have been doing in class.
The students have been completing follow-up discussions and activities in class.
[Photos: St John’s Lutheran School]
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