12 Workshops from the World Museum

From virtual to in person, from Ancient Egypt to Insects to Space, the World Museum offer a variety of museum-led workshops for key stage 1-2 students. These workshops will bring learning to life and inspire the imaginations of your students by engaging them in activities based on real artefacts and objects.

Overview of the World Museum’s Workshops

Using feedback from teachers, the World Museum has designed curriculum-linked virtual and at venue workshops for Key Stages 1-2.

The World Museum’s virtual classrooms are delivered via Microsoft Teams and last 50 minutes each, with capacity for up to 32 students.

The World Museum’s at venue workshops are museum led and last up to 50 minutes each, with capacity for up to 30/32 students.

The World Museum’s Virtual Workshop

Ancient Egypt: Marvelous Mummification

Explore Ancient Egypt with this virtual workshop from National Museums Liverpool.

Led by an expert from the World Museum, students will explore the various stages of the Ancient Egyptian preservation process giving them an understanding of cultures, history and science whilst developing core skills such as collaboration and communication.

The aim of this workshop is for students to come away with knowledge of the entire mummification process and an insight into the anatomy of the body through assisting in the ‘mummification’ and gain insights into the ancient Egyptian understanding of body and spirit.

Suitable for: KS2
Subjects: Citizenship, English, History, PSHE, Science

Find out more about National Museums Liverpool’s Ancient Egypt Virtual Workshop.

The World Museum’s at Venue Workshops

We are Aliens!

A fun and unique workshop from the World Museum where students will discover how we search for signs of alien life in space.

Students will experience the stars in this thrilling planetarium show as they discover how we search for signs of alien life in space. Students will also get hands-on in an astronaut challenge activity.

Students will discover how our existing understanding of life on earth guides the hunt for alien life elsewhere in the Universe. By exploring the unlikely places in which we find life on our own planet, (such as the deep ocean floor or in the Antarctic), scientists can provide clues for finding life in other unexpected places like Mars, Jupiter’s moon’s or other exo-planets like our own.

Students will also have the opportunity to handle objects such as a Sokol flying suit and helmet.

Suitable for: KS2
Subjects: English, History, Science

Find out more about National Museums Liverpool’s We are Aliens! Workshop.

Spiders, Scorpions and Insects

A fun hands-on workshop from the World Museum where students will learn and meet arthropods.

During this World Museum workshop expert demonstrators will help students examine the ecology, adaptations and lifestyles of arthropods.

Students will get the chance to interact with three really successful arthropod groups – the insects, arachnids and myriapods. They will have the opportunity to get up close to real live specimens from the World Museum’s Bug House.

The Students will get to see a scorpion glow under UV light, learn why stick insects camouflage and discover how we can tell a spider is a girl by her big bottom!

Suitable for: KS1 & KS2
Subjects: Science

Find out more about National Museums Liverpool’s Spiders, Scorpions and Insects Workshop.

Exploring Life Under the Sea

An engaging and fun workshop from the World Museum looking at different underwater creatures and how they move.

This World Museum workshop will introduce students to the sea and underwater animals giving them an exciting insight into how they move and their habitats.

Students will gain insight into the vast amount of creatures living under the sea and how they move and live. They will also be able to come up close and actually touch some of the animals they have learned about in the workshop and see how they move underwater.

Suitable for: KS1
Subjects: Science

Find out more about National Museums Liverpool’s Exploring Life Under the Sea Workshop.

Life in a Rock Pool

A fun workshop from the World Museum where students will learn and meet animals found in British rock pool habitats.

Students will be asked to consider the oceans, their importance and what they provide for us. They will then be introduced to the rock pool as a habitat and will be asked to consider that habitat and the challenges it may present to the animals which live there.

During this workshop students will learn about the animals including what their bodies are made of, what they would feel like and how they protect themselves. They will look at how many arms, legs and feet they have and how they move around. Students will be able to take a closer look to find out if the animals have eyes and how they know where they are going, where the animals’ mouths are, what they like to eat and how they catch and eat their food.

Suitable for: KS2
Subjects: Science

Find out more about National Museums Liverpool’s Life in a Rock Pool Workshop.

Meet the Mummy

An interactive and fun workshop from the World Museum for students to explore the Egyptian mummification process.

In this World Museum workshop students will be introduced to the process of mummification, an integral aspect of ancient Egyptian culture.

Through an interactive approach, which involves working on a life size dummy mummy, students will learn details of how the body was preserved and will come to appreciate the cultural meanings of the preservation process.

Students will be encouraged to develop and communicate their knowledge and understanding through speaking, listening, and reading activities.

Suitable for: KS2
Subjects: English, History, Science

Find out more about National Museums Liverpool’s Meet the Mummy Workshop.

Two Small Pieces of Glass

An exciting workshop from the World Museum educating students on telescopes and how they have unraveled many mysteries.

Students will experience the stars in this exciting planetarium show as they learn about telescopes, how they work and how important they have been in unraveling these mysteries. Then students will get hands-on in an astronaut challenge activity.

