Lesson video

Hi, my name's Mr. Brown, and good day.

Welcome to this next lesson.

This is Museum Artefacts.

So we'll be making this a practical session, and we're gonna be thinking about knowledge of what museum artefacts are and different ways that we can make model versions of them.

And we'll be talking through that step by step and being able to give you lots of opportunities to be creative and make some fantastic objects.

Okay, so without further ado, we're gonna get on now and think about the learning outcome, the lesson cycles, and the keywords.

Today's learning outcome is to create model artefacts for a museum gallery prototype.

And here are our keywords, there's three keywords today.

First keyword is gallery, and that's a room inside a museum that displays objects.

The second word is artefact, and that's an object displayed in a museum.

And then air-dry modelling clay, that's modelling clay that dries when it's left.

There's two learning cycles today, museum artefacts and museum artefact prototypes.

We, of course, are gonna be starting off with learning cycle one, museum artefacts.

So museum artefacts are objects that displayed in museum gallery, and we've spoken about that within the keywords.

And they might be examples of art.

They could be artefacts from throughout history in which.

This example is a vase.

It could be science, we've chosen rocks, but it could be all sorts of different things.

It could be different aspects of scientific exploration, so it could be about space exploration.

It could be about rocks.

It could be even thinking about materials that have developed over time.

Could be a whole variety of different things with regards to science.

And then there's animals, so we could think about Natural History Museum, for example, where you might have galleries that are full of animal bones or animals with whole animal skeletons, or they could be models, or a whole variety of different things.

And usually, a gallery has the same sorts of animals within a gallery room.

So those are different artefacts that we could actually have within our museum gallery.

Check for understanding now, what is a museum artefact? Is it A, a snack you can eat at a museum, B, a person who works at a museum, C, an object displayed in a museum, or D, a room in a museum? What is a museum artefact? Is it A, B, C, or D? Well done.

That's right.

It's an object displayed in a museum.

Now, artefacts in a museum gallery, they're often very old and very, very valuable.

So these artefacts need to be protected, but they've also got to be seen by visitors.

And it's getting that balance right.

What do we need to protect the artefacts, and what do we need to make sure that people who are coming to the museum can actually see them? So have a look at these two pictures here.

How have these artefacts been protected, but they can also be seen.

So let's look at the first one, this is an example of a whale being in a museum, a whale skeleton.

How has it been protected? But how can visitors actually see it? And then on the right-hand side, we've got a spacesuit there.

How has that been protected? But also how are people able to actually still see this? In your class, just have a quick discussion about this now, and we'll come back and think about the answers.

Okay, let's go through each one.

And I really hope you've come up some great ideas about how you think these are being protected, but also seen.

I've just put down some ideas, but let's go with the first one, let's go with the whale.

So the whale, this is suspended from the ceiling, so it's out of reach, people can't reach it.

So it is protected because it's kept out of reach, but it's also visible, so visitors can see it from below.

There might be a second level, where they can see it from a gallery, for example.

But either way, it's visible, but it's also out of reach and protected.

Still needs cleaning, it still needs looking after, but it's not likely to get damaged.

The spacesuit now, be interesting to hear, to think about what your ideas were, but firstly, it's protected because it's behind glass.

So the artefact is enclosed in a whole glass case, but because it's quite central and there's glass all around it, the vision can be all around and people can see it all the way around.

And even more importantly, the low-level access for everyone to be able to see it is really important.

Check for understanding now.

So which of these are examples of keeping museum artefacts safe, but also seen? So which of these helps protect the artefacts, but also allows 'em to be visible? Is it A, glass cases and suspended from ceilings, B, glass cases and locked cabinets, C, locked cabinets and suspended from ceilings, or D, underground storage and locked cabinets? Which of these is best for museum artefacts to be safe, but also seen? That's right.

Well done.

It's glass cases and suspended from ceilings.

And if you remember, those are the examples that we used before.

Glass cases and locked cabinets, well, locked cabinets, if they're locked cabinets, we can't really see inside them.

And if it's underground storage, again, it can't be seen.

Now, some museums actually do have a vast underground storage, but what they do is, they swap over exhibits and artefacts from time to time.

So they bring things out from the underground storage, purely because sometimes museums are too small to have actually be able to show everything that they've actually got in their collections, and that's why they change things around.

But for the keeping things safe and also seen, glass cases and suspended ceilings are best.

Now, some museums want the artefacts to be interacted with.

So we've talked so far about things being incredibly valuable and to be kept safe and protected.

But some museums are actually very interactive and want you to actually touch and use and feel the different exhibits and artefacts.

So an example might be a practical bridge-building exercise or maybe making paper helicopters, or paper aeroplanes , and then testing them.

And these are things that you quite often see in some museums. These examples are all from a science museum, which is about learning about forces and structures, and allowing hands-on experiences, and that's another type of museum.

Now, when designing a museum gallery like this, artefacts are gonna be used again and again might also need to be considered.

