Interactive Virtual Learning Programs

Dating with Style

China’s Material Culture

Students learn how archeologists use style analysis to identify when an artifact was made. Students take a close look at three distinct dynasties from ancient China and learn about the artistic styles that represent each period. Then, they are challenged to closely observe replica artifacts and determine when they were made.

*Program Materials: Paper and writing utensils

Coins in the Ancient World

Coins can do more than make you wealthy! Discover more about the materials, symbols, and making process of coins to learn more about the messages they carry. Through interactive conversations, students will discuss coins they see in their lives. Together they will assist our Museum educator in creating a ‘class coin’ live, as students work on their own coin with a design that sends a message meant to be seen by the world!

*Program Materials: Paper, writing utensils, scissors, and tape/glue

Daily Life in Ancient Rome

Embark on a virtual tour of a lavish Roman home to learn how to speak and write the real Latin terms for each room. Students will look closely at classical artifacts that would have been used inside the house to better understand the day-to-day lives of ancient Romans.

Preparing for Eternity

False Doors

What did the inside of an ancient Egyptian tomb look like? What did people take with them into the afterlife? Students learn about hieroglyphs, tomb offerings, and false doors—ancient Egyptian passageways between the worlds of the living and the dead. Students then create their own false doors by drawing hieroglyphs, ancient Egyptian art motifs, and the things they’d take to the afterlife.

*Program Materials: Paper, ruler, and writing utensils

Mummy Makers

Ever wonder how and why the ancient Egyptians mummified their dead? See how ancient Egyptian embalmed and prepared mummies for their journey to the afterlife! Using interactive demonstrations, students will explore mummification through each step of the process, including brain removal, evisceration, desiccation, and wrapping. This workshop uses realistic mummies as props.

Making a Lasting Impression

Discover what life was like in ancient Mesopotamia through the study of cylinder seals. These tiny stone artifacts function as the earliest known signatures, with names and images that tell us about the identities of ancient people. Students will create their own cylinder seal registers using pictures to represent what makes them unique.

*Program Materials: Paper and writing utensils

Mesopotamia

Journey to the City

Vividly explore the ‘cradle of civilization’ through artifacts from the earliest settlements, temples, and royal tombs. Learn how ancient Mesopotamian societal practices gave rise to the world’s first cities through investigation of Penn’s archaeological digs. Investigate some of Mesopotamia’s innovations: writing, law code, and professionalization of labor. Through interactive conversations, students discover how these ancient cities, in many ways, were not very different from their own.

*Program Materials: Worksheet and pencil

Can You Match That X-Ray?

Do you have the eye to preserve archaeological discoveries? Learn how scientists use technology and observation to reveal what lies under the wrappings of mummies! Then test your skills with a matching game that requires students to closely study x-rays of animal mummies in the Penn Museum!

Preserving the Past

How is science used to preserve ancient artifacts? Investigate the science of deterioration and preservation by walking through the real treatment of an ancient Egyptian funerary object in the Penn Museum collection. Participants practice the basics of conservation to simulate how the Museum cares for and learns from ancient artifacts.

Virtual International Classroom Programs

Bring experts with first-hand knowledge of archaeology, cultures, and global perspectives to your students. Learn more about virtual International Classroom programs and their fascinating speakers.