In this World Museum workshop students will learn how we can see events from millions of years ago today and how looking back in time helps us work out why the universe is the way it is and what the future of the universe may look like.

Students will also gain insight into how observatories use telescopes to explore deep space and expand our understanding of our own place in space.

Suitable for: KS2
Subjects: History, Science

Find out more about National Museums Liverpool’s Two Small Pieces of Glass Workshop.

Astronaut George

A fun interactive workshop from the World Museum for students to discover the planets that make up our solar system.

This World Museum workshop will explain some of the basic scientific facts of our home planet, and aims to inspire the student’s imagination to further explore our universe.

The class will watch an interactive Astronaut George show, a fun animated journey exploring our solar system, learning amazing facts about the planets and asking the question: what makes life on earth unique?

The students will have the chance to act out what they have learnt by handling model planets to recreate our solar system. Allowing them to take part in an interactive experience that demonstrates the order of the planets in our solar system, will explain why life is possible on earth and what causes night and day.

Suitable for: KS1
Subjects: History, Science

Find out more about National Museums Liverpool’s Astronaut George Workshop.

Invaders – Anglo-Saxon and Vikings

A hands-on workshop from the World Museum where students will use objects to learn about British history.

This World Museum workshop will allow students the opportunity to examine and handle replica objects that have been made in the same way as the originals. Using their powers of deduction, students will become junior museum archaeologists to discover what the objects reveal about the people who lived in Britain more than 1000 years ago.

This workshop will look at four main topics:

• Everyday life. Students will match a selection of objects to everyday Viking or Anglo-Saxon tasks such as a tallow lamp with lighting the home; a bone needle with sewing or working with leather; a coin with trading; wooden and pottery bowls with eating.
• Materials. A detailed look at materials used to make objects the students will see in the Anglo-Saxon displays including, garnet, amethyst, quartz, iron, amber, bone and pottery.
• Weaving. Students will have a go at weaving and discover some of the plants that were used to make red, blue and yellow dyes.
• Clothing and armour. Students will feel the weight of chain mail, a sword, shield and helmet.

Suitable for: KS2
Subjects: History, Science

Find out more about National Museums Liverpool’s Invaders – Anglo-Saxon and Vikings Workshop.

The World of Minibeasts

A fun workshop from the World Museum to educate students on the role insects play on ecosystems.

Your students are sure to be enthralled by the incredible range of insects on display and will get up close and personal to spiders, insects and scorpions!

In this workshop students will learn the role insects play in ecosystems, how to treat animals with care, plus their growth, movement and animal senses. The World Museum use live animals to demonstrate these concepts, allowing students to get up close and, using visual display technologies, to see these minibeasts in great detail.

Suitable for: KS1
Subjects: Science

Find out more about National Museums Liverpool’s The World of Minibeasts Workshop.

Capcom Go! Race to the Moon

An immersive and exciting workshop from the World Museum where students will learn of the Apollo space missions.

This workshop show introduces a new generation to the pioneering work it took to put the first human on the moon, and will inspire students to become the explorers, engineers, designers, scientists and astronauts of the future.

Using engaging modern graphics, archival film clips, photographs and astronauts’ audio transmissions this film shares insights into the immense challenges NASA’s experts overcame by finding innovative ways to put humans on the moon and return them safely to Earth. They will learn about the importance of oxygen, water and gravity to preserve human life. Students will then take part in a mission: to design a spacesuit for their astronaut to wear on missions into space.

Students will also have the opportunity to handle objects from the European Space Agency such as a Sokol spacesuit helmet and a space food pouch.

Suitable for: KS2
Subjects: History, Science

Find out more about National Museums Liverpool’s Capcom Go! Race to the Moon Workshop.

Stone, Bronze and Iron Age Britain

A unique hands-on workshop from the World Museum allowing students to touch objects linked to the Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages.

This hands-on workshop offers students the opportunity to touch real and replica objects from the Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages. Using their powers of deduction, students will become junior museum archaeologists to discover what the objects reveal about the people who lived in Britain between about 9000 and 2000 years ago.

The workshop will cover people in Britain during the:

• Mesolithic period, 11,000 – 6,000 years ago. People were hunting and gathering their food and living in the wild.
• Neolithic and early Bronze Age, 6000 – 3500 years ago. About 6000 years ago people began to farm and cultivate crops as well as continuing to hunt and gather food.  Bronze tools were introduced around 2200BC, marking the beginning of the Bronze Age.
• Later Bronze Age and Iron Age, 3500 years ago – 43AD. Life became more settled and the look of the landscape changed as people cleared the forests around their farmsteads, grazing animals and growing crops.
• Iron Age, from about 800 BC. Iron began to be used alongside bronze and stone.

Suitable for: KS2
Subjects: History, Science

Find out more about National Museums Liverpool’s Stone, Bronze and Iron Age Britain Workshop.