So, for example, in this picture, the artefact might be that paper aeroplane rower, if you like, the example where you put the paper aeroplane in, and then you press the button, and then it shoots it off, and the aim is try to get it through the hoops.

Well, that artefact needs to be used again and again and again.

But how do we actually look after that? It could be also, where do we put the paper? What do we need to do? So things that we need to consider are, where are things going to be stored, and how can they be used again and again? Now, the thing that won't be used again and again might be the actual paper.

So how do we store the paper? But how do we also store and use again and again the actual devices to throw the paper aeroplanes ? Right.

Time for you to do some work now.

So this is task A.

So first of all, there's two parts of this task.

Number one, discuss which museum artefact or artefacts are gonna go into your museum gallery.

So you've thought about the museum gallery, but what are you actually going to put inside it? Of course, that might mean you might need to make some changes if you think of other artefacts.

But really carefully think and list maybe a few artefacts that you are going to put in.

Secondly, I want you to talk about how you're actually gonna make them, what tools and what materials you're gonna use.

So we might be wanting to do, let's say, a dinosaur skeleton, but actually, how are you gonna make that? What are you gonna make it out of? Remember, we are making a prototype, so this needs to be out of easy-to-use and cheap materials.

So what could you make it out of? Let's say you're trying to make an aeroplane, how are you going to do that? What about if you were doing some Bronze Age artefacts, what are you gonna make them out of? How are you going to make them look special? How are you going to present them, and how are you gonna display them? Lots of things for you to talk about here.

So, without further ado, I'm gonna stop talking, I'm gonna let you get on, and let you come up with all your ideas about, number one, what artefacts you're gonna have, and number two, what are you gonna make them out of, what do you think might be easy? And we're gonna come up with some ideas within the feedback and in the next lesson cycle.

So have a think, have a discussion, see what you come up with.

Right.

Welcome back.

Sure, you've come up with some fabulous ideas now, and you've got a whole range of different artefacts you're going to use, and you've actually thought about how you're gonna make them.

So Alex and Sophia talked about the different museum artefacts they were going to have in their museum gallery and where they wanted to put them.

They then had different ideas about what materials they wanted to use.

So, Alex, he wanted to use some card and felt tips to make some paintings that are gonna go in his art gallery.

Sophia, she wants to use some modelling clay to make some pots and some masks.

Maybe you came up with those ideas, maybe you came up with something slightly different.

Onto learning cycle two now.

Now, we're gonna be thinking about museum artefact prototypes.

So how can we make the museum prototypes? Now, as you probably discussed in learning cycle one, museum artefact models for the gallery prototype can be made from different materials, and it really depends upon what you are trying to make.

Now, in theory, you could make everything from card, but some objects are really challenging to actually do that, unless we just do a picture.

Now, Alex has thought that he wants to make paintings, and he's gonna use card because it's easy to draw them, and it's also easy to join them onto the gallery, because card being glued to card is quite a simple joining technique.

And remember, this is a prototype we are making, it's supposed to be simple, simple joining and simple materials.

Sophia wants to make pots and masks from modern clay because it's easy to mould them into different shapes.

The pots and masks, they're quite tricky to do in card, you can do them, but actually using some modelling clay is actually quite a nice way of doing it.

And we're gonna be talking about modelling clay in a minute.

Now, for prototypes, designers want to use materials that are quick and easy to shape.

So recycled card, mixed materials, like foil, for example, they can be effective for flat and rectangular objects.

I mean you can use foil and scrunch it up, and mould it in, and sculpt it.

But we tend to use these for fairly flat objects.

Air-dry modelling clay, however, can be used to mould and create all different sorts of shapes, and it actually can be used many times, as long as we get the right version.

And we're gonna talk about how air-dry modelling clay works.

Now, before we do that, check for understanding, which materials are best used to make a model museum artefact? Is it A, card, B, modelling clay, C, glass, or D, tissue paper, which are best used to make a model museum artefact? That's right.

Well done.

Card and modelling clay are probably best used for this.

Glass is very unlikely to be used.

Tissue paper, it's very useful for decorating, you can make some things out of it, but actually, it's quite tricky and can be quite messy.

Now, let's talk about air-dry modelling clay.

Now, that's a material that can actually be reused.

Now, it's got water in it, and that's what keeps it soft and easy to shape.

But once the clay has been shaped, let's say you're making a vase, and you shape the clay into a vase shape, and you are happy with it, if you leave it, then the water slowly evaporates into the air, and that's what makes it quite hard, or at least retains its shape, and means you can't remould it.

And what happens here is that the clay particles stick together, and they become hard.

Now, you might be thinking, "Well, how do we reuse the air-dry modelling clay?" Well, adding small amounts of water afterwards.

Let's say you want to make the vase bigger, or you want to use the air-dry modelling clay for something completely different, just a few small amounts, few drops, of water will then put the water back into the air-dry modelling clay, which makes it moldable again, and it makes it easy to shape again.

