Royal+Australian+Mint

Royal Australian Mint Official Website

//with Kate Bailey, Amar Chauhan and Jacq Rolfe //

**Denison Street DEAKIN ACT 2600 ** **Opening hours: Monday to Friday 9am to 4pm ** **Saturday, Sunday and Public olidays 10am to 4pm ** **The Mint is closed on Christmas Day and Good Friday. Admission is free. **



[|ACT Heritage Library]

﻿**__Amar's synopsis of the Mint__** (Quality Teaching)

The Royal Australian Mint offers a variety of quality learning items. These quality learning items are audio/visual learning, props, literature displays and windows that overlook the factory where production takes place in coin making.

The audio/visual learning is displayed in a theatre like setting where there is an overhead projector that plays a video on The Royal Australian Mint. This video plays on repeat so the viewer can watch it more than once if they had missed any important information during the first viewing. Throughout the museum, there are also small LCD screens that have short video clips of topics/subjects of the Mint. These clips show how coins used to be made in the past and the revolution of the Australian coin. The sharp brightness of the projector and LCD screens, the quality of the sound that the speakers put out will enable a richer learning environment for a student with audio or visual learning difficulty.

The Mint also offers learning that is displayed using literature. An example I can give you on this is displayed behind a clear glass showing coins, pennies, shillings, notes that the Australian currency had dating back from 1788 to today’s coins and notes. This is displayed in chronological order of year which explicitly informs the reader of coins, shillings and pennies that were circulating in the Australian economy.

Props are also displayed throughout the museum. These props are old and new machinery, circulating and non-circulation coins, one and two dollar notes, damaged coins during production, shillings, pennies that Australia held. The museum also offers live production of coin making where they can over look the factory showing robotic mechanical machinery and staff at work from a bird’s eye view.

I would recommend a visit to the Royal Australian Mint for a SOSE excursion. This is because it caters for a variety of learners offering a variety of visual and audio learning equipment. The only limitation that The Mint has is that it does not offer a personal tour guide.

 **__Kate's synopsis of the Mint__** (Linking to ACT Frameworks 2008 and follow up activities)

The Australian Mint centre can provide a link to many other curriculum areas when referring to exercises participated in the classroom setting. The Act Curriculum “Every Chance to Learn” has essential learning achievements. Almost all of these subjects can be incorporated into classroom activities for example:

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Social Science <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">**ELA 21:** //Understands about Australia and Australians// <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">The Australian Mint is predominantly about Australian currency and how it has evolved over time. The Australian Mint provides visual examples of what the money looked like in different eras and how it was used. For instance, a coin in a certain era could be cut into quarters to divide the coins value to suit your needs. This can be taken further by allowing students to question why this was so and why we have changed this ability to cut money into it being illegal to change money or alter it in a damaging way. By students actively asking these question the will become more informed of the history of economics in Australia.

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">**ELA 24:** //Makes informed decisions about money and finance// <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">By visiting the Australian Mint students would have a first hand account of how people use to use their money, how it was made (both historically and currently) and what currency is. This will then help them value money production. An example of an exercise that could be used in the classroom is for students to make their own currency of (made up) money and then role play using the money.

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Technology <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">**ELA 25:** //Designs, makes and appraises using technology// <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">The Mint has an array of displays expressing the design process. For instance, the Mint has multiply sketches of what the imprint on a specific coin will have, then a final drawing is chosen, then a mould is made of the imprint and then tested and the a final product is selected to be reproduced. This process is an effective way to engage students in the design make and appraise process. Again this can be modified for a classroom activity where students will design their own coin imprint, make it and appraise the design using computer resources to construct the coin on screen.

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Mathematics <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">**ELA 16:** //Understands and applies number// <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Using the various coin and note currency students are able to take this knowledge back into the classroom, where the teacher can then organise a maths activity sheet or group work that allows the students to use their number skills to work out costs of various currencies.

