History Enrichment Program

On Thursday the 20th of November I participated in a History Enrichment Program at the State Library of Victoria. The program was amazing and I learnt so much! During the day we had 4 main activities. The first was a discussion about how books can change the world and each table group received a book that they had to give a suggestion to how it has changed the world. For example, my table was given a book of quotes from Mao Tse Tung, who was the Chinese President that made China a communist country. This book changed the world as it changed the minds of a whole country. 

The second activity was a tour around the State Library. The State Library currently has an exhibition on called 'A World of Books'; it was really cool as there were the original copies of the Jane Austen novels like Sense and Sensibility; there was also a book that was over 200 years old. The third activity was a presentation about 19th century medicine. This presentation was very gruesome and shocking as electricity had been invented in the early 1900s, so people were experimenting with it. Radioactive materials were also being experimented on at this time. We learnt about several electrical experiments and radioactive items. For example, there was radioactive toothpaste. The last activity was a history game where we used historian skills to gather information using only photos. I am extremely grateful for this opportunity, as I had a great time, learnt so much and met so many new people!

Mia B

Year 7 Student