So this material can be used again and again.

Now, it can be shaped in different ways to create different effects.

There's many different tools that you can actually have, but you can roll it, you could use by hand, you could actually start making shapes by using it by hand, which is probably what you are mainly going to be doing.

And you can also decorate it with various different tools.

That's just one example of a tool there that's gonna create a nice pattern.

Check for understanding now.

So how can air-dry modelling clay be used again and again? Is it A, adding small amounts of earth, B, adding small amounts of air, C, adding small amounts of heat, or D, adding small amounts of water? A, B, C, or D? That's right, it's adding small amounts of water.

Adding small amounts of water allows the modelling clay to be made pliable and moldable again.

Right, going back to thinking about what sorts of objects we can create.

So air-dry modelling clay can create lots of different objects, and you need to think very carefully 'cause, actually, you don't need to use a lot of air-dry modelling clay to actually create quite a lot of artefacts.

So you might want to do some artwork.

Here, there's a white background, and that's been rolled out, and then we've got three small blobs of colour that have actually been put into rectangles and then placed on top.

Natural objects, now, to make this, this plant, a bowl was created out of some orange air-dry modelling clay, a bit of brown modelling clay was put in for the soil, and then three different types of green were actually rolled and then used to actually create this plant.

Very, very small amounts.

It's really important that you don't use too much.

You don't actually need to use a lot of air-dry modelling clay to be able to make some really good objects.

Pottery, this is a small amount of brown clay that's actually been moulded into the shape of a jug.

And then using some of the tools have actually created some decoration around the edge.

And this is a book, so you can make books, tiny piece of white with a tiny piece of green that's actually been rolled out and flattened, and then shaped around the white.

Very, very simple.

I'm sure you can think of much better ways of doing this.

These are just some examples.

But you've gotta think about how are you going to use your air-drying modelling clay if you're going to use that, indeed, to actually create something, which leads us onto the task.

So the first thing is to choose the materials and tools you're gonna make.

Now, you might choose to make your museum artefacts out of card, in which case, you've gotta think, "Okay, I need card, but what else do I need?" Probably scissors.

And you also need some sort of joining technique as well.

And then with air-dry modelling clay, if you're using that, you've gotta think, "Okay, what pieces am I going to need? What colours am I going to need? How am I going to make sure that I keep them fairly separate, if that's what I need? And also, how am I gonna shape them, is it gonna be by hand, or rather any tools that I actually need?" Second part is, once you've decided what you need, you then need to go ahead and make it.

So can you make your museum artefacts from either mixed materials and/or air-dry modelling clay? Because you might find that some of your artefacts, you'll want to make out of cart, and some of your artefacts, you'll want to use air-dry modelling clay.

Third thing is to add your artefacts to the museum gallery.

Now, you've gotta think about how you're going to join those together.

So it might be that you'll need some PVA glue to actually glue them on, or it might be that when you are using air-dry modelling clay, you might have to make sure that it does stand on its own, so that it can be placed very carefully.

Another option might be to use double-sided tape, that could be an option to keep some things in place, but just try to stick to nice, simple things.

Remember, this is a prototype.

We are trying to look for simple ways to represent this museum gallery.

Right.

I'm gonna stop talking now.

I'm gonna let you get on with this.

So, remember, one, choose materials and tools you're gonna use.

Two, make your artefacts.

And number three, add them to your museum gallery.

This is lots of fun.

I'm sure you're gonna have a fabulous time doing this.

I would love to be able to see some of the pictures of what you're actually going to be doing.

I'm sure you're gonna be doing a fabulous job.

Right.

Off you go, and enjoy.

Okay, so Alex of Sophia, who've been working with us through this lesson today, they made their artefacts, and they put them in their museum gallery prototype.

So Alex made some paintings, and he glued them to the walls.

Sophia, she used some air-dry modelling clay to make some pots and masks.

She left them out to dry 'cause that needed a bit of time.

And then she put them on display cases and some card stands.

So she put some in display cases that she'd made in her museum gallery prototype, and some she put on some cardboard stands that she'd made.

Both are really good examples of how to make the artefacts and put them in the museum gallery.

I'm sure you've done a really good job as well, and I hope you've enjoyed doing this.

It's a really nice practical task, this one.

And now you should have a finished museum gallery prototype with the artefacts inside.

So well done.

You've worked incredibly hard.

And I'm sure you've done a fabulous job.

And let's go through the summary, first thing to say is that artefacts are objects that are displayed in a museum gallery.

Artefacts need to be protected, but also be seen by visitors.

For prototypes, designers want to use materials that are quick and easy to shape.

Air-dry modelling clay hardens when it's left out in the air.

And air-dry modelling clay is a material that can be reused again and again.

Thank you very much for being with me today.

I hope you've had a fabulous day and you've really enjoyed today's lesson.

And I look forward to working with you next time.