THE MUSEUM

Te Ao Hou, June 1961, Page 10

THE MUSEUM The two hours in the museum were far too short. It was here that so very many things we talked about at school could be actually seen; and seeing, for our pupils, is so terribly important, it is so very much the main method of communication. However, the education officer at the museum provided as many experiences as he could in those two short hours. There was constant pressure to get the children to move from one showcase to the next. Wisely, our instructor told the children to put away their notebooks; otherwise we would never have finished our programme at all. The children loved browsing through a room, noting objects of special significance to them, and asking questions. One of them discovered a piece of quartz containing gold; just the sort of quartz we had discussed when we passed the gold mine at Waihi. When we reached the Pacific section a pupil asked to be shown a breadfruit. Many congregated about anything connected with fish. The Maori collection, saved until the end of the visit, was studied with great interest. So was Rajah the elephant.