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Step into the shoes of a farmer for a day at London Farm. This outdoor adventure is all about fun and learning how we give and take from nature, from past to present. Students will discover which fruits and vegetables that can grow in Richmond and why; find the best tool for planting potatoes; make some discoveries about chickens; and re-enact a busy-bee! Prepare for a program full of laughter, exploration, and a growing love for the earth. Each junior farmer will take home a small seed pot planted by themselves, ready to watch it grow, and be cared for.

For younger students in pre-school and kindergarten, a one-hour program will include an egg-citing egg hunt in a small area of the heritage farm.

How do Indigenous peoples enact their rights to their cultural belongings held in museums? How are they changing museums through activism, public discourse and evolving relationships?

In this program, students will tour selected cultural belongings and artworks by Indigenous artists, exploring themes of Indigenous self-determination and ethical dimensions of museum practice. Following the tour, students will visit the MOA Learning Lab and engage in a hands-on activity of the teacher’s choosing.

Teachers can choose either:

• An art making activity where students creatively imagine the future of museums, informed by the artist and knowledge keeper perspectives shared during the tour.
• An inquiry-based activity where students investigate and think critically about works from the touchable teaching collection.

Please note a required in-class activity must be completed prior to this program. See Teachers’ Notes for activity details. 

To book this program, please submit a booking request.

How can we learn from cultural belongings and artworks? What can these works reveal about the people connected to them?

In this program, students will enjoy a guided gallery tour spotlighting belongings and artworks that embody rich, diverse stories and histories. Students will be invited to make observations, inferences, and reflections about how these works inspire learning and inquiry. Following the tour, students will visit the MOA Learning Lab and engage in a hands-on activity of the teacher’s choosing.

Teachers can choose either:

• An artmaking activity where students reflect on how their personal belongings represent their own stories, histories and experiences.
• An object-based learning activity where students investigate belongings from the touchable teaching collection.

To book this program, please submit a booking request.

The VHEC's teaching exhibition In Focus: The Holocaust through the VHEC Collection introduces students to the history of the Holocaust with reference to primary source artefacts belonging to Holocaust survivors and victims. Led by a VHEC museum educator, the exhibition tour covers topics such as pre-war Jewish life, antisemitism, the rise of Nazism, Jewish refugees, rescue, resistance and post-war life. Over 90 artefacts donated by local Holocaust survivors are on view in this exhibition, each of which tells a poignant and unique story of Jewish life during the Holocaust. Students are given the opportunity for hands-on examination of select artefacts including personal letters, toys, photos, propaganda and other items. Tours include a workshop featuring survivor video testimonies and short films. On view until June 2024. Book now: https://www.vhec.org/school-programs/exhibition-tours/

On your last walk through nature, what did you notice? What did you wonder? In this program students will explore the connections between living things within their local environment (Kingdom Plantae). They will learn the connection between science and our communities and how they can begin to identify plants in their everyday lives. Students will learn some of the key identifiers of each sub-category in the Kingdom Plantae and use these skills on a nature walk. This information can then be used in the classroom to further investigate plants and find connections between plants, and between people and nature.

Grades: 2-7              Length: 1.5 – 2 hours                Maximum group size: 30 students

Program Components:

• Introduction to Kingdom Plantae
• Explore and observe nature by going on a nature walk
• Practice observation skills through different activities
• Make connections between science and our communities
• This program starts with a 20-minute presentation inside, then takes place mostly outside.

Click here to see how this program supports BC’s curriculum for Grades 2-7.

Click here for the pre-visit activity for River Champions Grades 2-7.

Explore the Britannia Shipyards National Historic Site through the lens of innovation, and how things have changed throughout the history of fishing and boatbuilding in Steveston. Students will engage in four different interactive stations with themes ranging from innovation in recycling, resources, and communications. These concepts will then be discussed and applied to a boatbuilding activity, with each student making their own wooden boat model to bring home.