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Overall the Australian Royal Mint has many beneficial links to curriculum areas. There are many historical objects such as machinery used in the early production of coins through to modern currencies today. It is a good learning experience that informs students of Australia and how we have evolved over time. Although, the Mint is a small facility it is can still be used as a great learning resource. One thing that should be accounted for before embarking on this tour is that it is teacher guided with little to no involvement from the Mints staff. In response to being aware of this it is recommended that teachers visit the Mint first. Then write down any details that they wish to emphasise to their students. Furthermore, teachers may also like to create a small map so that the teachers can guide her or his students through the museum so as to effectively manage the class, and ensure students take with them new knowledge.

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;"> **__Jacq's synopsis of the Mint__** (Suggested approach to an excursion at the Mint)

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">The Royal Australian Mint is a prominent tourist attraction and historical feature. It is also guaranteed to be included on any excursion itinerary from schools visiting locally, state-wide and internationally. There are several quality features of the Mint that validate its importance for being included. There are historical insights into Australian coins, coin making machinery and the function of both within the Australian economy. There is also broader social science, technological and mathematical components to the Australian Mint, making it a decent cross curricular venue for educators to show their students.

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Through observing the Mint, which involved witnessing a tour bus of students come in and go through the site, I would certainly caution Teachers and Educators to be mindful of student engagement and interest levels during the excursion. The Mint was refurbished last year and the resources are well presented. It has also been designed so that tours can occur constantly and continually during opening hours, taking pressure off any possible time constraints while giving ample room for inquiry based learning, as groups are free to deliberate and move on to different points of information at their own pace. However, the audio/visual presentation still manages to come across as a tad stale and dated, and interactive props displayed are really not that stimulating or interactive at all. Many of the operating machines that make the coins were not being utilised at the time of our visit and those that were seemed to hold the students interest for only a few moments.

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">The particular group we saw was being led by a young female teacher who was seen to be checking her facebook via an iPhone while the children wandered around, some disinterestedly and some running around in a mad dash. It would be worth planning a trip to the Mint well in advance, visiting the venue beforehand and planning ahead what information you would like to draw to the students attention and in what order. An idea might be to create a questionnaire, where students have to investigate information provided in order to find their answers, or maybe write a story about what most interests them, using as much correct data in their piece as possible. With a bit of foresight and planning, the Mint would be a good place to take students for an educational experience, but I wouldn’t rely on it as a place where you can just wing it and assume the learning will do itself.

** Exploring the Royal Australian Mint ** // An educational experience for all // // Belinda Sapteski & Kathryn Withers // <span style="display: block; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: center;">On Arrival at the Royal Australian Mint you are greeted with a welcome message describing what you will observe, discover and experience during your time at the Mint. <span style="display: block; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: center;">In the foyer you have the opportunity to gain an understanding of the history or currency with original artefacts displayed alongside. One such display shows the evolution of currency and coins which displays the earliest coins that were manufactured. It is interesting to see how the pre roman coins that were on display differ from the coins we use today. //**__Roman, English and Colonian 'Coin' Artefacts__**//

<span style="display: block; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: center;">As you go through the mint you have the chance to make your own $1 coin. To do this you insert $3 in the slot and watch you own $1 coin being made. Not only do you get your own special coin but the coin celebrates 100 years of Australian coinage. Here are photos of the machine that creates your coin and the created coin.

<span style="display: block; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: center;">The gift shop also sells booklets and magazines that would be useful classroom resources.

<span style="display: block; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: center;">As you go up the stairs the next level offers a variety of educational information such as the historical periods of currency, the mint’s evolving story, the gold rush (and how it affected materials used to produce coins) and the first australian currency. Students can freely attend the education theatre that offers a looped video about the mint and it’s function in Australian society. As you proceed through the display you are able to compare the old machines to the new modern machinary that you can view being operated on a daily basis through observatory glass. Not only can you see the difference in the machinary but how Australian coins have changed over the years and how they compare to coins from different countries. <span style="display: block; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: center;">In experiencing the mint you not only discover the history of currency and how and why it is needed but also the odd mistakes and unique collectors coins that the mint specialises in. Here are some photos of ones we found interesting.

<span style="display: block; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: center;">An excursion to the Royal Australian Mint is a valuable resource for Social and Environmetal education as it provides opportunities to explore and discover not only from a historical point of view but provides the beginning understanding of how money can effect society.