Pre-Primary, Primary & Secondary School Programs
Maritime Museum, Victoria Quay
On Site Programs
Journeys of Enlightenment NEW PROGRAM until October 2009
A, E, S, S&E Years 5 and up: 1.75 hours $5Experience the Journeys of Enlightenment exhibition and follow in the wake of the great French explorers and scientists who explored our Australian coast. See the recently discovered bottle and coin that prove Western Australia was claimed by the French in 1772. Decipher bottle messages, handle an ancient French coin, see precious maps and draw the amazing animal species the explorers encountered. Find out what life on board and ashore would have been like for these brave men and women of discovery.
Click here to find out more about the exhibition.
Click here to download a pdf program flyer.
General Tour
E, H&PE, E, S, S&E, T&E Years K - Year 3: 1 hour Years 4 and up: 1.5 hours $4Visit our spectacular Maritime Museum on Fremantle Harbour and explore the gallery themes: Indian Ocean, Hooked on Fishing, Fremantle and Swan River, Tin Canoe to Australia II, Naval Defence, Cargoes and Migration.
Many themes are addressed in the Maritime Museum - call us for details on these.
Maritime Transport
A, E, S, S&E, T&E Years 3 and up: 1.5 hours $6Hear and discuss stories in the galleries relating to the marine transport themes of boats at work and play.
Experience the sailing interactives.
Explore the Arabian marketplace to view goods traded in the Indian Ocean region.
View the passing parade of ships on Fremantle Harbour and identify their roles.
This program can include an art or story writing component.
Click here to download a pdf program flyer.
Maritime Technology and Change
A, E, S, S&E, T&E Years 5 and up: 1.5 hours $6Learn about changes in technology and the impact on watercraft design, navigation, fishing, conservation of marine life, pearling, whaling, safety at sea, signaling, cargo handling and transportation, recreational boating and naval defence.
Find out about the transition from paddle to sail, steam and diesel powered vessels.
This program can include an art or story writing component.
Click here to download a pdf program flyer.
Strangers on the Shore NEW PROGRAM
E, S, S&E, T&E Years 4 - 12: 1.75 hours $7Investigate European settlement and early interaction with Aboriginal people with a focus mainly on the Time, Continuity and Change and Culture outcomes for Society and Environment. View Aboriginal watercraft and learn about pre-European Nyoongar trade with Indonesian fishermen.
Consider different historic narratives about people and events eg the rescue by Aboriginal stockman Sam Isaacs and colonist, Grace Bussell, of passengers from the wreck of the Georgette.
Hear how Aboriginal people utilised the coast and rivers sustainably and how European settlement changed the Fremantle coastline to the detriment of Aboriginal people. Hear how Bardi Jawi people today play important roles as sea rangers, reducing Indonesian fish piracy, and in developing trochus aquaculture.
Make a Serpent from raffia to represent the creature that is believed to have created the Swan River.
Click here to download a pdf program flyer.
Click here to download a pdf table of Scope and Sequence topics and skills.
Maritime Museum, Victoria Quay
Hands On Programs
About Boats
A, E, S, S&E, T&E Years K - Year 3: 1.5 hours Years 4 and up: 1.75 hours $6In this hands-on program, learn how boats float and experiment to make a plasticine boat carry as much cargo as possible.
View the boats on display and experience interactives in the galleries. Observe Fremantle Harbour to see examples of vessels used for adventure, exploration, carrying cargo and people, pleasure, defence, law enforcement, ensuring safety and harvesting the sea.
Older students sketch in the galleries or bring a camera so they can develop a recount.
Alternatively, students could use our story writing outline to begin telling one of the tales depicted in the displays.
Click here to download a pdf program flyer.
Animals Afloat
A, E, H&PE, S, S&E, T&E Years K and up: 1.5 hours (plus 0.5hrs for art/writing) $6Animals are involved in many of the stories at the Maritime Museum.
The piracy of the Patagonian Toothfish, changes in 'fish fashion', and the story of whaling are some examples.
Like the whalers, students make a rope-work bracelet of their own.
This program can include an art or story writing component.
Click here to download a pdf program flyer.
Whale Tales
E, S, S&E, T&E Years K - 2 & Education Support: 1.25 hours $4Apprentice sailors take turns to carry a toy 'baby whale' on a voyage though the Maritime Museum to learn about boats and the sea, while searching for the whale's mother. Stories and sensory experiences relate to maritime adventures and challenges, trade and piracy, harvesting the sea, communication, defence and safety at sea.
