Primary Museum Trail

In this self-directed excursion through Immigration Museum’s permanent exhibitions, primary students discover immigration stories, cultural artefacts and Australian immigration history.

Students will experience

• Visiting permanent exhibitions with their teachers, including Leaving Home, Voices Across Time and Getting In exhibitions.
• Looking at objects, artefacts and using interactive displays.
• Immigration stories and Australian history from a range of perspectives and time periods.
• Intersecting stories of First Peoples and migrants starting from Deep Time to present day.
• An introduction to the museum by a staff member.

Students will learn

• About immigrant journeys to Australia.
• Reasons people have migrated to Australia.
• About individual immigrant stories across the last 230 years.
• About procedures for immigrants arriving in Victoria.
• About First Peoples’ stories of culture and history.

Students will need

• Pens or pencils.
• Pre and post visit resources are available online.

Other key information

• Teachers are advised to acquaint themselves with the contents of the galleries 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, a key public building in 19th century colonial Melbourne. 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 (Years 3 to 6)

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.

Activity 2 - Small Object Trail (Years 5 to 6)

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

Related links

• Teacher Resources
• Online resources and tools
• What's your story?
• Primary Museum Trail Worksheet|  42.19 KB .pdf file