CHICKENOSAURUS + TOUR

Details

Available: Term 1 - Term 4 until May 2025

Levels: 7-12

Sessions: Tuesdays at 11am-2:15pm (with a 45min lunch break)

Duration: 3.25 hours

Capacity: 50 students (minimum 20 students)

Cost: A $50 education service fee applies to each booking plus a cost per student (subsidised cost for schools with an ICSEA rating <1050). All prices are inclusive of GST.

Cost per student: $20 Subsidised cost per student: $10

Join us for a half day experience consisting of two modules:

Module 1 - SCI-FI TOUR: Using their deep knowledge of the exhibition, Learning Experience Facilitators will introduce students to the key concepts and ideas, facilitate group discussions and activities, and prompt students to think critically about the works in SCI-FI.

Module 2 - CHICKENOSAURUS WORKSHOP: Enter a world inspired by the fictional (maybe soon to be factual) idea of the chickenosaurus – a theoretical experiment to reactivate ancient dinosaur genes in modern birds. We want you to pick up a pen, draw a chimera and get a little silly in an immersive art space designed to spark your imagination. Will your chimera be a seaguana? A wormsquito? A tigerphant? Once finished, we’ll consider whether bringing back these palaeobiological paradoxes of nature is a good idea, or one that’s better left dead and buried.

Key Themes: synthetic biology, de-extinction, eco-detachment, new life forms, genetic engineering, connecting to Country, ecosystems, hybrids, otherness, biodiversity, bionic life, evolution, ethics, and design.

Design a hypothetical creature using 3D-printed bones, draw their chimera, and consider whether to bring it back from extinction.
Investigate the structure, functions, and adaptations of their creature.
Explore ‘de-extinction’ through different bioethical approaches and concepts from multiple perspectives, including their own.
Make recommendations for bringing living things ‘back from extinction’.
Identify and connect the key themes and concepts explored in the exhibition through the facilitator-led tour of the transdisciplinary works.
Participate in facilitator-led group activities and discussions that prompt critical thinking and provoke curiosity.
Informally engage with university students – who make up our facilitator team - and learn about diverse post-school pathways.
Workshop
Victorian Curriculum 7-10: Science (biological science, science as human endeavour, communicating), Visual Arts (present and perform, respond and interpret)
Capabilities 7-10: Critical and Creative Thinking, Ethical Understanding
VCE: Biology Unit 2, Area of Study 3
Gallery Tour
Victorian Curriculum 7-10: Design and Technologies, Digital Technologies, Science, Visual Arts.
Capabilities 7-10: Critical and Creative Thinking, Ethical, Personal and Social Capability.