Click here to download a pdf program flyer.
Sustainable Seas
E, S, S&E, T&E Years 4 - 12: 2 hours $6Students are guided through the Maritime Museum to hear, describe and discuss different viewpoints in relation to issues such as: Patagonian Toothfish piracy, sustainable management of the lobster fishery, illegal Indonesian fishing, aquaculture (pearling), sustainable aboriginal fishing practices, impact of advances in fishing technology, ballast water/quarantine issues, whaling and eco-tourism and Swan River ecology.
Students participate in hands-on activities including Hooked on Fishing and the Sea Level role-play, which promote the concept that each individual's behaviour can promote sustainable use of the sea.
Click here to download a pdf program flyer.
Sustainable Seas Incursion
E, S, S&E, T&E Years 4-6 1 hour $5An Education Officer will attend your school to conduct hands on activities that empower students to take personal action to protect the marine and global environment. The Sea Level Role Play actively demonstrates how the increased level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is contributing to global warming and rising sea levels around the world. In the Hooked On Fishing activity, students catch, measure and identify model fish, and check catch quotas, promoting the concept that each individual’s behaviour can make a difference in the sustainable use of the sea. Each booking receives a class set of Sustainable Seas Student Guides to extend knowledge of sustainability following the incursion. A Teacher Guide provides solutions to the Student Guide activities and contains resources for The Food Chain Game which illustrates the transfer of energy from one living thing to another in marine food webs.
Schools receive a free guided tour of the Museum for a single class in exchange for a ten minute presentation to staff by an Education Officer during recess or lunch on the day of the incursion.
Note: This program is not available during Term 3
Click here to download a pdf program flyer.
Click here to read teacher feedback about the Sustainable Seas Incursion.
Submarine Ovens, Victoria Quay
Life Beneath the Waves
E, S, S&E, T&E Years 4 and up: 1.5 hours: $4Be guided on board the Oberon Class submarine HMAS Ovens.
Experience life on board the silent world of submarines.
Learn about Fremantle as an important secret submarine base in World War II.
Click here to download a pdf program flyer.
Click here to download Submarine Ovens Teacher's Excursion Notes.
Shipwreck Galleries, Cliff Street
On Site Programs
The Batavia Story
E, H&PE, S, S&E, T&E Years K and up: 1.5 hours $4Hear stories of the Batavia shipwreck, along with tales of piracy (K-Year 3) and mutiny (Year 4 up) during the fateful maiden voyage.
Find out about the recovery, conservation and display of artefacts from the wreck site.
Imagine life on board a Dutch East Indiaman.
Click here to download a pdf program flyer.
Exploration and Discovery
E, S&E, T&E Years 4 and up: 1.5 hours $4Learn about the first European contact with the Australian coast and some of the traces left behind by early explorers.
Hear stories about the spice trade and the famous shipwrecks on the Western Australian Coast.
See early navigation equipment and mapping techniques and discover how they work.
Click here to download a pdf program flyer.
Batavia Fiction - Strange Objects
E, S&E Years 8 - 12: 1.5 hours $4N.B. It is essential that students are reading or have read the book Strange Objects.
Gary Crew's prize winning novel approaches the Batavia story in a fresh and original way.
Experience a fiction writer's view of the Batavia story and examine the artefacts and stories that his novel is based on.
Batavia Fiction - The Devil's Own
E, S&E Years 8 - 12: 1.5 hours $4N.B. It is essential that students are reading or have read the book The Devil's Own.
Deborah Lisson uses the "time-slip" technique to bring the Batavia story to life. We examine the way in which Lisson has used the Batavia misadventure as a framework for her story.
Artefacts and stories that her novel is based on are examined.
Shipwreck Galleries, Cliff Street
Hands On Programs
Pirates' Apprentice
E, H&PE, S&E, T&E Year K - Year 3: 1 hour $4Hear stories of shipboard life, shipwrecks, survivors and mutiny.
Handle real cannon balls and learn how to load and fire a cannon.
Come dressed up as your favourite pirate (parrot optional!).
Click here to download a pdf program flyer.
Puss in Boats
E, H&PE, S&E, T&E Year K - Year 3 & Education Support: 1-1.25 hours $4Take turns to carry the ship's cat while sailing the high seas and learn about the spice trading ships wrecked on our coast, silver coins, piracy and life aboard a 400 year old sailing ship.
The senses of young sailors and Education Support students are engaged during this hands-on voyage. Students will handle silver coins, smell spices, and see a cat with nine tails.
