As of Monday 25 May 2020, all Queensland school students are set to go back to school, after many being at home doing school virtually for some time. The importance of teachers and their pivotal role in our youth’s lives cannot be overlooked. During this unique and unprecedented time, teachers have been responsive and supportive in transitioning whilst helping students and parents alike. With this, … Continue reading To the teachers, thank you
Kate, SparkLab Learning Officer, South Bank Discover rainbows around your home and explore the science of light and colour. Have you ever noticed a rainbow somewhere that you didn’t expect one? SparkLab Learning Officers have been discovering surprise rainbows all over their homes. This got us thinking… Where do rainbows come from? And how can we create our own rainbows at home? Search for your … Continue reading Searching for Surprise Rainbows with SparkLab
By Rochelle Lawrence, Palaeontological Research Assistant, and Scott Hocknull, Senior Curator, Geosciences, Queensland Museum The giant kangaroo tibia (shinbone) found at the megafauna fossil sites of South Walker Creek, travelled safely back to the Queensland Museum’s Geosciences collection. The specimen is treated like evidence for a case (fossil evidence!) and is processed through a series of stages from field collection (Part 1) and preparation, to … Continue reading Discovering the world’s largest kangaroo – Part 2: In the lab
By Rochelle Lawrence, Palaeontological Research Assistant, and Scott Hocknull, Senior Curator, Geosciences, Queensland Museum As the weather begins to cool, the ‘dig’ season starts for us (palaeontologists) as we venture off along the coast and into the outback heart of Queensland. Over the last ten years we have been investigating a series of fossil sites at South Walker Creek located near the town of Nebo, … Continue reading Discovering the world’s largest kangaroo- Part 1: In the field
By Rochelle Lawrence, Palaeontological Research Assistant, and Scott Hocknull, Senior Curator, Geosciences, Queensland Museum In 2008, an extraordinary discovery was made at South Walker Creek, located near the town of Nebo, west of Mackay in Queensland, Australia. Traditional owners of the area, the Barada Barna people, were conducting a cultural heritage survey for the South Walker Creek Mine when they came across some interesting bones. … Continue reading A Crime scene of the past – investigating tropical ice age megafauna
By Rochelle Lawrence, Palaeontological Research Assistant, and Scott Hocknull, Senior Curator, Geosciences, Queensland Museum. Megafauna are giant animals usually weighing over 44 kilograms (kg). Most megafauna are now extinct (no longer exist) and were closely related to living species of animals we see today. You have probably heard of the more commonly known megafauna species, like the saber-toothed cat and woolly mammoth from North America. … Continue reading What are megafauna?
by Jillian Roberts, Learning Manager – Queensland Museum This term has begun differently to any other before it as the majority of Queensland students transition to learning from home. Thank you to the teachers across the state who are doing an incredible job transitioning to online learning and providing amazing support to students and parents alike. Queensland Museum has a suite of resources that can … Continue reading Learning @ Home with Queensland Museum Network
This blog post is part of an ongoing series titled Connecting with Collections. The series offers readers a peek inside collections at the Museum of Tropical Queensland, highlighting objects and their stories. The 7-14 July marks the 2019 NAIDOC Week. Each year, NAIDOC Week celebrates the culture, history and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. NAIDOC Week is commemorated by both Indigenous communities … Continue reading NAIDOC WEEK
While the Discovery Centre is being renovated our most popular displays are still on show. Every day at 11.00am and 2.00pm our amazing Daily Discoveries will pop up anywhere! So keep an eye out for them these school holidays… Get up close and personal with a stick insect! We have Goliath Stick Insects, among the largest insects in Australia, breeding here in the museum. There … Continue reading Daily discoveries are coming to you
There’s still plenty to discover at the Queensland Museum! Our Discovery Centre may be undergoing some renovations but our team is still here at the Museum to help you satisfy your curiosity.
If you need help with identifying a bug, a snake, some bones you’ve dug up, or anything else get in touch. And our discovery team does love a challenge so bring it on!
