Indigenous Inventions, Innovations, and Creativity

Instructor explaining collection item to students
Category
Onsite Lessons with Museum Educators
Duration
60 minutes
Audience
Educators, Indigenous Learning, Schools
Age
6-14
Grades
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, Kindergarten
Subjects
Art & Culture, Canada, Canadian & World Studies, History, Indigenous, Science & Technology, Social Sciences & Humanities, Social Studies, The Arts

About this lesson

A dynamic look at the diverse contributions of Indigenous Peoples highlighting innovation, creativity, and knowledge in areas like art, science, and design.

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This program explores extraordinary contributions from Indigenous Peoples from all over Turtle Island featured in art, sciences, technology, sport, and more. Through hands-on activities and discussions, students will gain a deeper appreciation for Indigenous cultures and their lasting impact on contemporary society. 

 

Delivery LanguageThis lesson is only offered in English.
Lesson Times10:30 AM, 12:15 PM
ActivitiesGallery Visit 
Galleries/Location

First Peoples Art & Culture

Possible gallery visits include: 
Earth’s Treasures  
Youth Mural  

FormatOnsite - Gallery Lesson 
Pricing$18.50/person (Free for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis students)
Minimum Group 15
Maximum Group35

Learning Goals

Understanding Indigenous contributions to technology, daily life, and art  

Celebrating innovation and creativity from Indigenous communities 

Demonstrating how specific contributions have shaped Canadian identity  

Learning at ROM

An Indigenous woman with long, dark hair and glasses stands by a museum case filled with belongings showing beadwork, quillwork, and other artistic traditions.

What makes these lessons unique is that they are taught by trained Indigenous Museum Educators with diverse areas of specialization, who develop individual lesson plans around set learning goals. 

This allows them the flexibility and adaptability to meet student interests and follow where their curiosity leads, respond to class needs and ever-changing conditions in the dynamic environment of a busy museum, and incorporate the latest teachings,  studies, pedagogies, and technologies. 

We also understand the value of learning from the real thing whenever possible, not relying exclusively on models and copies. Even in gallery lessons, educators take every opportunity to let your students engage in hands-on learning with something real that has its own history and stories to tell. 

These tested approaches to learning mean that you may never get the same lesson twice, but they will always be engaging, interactive, and memorable.

Highlights

A 68 cm model of a birch bark canoe, showing intricate and accurate details including spacers, paddles, and spruce root stitching the bark to the frame.
01
Two long wooden sticks that curve at the end. Within the curve, attaching to a point about midway down the stick, is a lattice of knotted strings made of hide.
02
Two snowshoes made of pale wood carved into an oblong shape with pointed ends.
03

Curriculum Connections

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