Click here to download a pdf program flyer.
Real Histories of Pirates
E, H&PE, S, S&E, T&E Years 4 and up: 1.5 hours $4Hollywood has distorted public perception of pirates into romanticised images. Students will learn how Museum historians sift through primary sources to discover the truth about pirates. Students will learn about the pirate code, pirate excesses, and importantly, modern pirates. Students will experience what life was like aboard a real pirate ship and learn how to load and fire a replica cannon.
Click here to download a pdf program flyer
Pirates Incursion
E, H&PE, S&E, Year 1 to 3: 1 hour $5A Maritime Education Officer will attend your school to vividly present life on board a 17th century sailing ship with a Pirate twist. Children learn about treasure, parts of a sailing ship, and weapons used in sea battles, in an interactive, engaging manner. Students get to handle replica 400 year old coins from the spice ship Batavia; Hard Tack biscuits; a Jolly Roger flag; spices (the REAL treasure), as well as ship weapons, to increase their understanding of pirate life and the Spice Trade of long ago. The incursion concludes with a ‘mock battle’ between a Spice Ship team and a Pirate Crew in a fun game of Tug of War. Create a real pirate atmosphere by dressing up as a pirate. (Parrot optional.)
Note: This program is not available during Term 3
Click here to download a Pirates Incursion pdf program flyer.
Don't Rock the Boat
E, S, S&E, T&E Years 3 - 4: 1.5 - 2 hours Years 5 - 8: 2 - 3 hours $7Build and race model sailing ships in our testing tank.
Participate in activities to find out how boats stay balanced and afloat and discover ways to make them sail faster.
Don't Rock the Boat Assessment Rubrics available on request for science and technology process outcomes.
N.B. The longer version of this program involves students walking for ten minutes from the Shipwreck Galleries to the Maritime Museum at Victoria Quay (after the boat building activity) where they can discover the many different boat designs in the museum galleries (no extra cost).
Click here to download a pdf program flyer.
Shipwreck Detectives2 Free Sessions during National Archaeology Week, 18-22 May 2009.
E, M, S, S&E, T&E Years 5 - 8: 2 hours $7Be a shipwreck detective. Study and record evidence from wreck sites and other sources to unlock the mysteries of the deep. Complete hands on processes that real maritime archaeologists use to unravel the stories told by coins, wreck photography and x-rays of artefacts. Conduct a survey of a simulated wreck site and see if you can be the first group to identify a shipwreck by examining and discussing multiple sources of evidence.
Click here to download a pdf program flyer.
Maritime Archaeology
S, S&E Year 7 and up: 1.5 hours $4Handle, describe and record features of real artefacts from Dutch and post-colonial shipwrecks. Tour the Shipwreck Galleries to discover how the spice trade in the 1600s is directly related to some of the famous shipwrecks on our coast. Discover the precious shipwreck cargoes that the museum staff have rescued and learn about conservation techniques.
Click here to download a pdf program flyer.
Precinct Walks
European Settlement and the Maritime Precinct
E, H&PE, S&E Year 4 and up: 1.5 hours $4Starting at the convict built Shipwreck Galleries (originally built as a government store), see the original shoreline and the Long Jetty site at Bather's Beach, where the first settlers struggled to survive in appalling conditions, such as suffering the smell of rotting refuse thrown into the sea.
Visit the site of the first whaling tryworks where valuable whale oil was extracted and exported, earning more for the colony than wool.
Visit the Round House prison (our first Government Building) and Fremantle Harbour (built by C.Y. O'Connor) to study changes in the natural, built and social environments over time.
Click here to download a pdf program flyer.
From Terra Australis to the Land of the Long Weekend
E, H&PE, S, S&E, T&E Year 4 and up: 1.75 hours $6Visit the Shipwreck Galleries to learn about the early spice traders and their mighty ships that came to grief on our treacherous reefs.
Discover a replica of Hartog's Plate and the original de Vlamingh plate left as records of early contact.
Follow the anchor walk to Victoria Quay and observe the dangers facing the early visitors to the Swan River Colony as they approached the coast and anchored off Fremantle.
Outside the Maritime Museum on Victoria Quay, learn about the building of Fremantle Harbour which finally gave mariners a safe haven from the Indian Ocean.
Learn how our coastline, so feared by the early explorers, is central to the way Western Australians play, compete, celebrate and seek adventure (e.g. Jon Sanders' epic solo triple circumnavigation).
Click here to download a pdf program flyer