The National Museum of Ireland (NMI) has launched its spring/summer 2021 programme of online workshops, activities and resources for schools.
The Museum is inviting schools all over Ireland to enjoy, engage and learn with culture in the classroom this spring and beyond.
From the Crazy Life of Crows to pop-up talks on the Easter Rising, the spring/summer programme explores a diverse range of topics and themes, all inspired by the National Collections across four Museum sites in Dublin and Mayo.
The NMI usually welcomes some 90,000 primary and post primary students on classroom visits each year. Due to COVID-19 public health advice, the Museum has now moved its schools programme online with imaginative workshops, virtual tours and classroom activities, delivering meaningful learning experiences for students.
Some highlights from the spring/summer programme include a family tree workshop with the NMI - Country Life; a virtual tour about the 1916 Rising from the NMI - Decorative Arts & History; an Ogham Code challenge from the NMI - Archaeology; and special virtual classroom sessions exploring extinction with the NMI - Natural History.
All events are offered free of charge.
Lorraine Comer, Head of Education at the National Museum of Ireland, encouraged all teachers to browse the Museum's programmes and see what is on offer:
A visit to the Museum can be an inspiring, transformative and meaningful learning experience for your students that complements and supports their studies. Our learning programmes offer a wide range of curriculum-based activities, designed to encourage participation, collaboration and exploration.”
More programme highlights:
COUNTRY LIFE
Crows or Corvids are extremely intelligent birds, known for problem-solving and amazing communication skills. There are seven types of crows in Ireland alone. Join us for birdy facts and fun with marine and countryside guide, Mick Hogan.
Join members of the Mayo Genealogy Group online to get some ideas on how to make your own family tree with tips on how to research, what documents to use and how to use them through a mixture of video and live interaction.
ARCHAEOLOGY
Ogham writing is the earliest form of writing found in Ireland. Discover how Ogham was used in Early Medieval Ireland and write your own message on an Ogham Stone.
Use our presentation to explore the artefacts on display at the Museum that are part of the History of Art section of the Leaving Certificate Art curriculum.
DECORATIVE ARTS & HISTORY
Join Museum guides, educators and curators for this engaging and thought-provoking virtula tour of the Museum’s recent Proclaiming a Republic: The 1916 Rising exhibition. This tour is available for Primary and Post Primary levels.
Explore artefacts and stories from the National Museum of Ireland’s Irish Wars, 1919 - 1923 exhibition through this engaging and informative interactive set of factsheets.
NATURAL HISTORY
Discover the amazing extinct animals of the Museum in this live virtual session, led by a Museum Educator and beamed straight to your classroom. Your class will be virtually welcomed, and guided through some of the rarest museum specimens, all of which have one thing in common – they are extinct!
In this specially designed classroom activity for Transition Year, students can explore the effects of climate change on Irish coastal ecosystems during a self-guided virtual walk-through of the Museum. Detailed teacher’s notes on featured animal species and associated impacts of climate change are provided, with suggested follow-up classroom activities. These may be used to create classroom discussion and expand upon on the topics of climate change effects and the environment in an Irish context.