Teachers notes
How do we know that Roman Londoners locked their front doors? Or that salt was an expensive commodity in Tudor times? What can we learn about the lives of the poor in Victorian London from an ornamental “conversation piece”?
The aim of this website is to enable KS2 pupils to discover how objects reveal evidence about life in the past through virtual object handling. They will learn how to investigate an object by examining it closely and asking a range of questions about it. The answers to these questions reveal information about the people who used or made the objects, from the availability of materials to standards of living, customs and lifestyle.
The site focuses on three objects from the Museum of London’s collection. Through investigating these objects, children can discover more about life for Roman, Tudor and Victorian Londoners.
It is suggested that pupils work with a selected virtual object in pairs or small groups. There are a variety of interactive tools that they can use to examine them, including a microscope to look closely at details and a rotational tool to view the object in three dimensions.
To get the best out of the site, please ensure that the speakers are turned on and you have the latest versions of Flash installed, you can download this for free. You should also ensure that your browser is Java enabled. You can do this by checking the “Java enabled” box which you should find in your browser preference settings. This site is designed for people with a broadband connection, if you don’t have broadband or a fast computer, it will take longer to download, please be patient. Alternatively you can download the whole site in advance by clicking here.
The questions are divided into two stages, encouraging children to work as detectives, looking for clues and collecting evidence before reaching conclusions. The first stage directs pupils to examine the object’s physical features and to answer factual questions; the second prompts them towards making inferences and drawing conclusions. Pupils should be encouraged to discuss the questions fully before listening to the audio commentary, which provides answers and additional information.
Through working with objects in this way, it is hoped that pupils will gain an understanding of how to interpret them as evidence of life in the past. At the Museum of London, you can see the objects featured on this site in the Roman London, Tudor London and World City galleries, together with many others from our extensive collection.
Why not follow-up the activity in a whole-class session, you could demonstrate the objects on an interactive white board. Groups could report back on what they discovered, draw a picture of the object being used by the original owners, write a paragraph comparing it to something similar we use today or act out a conversation with Molly asking and answering questions.
Schools can also book object handling sessions in which pupils investigate original artefacts. For more information, see the website or call the Box Office on 0870 444 3850.