Years 5 & 6 Excursion

Years 5 & 6 Melbourne Museum Reflections

On Tuesday, the Year 5 and 6 students finished off their topic unit by catching the train to the Melbourne Museum. We visited the First Peoples Gallery, where students learned about the diversity and longevity of south-eastern First Peoples and the impact of colonisation on their daily lives and culture.

Victor Y6

“Look at that rifle, it’s huge!” someone exclaimed.

“Where is it? Let me see!” I said excitedly.

Today, Years 5 and 6 went to the Melbourne Museum to see the First Peoples’ gallery. It was very interesting to learn all about the culture, especially how Aboriginal people used shields. In class, we learned about Aboriginal fishing techniques, and at the museum, we saw the fishing equipment and the canoes they used. One of the techniques that I found really interesting was the one that was used to catch eels. It looked like it was a long, thick tube with an end curving up. They put the side with the curve upstream and stuck it in between rocks. On the other side, they blocked the waterway with something and eels or fish would swim through it, and they’d get stuck. The Aboriginal people could catch them easily. At the end of the excursion, we walked through the Forest Gallery. In there, we got to see all sorts of different animals, like the blue tongue lizard and more! 

It was a very wonderful day, I was extremely tired at the end. Getting back to school, well, it felt like a ray of sunshine!        

Stella Y6

“FWOOSH” the sliding doors to the Melbourne Museum opened as we walked in. It took a bit of walking, but eventually, we made it to the First Peoples Gallery. We walked in and looked around at the various art pieces. My favorite was a fire-making activity where you had to rub sticks together to make a fake fire like the Aboriginals would have done to make a fire. We kept moving and passed a few cool things before going outside for a nature walk, where we saw many cool animals like blue-tongue lizards and frogs. We eventually finished our visit and headed back to school with shiny new memories.

Sienna Y6

Today, we went to the Melbourne Museum to see the First Peoples gallery. There were many activities and things to see in the gallery. One of the exhibits was Bunjil, the eagle with a story to tell us about him in a dark room filled with lights. Some of the other things that were there were a fake stick and a rock. You would spin the stick really fast to light a pretend fire, and once it started to get a bit red, you had to blow on it to light the fire. 

There was also a sample of possum skin that we could touch. We also saw some animals like frogs, lizards, and fish, and we also saw a turtle. There was also a small waterfall. 

We also got to see some things that we learned about in the book, Young Dark Emu, like the sacks the Aboriginal people would use for food storage and the tools that they used to fish and hunt and some other things.

Daniel Y5

We went to the Melbourne Museum. My class went to the First Peoples gallery. It was amazing!!! There was also a very old canoe that was made from bark. The tools were long and pointy.

Spencer Y5

“Spin it faster!... Blow harder!” Was what the voice said during the first activity at the First Peoples Gallery at the Melbourne Museum. When we entered the museum, I knew it was going to be fun. We walked through the First Peoples section, gazing at all the artwork and tools that the First Peoples made and used. I didn't understand some of the tools and what they were used for, but they were very interesting. We also saw frogs, birds, blue-tongue lizards, and more in the Forest Gallery. We then took a break, ate and played on the playground. After that, we left to come back on the train.