The Lake Wendouree Museum Education Program
The Lake Wendouree Museum Education program aims to make the lake and the museum an integral part of the curriculum in every school in Ballarat and district and to encourage visitors from far and wide. This great resource on our doorstep is under-utilised because nobody has up until now collected or co-ordinated all the ideas and activities which teachers have developed to use it.
This web site has been developed to serve that purpose and eventually host ideas spanning all areas of the curriculum and all year levels.
The Lake Wendouree Museum is about the past but its future lies in the contribution the community makes to it. We hope you will visit, bring your students and your imagination.
Arranging a School Visit to The Lake Wendouree Museum:
The museum is open to schools by appointment. You can arrange an excursion time to suit you by contacting:
Sandy d’Helin
Phone: 5331 4061
Email: stratg@netconnect.com.au
The museum space is not large; it will take a maximum of 16 students comfortably. If you have a larger group it is best to split the group and arrange activities to do both in the museum and outside around the lake, in rotation.
PLEASE NOTE: It is not presently possible to view the Golden City Paddle Steamer as it is undergoing extensive renovation away from the lake.
The cost per student is $1.50
There is no charge for supervising teachers.
An invoice will be forwarded.
Download these notes: You can download a PDF version of these notes by clicking here.
What’s in the museum?
- Where was the first public swimming pool in Ballarat located?
- Where did a Lord, a Princess and an Empress appear together regularly in Ballarat in the late 19th Century?
- Do you know which type of bird commonly seen around the lake can live up to 25 Years?
- Why is Mill Street called Mill Street?
- What did soap, candles, sugar and leather all have in common in Ballarat at the turn of the Century?
- Why didn’t people fish in Lake Wendouree until 1870?
- Before Europeans came to Ballarat, who used the lake as a meeting place?
- Do you know why during the 1956 Olympics all the events located on the lake were postponed on November 24th?
- Where was the Ballarat Zoo?
The answers to these and many other questions can be found in the Lake Wendouree Museum.