Year 7 Excursion to the Chau Chak Wing Museum, University of Sydney

Historical Tour of Sydney University

At the beginning of our session at the museum, two of the classes 7J and 7R went on a historical tour of the University. This began with a look at the front of the great hall, where we looked at the architecture inside and outside where we spotted the Gargoyles. These were mythical creatures made of sandstone that stuck out the side of the building, and had open mouths that caught rain and spurted it out from their mouths, which protected the outside sandstone of the building from erosion from rainfall.  We moved across to the left, where we were told about the Carillon that was added in memory of the soldiers and staff from the University who died in World War 1. The flag that waved on the top of the Carillon, at the top of the university, was the Sydney University flag, which is a combination of both the Cambridge and Oxford flags as the university was inspired by those two great universities.  We proceeded through to the quad, where we learnt that the grass inside used to be women’s tennis courts. We continued down into the Chancellor’s gardens, where they used original paving from when the convicts first came to Australia.  From this we went around to the Graffiti Tunnel, a place where Sydney University students could vent about the unfairness of the Vietnam War and onwards. This was my favourite part of the tour, as we got to see what it would be like to be a student there and make your mark in the tunnel.  We continued back around the buildings to head to the object/art/specimen area inside the Chau Chak Wing Museum.

Lego and Tombstones

Closer to the end of our experience at Chau Chak Wing Museum we went to the middle level and saw a representation of Pompeii that was made entirely out of Lego.  This included the Theatre and the Stabian Baths.  The large theatre was created mostly out of white Lego with a hint of red Lego.  The large theatre was built around the time of the 2nd Century BC.  It was then excavated in 1764-1765; 1767-1769; 1773; 1789; 1791-1794; 1902; 1951.  The Stabian Baths was built with many different colours of Lego including different types of brown, white and multiple shades of blue.  They were also built in the 2nd Century BC. It was then excavated in 1853-1857; 1865.

Next to the Lego were some tombstones and busts.  The tombstones were all very old and most of them were Roman but there were two tombstones that were Greek.   The guide explained their meanings and we figured that they were the one with ‘p’ with the ‘x’ through it which is Greek.  The busts were identified and the guide helped us understand what we learn from these types of sources.  The majority of these sculptures were marble. 

Egypt

In the Egypt room we got to explore different aspects of the Ancient Egyptian mummies and tombs. We got to see the process of mummification and learnt about the different important people of ancient Egypt. We were told a story about two siblings who fought till their death. They were fighting to gain control of Egypt after  their father died. One was supposed to become the new king and the other was jealous of this. So he tried to kill his brother numerous times, but his wife revised him from the dead twice before the king eventually died of old age. And he overtook the throne and gained control of Egypt. We got to see some Egyptian artefacts and learn a lot more about Egyptian history.

Object/Art/Specimen

The first thing we were shown when we walked in the room were stuffed, dead birds that were over 100 years old. The lady guiding  us told us that the people who discovered these birds thought they were 2 different species even though they were actually the same species, just different genders. She also showed us a tombstone and statue of an important woman. She also taught us about the Tasmanian Tiger which is now extinct. We got to see a couple skeletons of the head, and one full body skeleton. She told us a sad story about how the zookeeper who was taking care of the last Tasmanian Tiger forgot to take it inside one night and the tiger sadly froze to death. We also got to see many other things in this room such as; meteorites, Indigenous Jewelry and many other ancient artefacts. This was a very cool room with a variety of artefacts.

Hands on Activity

After lunch we went into a special room to explore different artefacts from many ancient establishments. We all sat down and put on some gloves. We were instructed to pick up the artefacts and look at them closely, thinking about a few questions - what is it made of? From what era do you think it’s from? What could it have been used for? We were partnered and worked together on a series of analytical drawings. We ask questions and learn backstories on all of our artefacts. We were also told the different clues that the archeologists used to make their inferences of when, where, why, how and who the artefact was made. Not only this but we also got to pass around ancient swords and learn a bit about why and how they were made. It was overall a very interesting and exciting experience that will definitely be the highlight of this term.

Conclusion

Overall this was a very intriguing and successful trip to the Chau Chak Wing Museum, and all of year seven enjoyed their time. We learnt many new things, but even better we learnt them next to our friends. We got to experience a learning, yet fun day at the Museum and we are ever so grateful for the opportunity to go. We thank our teachers and everyone who made this wonderful excursion possible.

BY MATILDA FOSTER, SIENNA STOJIC, KATJA MORITZ AND GRACE MADDEN 7R