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Pumping Station Gallery Visit
Take your students back in time to the 1890's and experience four massive pumping engines exactly as they operated in their original engine house.
Take your students back in time to 1890’s Smellbourne but without the smell! Students experience the history of how the city of Melbourne solved one of the biggest issues of a growing metropolis... sewage. The Pumping Station was built to pump sewage from Melbourne to the treatment plants at Werribee using steam engines.
Today the Pumping Station is no longer pumping sewage but it’s history and preservation provides a self-guided and curriculum-aligned learning experience for primary and secondary students.
Students will experience
The story of how the Pumping Station transformed the city of Melbourne.
The staggering size of the steam engines and the boilers that produced the steam.
How technology has transformed through time.
Walking through a tunnelling shield that was used to build tunnels under the Yarra River.
Students will learn
How technology was used to improve health and sanitation issues in Melbourne.
That gravity is an essential force in the engineering of a sewage system.
How the engineering design process is used to create solutions that solve socio-scientific issues.
About the mechanics and engineering of steam engines and the energy transformations from thermal to mechanical.
That water is an important resource which cycles through our cities and environment, and that we need to take care of it.
The rich history and science of the Spotswood Pumping Station, including the role of female scientist Lucey Alford.
About the mechanics of a sewage system and the journey of sewage from toilet to treatment plant.
Other key information
For a guided educational experience in the Pumping Station, please follow the link to FlushBack: An Augmented Reality Scavenger Hunt in the Spotswood Pumping Station.
Our expert engine drivers will activate the steam engines at the following times (subject to staff availability):
Tuesday to Thursday 12:30 to 1:30pm
Related Links
Availability
Terms 1–4, Monday to Friday
Student information
Years 3 to 12, VCE, VCE VM, VET
Bookings
Exhibition
Self-guided exhibition visit
Victorian Curriculum Links
Science as a Human Endeavour Levels 3 to 10
Use and influence of science
- includes all Use and influence of science curriculum
Science Understanding
Physical sciences: Levels 3 & 4
- forces, including frictional, gravitational, electrostatic and magnetic, can be exerted by one object on another through direct contact or from a distance and affect the motion (speed and direction) of objects (VC2S4U10)
Physical sciences: Levels 7 to 8
- energy exists in different forms, including thermal, chemical, gravitational and elastic, and may be classified as kinetic or potential; energy transfers (conduction, convection and radiation) and transformations occur in simple systems and can be analysed in terms of energy efficiency (VC2S8U15) Curriculum - Victorian Curriculum F-10
- simple machines, including the lever, inclined plane, wedge, pulley, screw, and wheel and axle, alter the direction and magnitude of forces (VC2S8U13)
Design and Technology: Levels 3 to 10
Technologies and society
- includes all Technologies and society curriculum
Engineering principles and systems
- includes all Engineering principles and systems curriculum
Materials and technologies specialisations
- Includes all Materials and technologies specialisations curriculum
Geography: Levels 7 & 8
Water in the world
- the classification of water as a renewable resource, the forms that it takes as a resource in the water cycle, and the ways in which flows of water connect and change places (VC2HG8K01)
- the environmental, economic, cultural, spiritual and aesthetic uses and value of water, including for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and peoples of the Asia region (VC2HG8K02)
History: Levels 9 & 10
Historical knowledge and understanding
- the significant events, individuals and groups in the women’s movement in Australia, and how they have changed the role and status of women (VC2HH10K05)
Accessibility
Please view our accessibility page for general information. A sensory map of Melbourne Museum can be found on our Visual Stories page where step-by-step visual and written access guides are available. Contact our team on 13 11 02 or email us at [email protected] to discuss how we can support your visit.
Museums Victoria Learning Access Fund
The Museums Victoria Learning Access Fund aims to enhance access to our museums (Melbourne Museum, Scienceworks and Immigration Museum), programs and events by offering free or subsidised education programs for eligible schools. Find out more about the fund.
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