Dr John Hooper has been an integral part of the Queensland Museum Network and has made a significant contribution during his 27 years here, 14 of which he has been Head of the Biodiversity and Geosciences program. Having retired in June 2018, John leaves a lasting legacy not only to the Queensland Museum Network but to the broader scientific community.
Continue reading “Celebrating a remarkable career – Dr John Hooper”
Written by Alethea Beetson, Indigenous Engagement Coordinator, Queensland Museum and Imelda Miller Curator, Cultures and Histories, Queensland Museum
All year Digi Youth Arts unsettle artists and mentors have been engaging, discovering, interacting, activating, calling out, evaluating, commenting, questioning and creating new artworks inside and outside Queensland Museum. As artists in residence, Digi Youth Arts have been focused on producing new works across six art forms – street art, theater, film, dance, visual art and music. This year alone, artists from four of these art forms have showcased new works developed in collaboration with industry mentors.
Passionate about science? You have 3 minutes, no Powerpoint and no jargon… do you have what it takes? FameLab applications are now open.
International FameLab, the world’s leading science communication competition, aims to find, develop and mentor young science, mathematics and engineering communicators, building a celebrated network of researchers, who are able to get everyone – from school kids and adults to government officials and business figures – talking science.
Continue reading “Passionate about science? FameLab are searching for the most exciting new voices in science.”
Written by: Nerinda Sandry, Strategic Learning In terms of classroom learning and the Australian Curriculum, the exploration of message sticks brings together history, science, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures, literacy and art. Coupled with a trip to a museum and contact with a local Aboriginal Group where possible, the links to both Historical Knowledge and Understanding and Historical skills for Foundation to … Continue reading Message Sticks: rich ways of weaving Aboriginal cultures into the Australian Curriculum
Written by: Letitia Murgha, Strategic Learning This article continues the theme of early indigenous scientific knowledge which often centred around the collection of food. Most shell middens were created in ancient (pre-European contact) times and can provide valuable information about Aboriginal hunting and gathering practices. For thousands of years, Aboriginal people caught and ate large numbers of shellfish species in and around the mangrove … Continue reading Indigenous Science: Shell middens and fish traps
Written by: Marcel Bruyn, Strategic Learning Sustainability is a cross-curriculum priority of the Australian Curriculum. Sustainability addresses the ongoing capacity of Earth to maintain all life. The AC website states that: “Education for sustainability develops the knowledge, skills, values and world views necessary for people to act in ways that contribute to more sustainable patterns of living.” In Science: “… students appreciate that science provides the … Continue reading New Resources to Support Sustainability Education
Recycling and the Australian Curriculum Teaching is characteristically a time poor occupation and no more so than in the modern classroom. In our efforts to deliver the entire curriculum (in a perfect classroom with well-behaved children who attend school nearly every day!), we need to be clever about maximising the potential of learning in each lesson. Specifically, we need to reduce the need for … Continue reading Reduce Reuse and Rethink: New QM Resource
Written by: Maryanne Venables, Strategic Learning The “Zoo Animals” went into the tin with the blue lid, while my “Farm Animals” went in the tin with the green lid. The animal kingdom, as I knew it, lived under my bed in Streets ice-cream tins. All were classified, according to contexts developed from the songs, books and experiences of a four-year old. Fast forward to 2012 and, … Continue reading It’s Taxon Time
During traditional times, Aboriginal people showed an ingenious mastery of physics to create hunting equipment and labour-saving tools. They demonstrated knowledge of chemistry, held a deep understanding of biology through powerful observation and using all the senses to predict and hypothesis. Additionally, they were competent at testing through trial and error, making adaptations and retesting to achieve a final result. Aboriginal people were experts at reading … Continue reading Science Principles in Traditional Aboriginal Australia
Humans are fascinated by extremes; just consider the popularity of the Guinness Book of Records. It’s also reflected by our fascination with huge dinosaurs; think Tyrannosaurus rex and Brachiosaurus. So it is not surprising that claims that ‘giant predatory lizards 11m long once roamed Ancient Australia’ would garner attention and intrigue. In fact the lizard was appropriately given the scientific name, Megalania, meaning ‘giant ripper’. … Continue reading Does size matter? Misidentification of, and assumptions about, the world’s largest lizard
