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Education Services |

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Research Services |

Tour |

Video Tour |

About Us |

Contact Us

  Venue Information

    at Dartmoor Life

Teachers’ Resources

and Links

Visits Information

and Booking Form

  Venue Information

    at Dartmoor Life

Teachers’ Resources

and Links

Visits Information

and Booking Form

These resources help to support a school visit to Dartmoor Life museum, providing activities for use in school and at the museum.  The main purpose is to offer sources of historical evidence, with the intention of developing historical skills and encouraging discussion.

Some of the documents listed on this page are stored in PDF (Portable Document Format).

To read these files your computer needs to have a copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader.  

If necessary, download Adobe Acrobat Reader - Click here

1. National Curriculum and QCA links

The Museum of Dartmoor Life, like any museum, essentially offers a cross-curricular experience for school visits, with broad opportunities for speaking and listening, discussion and the analysis and interpretation of a wide range of evidence.  The main subject links are in History, particularly Victorian Britain and Local History. During the visit, pupils can use historical skills including chronological understanding, historical interpretation and historical enquiry.

In the Dartmoor Industries gallery there are further opportunities for Science.  There are links to the Design and Technology curriculum through an exploration of the theme of product design – objects designed to meet a specific need or solve a problem, also developing, planning and communicating ideas.  Early technology is perfect for simplifying studies like this, especially as materials are usually familiar and workings visible.

2. Background information

The Museum’s ‘Trail of Discovery’ characters give information about Okehampton people from Roman times to the 1960s.

3. Dartmoor stories

There are many stories about Dartmoor and we have collected four of the best known here – The Great Thunderstorm of 1638, Jay’s Grave, Bowerman’s Nose and the Legend of Childe’s Tomb.

Download them as a   Word document (459kB)   or   PDF (287kB).

4. Documents

This set of 5 photos gives a glimpse of some of the themes in the museum. Besides the reproduction of the photos, the files contain questions for discussion and teachers’ notes.  Suitable for Key Stages 2 and 3.

Document 1 - Schoolchildren watching a meet of Mid-Devon Hounds at Spreyton in 1907.  Download it as a   Word document (345kB)   or   PDF (168kB).

Document 2 - Miners at Ramsley Copper Mine, South Tawton,

c.1905.

Download it as a   Word Document (632kB)

or  PDF (260kB).

5. Objects

These three activities use objects found in the museum.

1. Design a crest

Download it as a   Word document (235kB)   or   PDF (121kB).

2. Victorian sampler

Download it as a   Word document (477kB)   or   PDF (218kB).

3. Copybook writing

Download it as a   Word document (378kB)   or   PDF (161kB).

6. Resources for use in the museum

1. Children’s Fun Trail

you can download a copy of the museum’s trail here, which provides a sheet of creative, fun activities for children aged 7-11.

Download it as a   Word document (26kB)   or   PDF (66kB).

2. Discussion trails for use in the galleries

Three trails with gallery plans, set out as teachers’ notes with points for discussion.

Sounds- exploring the museum with younger children, thinking about the sounds that are associated with the objects, from medieval bells to the scratching of pen on paper, from the World War II siren to the hiss of the blacksmith’s red-hot horseshoe.

Materials- museums are full of materials!  This trail explores the qualities of different materials for various uses, from building Bronze Age huts to shaping Victorian hand-tools or stamping a medieval penny coin.

Strange contraptions- exploring why objects were designed as they were.  The trail asks what problem an object was designed to solve and encourages discussion about how problems in earlier times were different to those of today, which is why they designed different tools.

Download it as a   Word document (282kB)   or   PDF (278kB).

Teachers’ Resource Pack written by

Robin Clutterbuck

of

White Rook Projects,

who may be contacted through the museum.

Download the information as a   Word document (809kB)   or   PDF (640kB).

(NB: A broadband connection would require little time for each of these downloads.

A 56k dial-up connection would require more time - about:  110 secs; — 90 secs.)

Further information about Dartmoor’s history and industries is available as downloadable PDF files from Dartmoor National Park. There are individual sheets on the history (148kB) of Dartmoor, farming (227kB), and tin mining (220kB).  

Document 3 - Okehampton Market Day, 1909.  Includes Doccument 3a - a list of tolls for Okehampton Market from a display in the museum.

Download it as a   Word document (540kB)   or   PDF (290kB).

Document 4 - Workers in the Women’s Land Army during the Second World War, including Mrs Valance, Hatherleigh.

Download it as a   Word document (235kB)   or   PDF (146kB).

Document 5 - Blowing up West Bridge, Okehampton, 1957.  There are no teachers’ notes with this document.  The photo is more suitable for creative work (e.g. accounts, paintings) than evidence activities.  However, it could be used for discussion about reasons for development and safe ways to demolish structures (note that the blast has been directed away from nearby buildings).

Download it as a   Word document (295kB)   or   PDF (133kB).