Curriculum links
Learning area
Social Studies
Which strands will it fit with?
- Continuity and Change
- Place and Environment
- Identity, Culture, and Organisation
Key Competencies
Using language, symbols, and texts - Students will view a show that encapsulates memorable moments in New Zealand history. It is a visual audio experience that uses metaphor, technology and symbolism to tell the story.
Relating to others - Students will recognise features of the show, share information and ask questions about the historical parts that interest them.
Levels of achievement
Levels 1-8
Year group
Years 1-13
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Which topics of study can it support?
- Disasters
- New Zealand History
- Innovation and Invention
How long might this take?
The full show is 16 minutes long.
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Where do I find it?
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Level 4, opposite Community Gallery, near the Corrugated Iron Holden HQ.
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Lost? Ask a Te Papa Host.
Why should I take my class to visit this?
- Meet the junkshop that comes alive at night! When the doors are locked and the blinds come down, the different parts of the shop come to life.
- An amazing emotional history of New Zealand, told through a combination of robotics, film, and music.
- A way to explore significant moments in New Zealand history that will appeal to people who learn by seeing and listening.
- Links are made between significant moments in New Zealand history based on emotions - celebrations, conflict, reflection - rather than a chronological path through history.
- Find a new way of approaching history and exploring links between people’s personal treasures and their memories.
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What is there to do there?
- Go to the show and watch this journey into the past.
- See how many of the events, people, and places you can remember from your own memory or what you have learnt about in school.
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What should I know about this?
- Golden Days is used to capture New Zealand’s nation-shaping moments, building on the popularity of television shows such as This is Your Life, The Way We Were, Country Calendar, and Heartland.
- Golden Days reflects our heritage as New Zealanders in a uniquely personal and touching way. It celebrates our pioneering spirit, from the sowing of the land, planting of forests, development of our international exports, and harnessing of our enormous energy resources to the more iconic: Sir Edmund Hillary, Black Magic, Billy T James, Howard Morrison, votes for women, housing, and even the quarter-acre paradise - complete with trifle. Look out for William Pickering, instrumental in the first successful American launch of a spacecraft; Grant Fox, an ex All Black; and the Ballantynes fire - Ballantynes was a big department store in Christchurch that burnt down in 1947, killing 41 people. Also look out for Jonah Lomu, who features in Golden Days twice; the Wahine disaster; and world famous model Rachel Hunter.
Possible topics for discussion
- Before you enter Golden Days, suggest to your group that if they see any parts of the show that they do not understand, they can make a mental note to ask when the group exits. They can also note the things that they recognise to share with the group. Often adults accompanying the group will recognise parts of the show and references that younger viewers may not be familiar with (for example, the underarm bowling incident).
- How do you think the objects move? The Golden Days experience has several things that make the show happen every 20 minutes, everyday. The video is played off a DVD player, like you may have at home. Of all the models that move and come to life, some have small electric motors that move them, and others use air-powered mechanisms to move the models. And finally, there is a small computer that tells the DVD player when it's time for a show, and when each motor is required to run. And we milk the cow twice a day.
- What does the cricket ball represent? The cricket ball represents a famous incident in the 1980-81 Benson and Hedges World Series Cup Cricket match between New Zealand and Australia, when the Australian skipper, Greg Chappell, ordered his younger brother, Trevor, to bowl underarm in the last over, just as New Zealand needed six runs to tie the game.
- What is the bird in the cage? The bird is a tui, which is used for the morning bird song before Morning Report from Radio New Zealand.
- What was your favourite part? Why?
- What was your least favourite part? Why?
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- Golden Days is free.
- Golden Days shows every day at twenty-minute intervals: on the hour, twenty past, and twenty to, for example, 10.00am, 10.20am, 10.40am, 11.00am.
- Bookings can be made for Golden Days, but only on the day of the visit (that is, you can’t book days or weeks in advance). If you would like to book a group to see the show, the best idea is to visit the Golden Days host when you arrive in the building and book for your preferred time.
- Recommended adult to student ratio - primary 1:6, secondary 1:20.
- Maximum people inside show is 22.
- Wheelchair access.
- http://www.historic.org.nz/ - a website from New Zealand Historic Places Trust.
- http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/ - New Zealand historical events.
- http://www.dnzb.govt.nz/dnzb/ - a biography of famous New Zealand people and events.
- Britten Bike, Level 4, outside the lifts. John Britten invented this world famous motorbike, which is included in the invention section of Golden Days.
- Napier Earthquake - Awesome Forces, Level 2. The Napier Earthquake features in the disaster section of the Golden Days show.
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