Project 5: School Museum – Class 6 Vocational Education Chapter 5 Notes & NCERT PDF

About the Project

Project 5: School Museum belongs to Part 3 – Work in Human Services, which is about serving people and interacting with them. In this project you learn about museums and artefacts, and create your own museum in school by collecting and describing artefacts.

Artefacts are objects made by humans that are old, unique and beautiful and related to our traditions and culture. They can be ancient or part of our lives today.

A museum is a place where artefacts are kept. Museums help us understand our history and culture.

Museums show what people wore, the work they did, their artwork (paintings, sculptures) and what they wrote (manuscripts). They also show present-day culture, traditions, architecture and science. The book gives real examples:

What You Will Learn

Materials & Tools

Safety & Care

Before You Start

List at least five interesting artefacts at home or in your neighbourhood — e.g. old coins, telephones, vessels, stamps, wood or stone carving, Shilalekh (inscriptions carved on stone or walls of caves or buildings), manuscripts, statues, radio, gramophone, camera, spectacles, traditional clothes.

Step-by-Step Activities

Activity 1 – Visiting a museum

Visit a museum, ask others about their visits, or take a virtual tour on the Ministry of Culture, Government of India website (search 'ministry of culture' + 'virtual museums'). Observe the layout, key exhibits, information panels and interactive activities; talk to the curator (the person who selects and looks after artefacts) or a local historian. Record the most interesting exhibit and why.

Activity 2 – Learn the history of your family and area

Find out: Did your village/town ever have a different name? When was it founded? Where did your family come from? Family traditions, local stories, landmarks and the oldest artefacts in your house.

Activity 3 – Identify artefacts and learn about them

Fill Table 5.1 for 5 artefacts: What is it? Who owns it? How old is it? Will you bring it or a photograph? Photograph artefacts from different angles. Use Google Lens (point your phone camera) to learn about artefacts, monuments and landmarks. Make a timeline of one artefact's history — e.g. an old radio or camera that was the first of its kind in the village.

Activity 4 – Selecting artefacts for the museum

As a group, choose five artefacts and explain your choices. Examples in the book: old brass bells, a 1950s electric travelling iron, old railway lanterns, a 1998 mobile phone, an early-1960s camera, a 1940s brass sieve. Tools like Google Lens, Microsoft Office Lens, Adobe Scan and Text Fairy use OCR (Optical Character Recognition) to read or translate old documents. Record sketch/photo, history and usage in Table 5.2.

Activity 5 – Keeping the artefacts safe

Examples: telegram and stamps (1960s), a brass Samovar (tea pot) from Kashmir, a handmade Pankha made of recycled wool and cloth.

Activity 6 – Preparing presentations

Every artefact has a story — tell it through a folk story, video (e.g. an interview), slide presentation, blog/Wikipedia article or poster. Decide the type and its specifications (poster size, video length) and practise an oral description. Translate using Bhashini Anuvaad (translation, transcription and transliteration in Indian languages) or Google Translate (English to 100+ languages; has conversation mode and a microphone for voice input).

Activity 7 – Organising an exhibition

Key Terms

Think and Answer – Hints

Career & Community Connections

Jobs linked in the book: archaeologist, historian, museum curator and tour guide. The project builds service skills — guiding visitors, explaining, and taking feedback.

Common Mistakes