Secondary workshops

Decoding Diversity: Investigating the crew of the Mary Rose

Who were the crew of the Mary Rose? How can we use cutting edge science to help learn more about the past?

Our brand new workshop for Sept 2024 explores the diversity and difference that was present in the crew of the Mary Rose. Pupils will explore archaeological and scientific sources of evidence for the past, working just like the curators and staff of the museum. Utilising the isotope and DNA analysis that was undertaken as part of a Channel 4 documentary in 2019, activities in this workshop include object handling, costumes, and an introduction to DNA coding.

What skills does this workshop cover?

• The development of Church, state, and society in Britain, 1509 – 1745, including the wider impact on society, culture and economics as a whole.
• Understanding diverse national, regional, religious and ethnic identities in the UK
• Working using a rigorous scientific method to evaluate real life questions and make judgements
• Exploring ideas about inheritance, heredity, and variation in individuals.

Dive the Mary Rose: 500 years of Technology and Change

Our 4D cinema is one of the highlights of a visit to the Mary Rose Museum, telling the story of how we found and excavated the ship.

This accompanying workshop is the perfect way to learn about that incredible achievement and explore key scientific concepts in a practical and engaging way. Pupils will discover the technological and scientific advances that have been made since the Mary Rose sank, explore the methods used in past attempts to salvage the ship, and be challenged to use key engineering and design skills to make their own machines to ‘raise the Mary Rose’. What materials will they choose? Whose design will prove most successful?

What skills does this workshop cover?

• Planning different types of scientific enquiries to answer questions, including recognising and controlling variables where necessary.
• Exploring the effects of levers, pulleys and simple machines on movement and exploring the forces involved.
• Understand and use mechanical systems.
• Discovering ideas of technological and scientific change over time in post-war British society.

Tudor Gun Drill

Have you got what it takes to be part of a gun crew? Can you work as a team to defend England against the French?

This is a two-part challenge.

Part 1: Make your own strategic plan to conquer the English or defend Portsmouth from the French invasion.

Part 2: Learn to dismantle, load and fire one of our Tudor guns, working as a team under the Gun Captain!  You must listen to instructions and follow orders, but how easy is this on a dark, noisy warship?

What skills does this workshop cover?

• Opportunities to participate in team challenges to demonstrate key listening and communication skills.
• Introduce a range of specialised and unfamiliar vocabulary.
• To provide a stimulus for imaginative and creative writing.
• Explore characteristic features of Tudor warfare and local history.

History Mystery

Can you solve the historical mystery of the Mary Rose? How do historians learn about the past?

A historical enquiry workshop for pupils to develop key skills: analysing sources, using archaeological evidence, and constructing rigorous arguments. They examine written accounts, archaeological evidence from the excavation of the Mary Rose, and analyse replica objects. Pupils consider the significance of the Mary Rose as a whole and communicate how it contributes to social and cultural history.

What skills does this workshop cover?

• The development of church, state, and society in Britain, 1509–1745, including the wider impact on society, culture and economics as a whole.
• Learning about a local historical site that reflects aspects of national history.
• Using evidence to investigate historical claims, discerning how contrasting arguments of the past have been interpreted and why.
• Stimulating healthy debates and using critical thinking when approaching different sources of information throughout history.

What sank the Mary Rose?

What are the theories behind the sinking of the Mary Rose? A practical investigation into the potential causes.

A practical STEM session that combines historical inquiry with scientific experimentation to uncover the most likely reasons for the sinking of the Mary Rose. Was it unstable or overloaded? Was it a design flaw? Which factors combined to cause this disaster? Pupils test predictions relating to stability and the load-bearing capacity of the models and use scientific and historic evidence to support or refute theories.

What skills does this workshop cover?

• Ability to pursue historically valid enquiries and create relevant, structured and evidentially supported accounts in response.
• An understanding of different types of historical and archaeological evidence and how contrasting arguments and interpretations of the past have been created.
• Asking questions and developing a line of enquiry based on observations of the real world, and making predictions using scientific knowledge and understanding.
• Interpreting observations and data, including identifying patterns and using observations, measurements and data to draw conclusions, and positing further enquiries.

The Tudor Surgeon

Using the very latest scientific evidence from the Mary Rose including artefacts and the human remains of her crew, we will explore the world of the Surgeon!

The Surgeon would draw upon centuries-old folk remedies as well as cutting-edge new sciences from across the globe. Pupils compare the knowledge in 1545 to modern medicine before guessing what the surgeon could and couldn’t do. Investigate how he was influenced by war, superstition, religion, governmental change, and developing medical expertise. Pupils consider how the pace and scale of medical knowledge changed over this time period, and the impact society and culture had on medical progress. Would the surgeon kill or cure the crew?

What skills does this workshop cover?

• How religion, economy and society shapes the approach to medicine and medical knowledge.
• Examining historical situations to create relevant, structured and evidentially supported accounts in response.
• Understanding continuity and change in English society and government.
• Exploring cause and consequence in areas including trade, religion, social difference, and warfare.