Hands on History
Hands on history, a selection of interactive resources that engage either yourself or your students so that they learn can about history by experiencing it.
Papyrus Classroom Kit 1
A set of 30 small papyrus pieces approximately the size of a business card, designed for students to practise writing on real papyrus from Egypt. Comes with instructions and a hieroglyphic alphabet sheet.
$18.85AUD plus P&H
Parchment Classroom Kit 1
A set of 30 small parchment pieces, designed for students to practise writing on real parchment from Turkey. Comes with instructions. Each piece is an odd shape as they are offcuts from the edge of the papyrus skins.
This parchment is made from goat skin.
Available in very limited numbers.
$18.85AUD plus P&H
Full Parchment #1
This is a full goatskin parchment and is ideal for teaching.
This particular skin I have intentionally had the parchment makers leave the last remnants of the hair side intact. This makes it ideal for teaching on how parchment is made. The inner flesh side is complete and ready for writing on.
average size is 700 x 800mm approximate.
$89.95AUD plus P&H
Reed Pen
Reed pens have been used in various forms for thousands of years. Most were simply made from reeds gathered from the field or river and others from the shaft of bamboo.
These reed pens are made in Morocco from bamboo with wide tips. Perfect for historic writing exercises.
$19.95AUD plus P&H
Forensic Skull Classroom Kit 1
A basic introduction to forensics in archaeology.
The student is presented with a replica skull (imagine it has just been removed from an excavation site).
The student is presented with worksheets in which he/she needs to use a series of identifiers to establish where on a scale the sex can be determined between male and female.
Each skull has some form of boney pathology and the student will need to try to establish cause of death if it is possible to do so.
$99.95AUD plus P&H
Pottery Handling Kit - Neolithic
A hands on activity for the classroom in which the students get to handle and examine original ancient pottery sherds.
These come from a deceased German lecturer's collection. They were excavated in the south German alps region and have been dated 4000 - 3400BC.
The kit includes 30 pieces.
This sis ideal for students to experience hands on ancient pottery. The teacher needs to have an understanding of ancient pottery.
$89.95AUD plus P&H
Roman Pottery Artefact Lab Kit
A set of three pottery cut cross sections plus three fine pottery slices mounted on microscope slides ready for examination.
An advanced collection that a teacher may use to teach students about ancient pottery especially the technical aspects of pottery inclusions and manufacture. The kit includes three pottery types from a British excavation. The teacher must understand ancient pottery/ceramics.
$89.95AUD okus P&H
Moveable Type Pieces
When teaching on the "History of Writing" one of the key components was the invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg. However it wasn't the invention of the printing press that was the revolution, as presses of various type were long available. It was the invention in the West of moveable type. The ability to create the letters and characters that make up the structure of a page turned a press into a device that could change the world, from handwritten manuscripts to high speed printing.
Today many students have no idea on how this invention changed the world but here is a small example that students can handle, in order to understand its effect.
2 pieces as as set - characters "H" and "C".
$14.95AUD plus P&H
Why interactive learning?
Interactive learning engages the senses. Over the twenty years that I have been engaging with teachers around the world as Historic Connections, I have heard time and time again how students better grasp the information being taught when they do "Hands on" learning.
Students who have struggled in class suddenly engage the subject and their behaviour changes. We all learn differently, however by engaging more of our senses our brain connects and retains the information much more effectively.
I have been instrumental in setting up such projects in schools here in Australia and have personally watched students engage on a much higher level.