VIETNAM WAR GALLERY SESSION
TEACHERS’ NOTES
Vietnam War Gallery Session
Before your visit
o Make sure that members of staff have a map of the site and the staff notes
(below). They must know the time and location of their teaching session.
o This session is run in the American Air Museum, which is around a 20 minute
walk from the Visitor Centre.
o Have a look at our museum trail for this session. You can print and copy it for
the pupils to use, or just use it as a source of ideas to structure your visit.
o Remember to bring payment and your entry ticket with you on the day.
Your session
The Vietnam Gallery Session lasts for around 90 minutes. The session starts at the
entrance of the American Air Museum, looking down on the B-52. A member of
staff will meet you there at your session time. Museum staff will ask you to divide
the class into two groups. One half will start with an interactive talk, the other half
will start with the tour. Both groups do both activities.
In the interactive talk, students will be shown archive clips and real and replica
artefacts. A student will be invited to dress in the uniform of an American GI and
another to wear the clothes of the Viet Cong. We consider the advantages and
disadvantages of the kit and clothing of each. This session takes place in the
gallery and students are invited to sit on stools without backs. Please warn us in
advance if this is not suitable for any member of your class or staff.
The tour focuses on the aeroplanes in our museum that played a significant role in
the Vietnam conflict. The tour requires the class to stand or walk for approximately
40 minutes – again, please warn us if this is likely to be a challenge for anybody.
Staff are welcome to take photographs, but not film. Students will be given specific
points in the session to take photographs. We ask that students do not take
photographs of the guns and that staff could please help us to enforce this.
Learning Objectives
o Developing an historical enquiry focusing on the Vietnam War in the context
of global conflict in the second half of the twentieth century
o Interpreting aircraft and considering the roles they played in the war
o Handling objects and discussing the relative merits of different weapons
1
Teacher’s notes: Vietnam War Gallery Session
Vietnam War Gallery Session: Staff notes
Your visit
Check that you have a map of the site and know the times of your booked activity
and lunch.
VIETNAM
WAR
GALLERY
SESSION
Time:
Lunch
Time:
Location: American Air Museum
This is marked 7 on your map and is a 20-minute walk from the Visitor
Centre. Enter the building near the V1 rocket and the Counting the
Cost Memorial.
Go through the automatic doors and wait on the balcony opposite the
cockpit of the B-52, where a member of museum staff will meet you at
your session time.Toilets are downstairs on each side of the museum
near the front of the B-52.
Location: Eating Space (or outside if the weather is nice).
Airspace Hangar. This around a 5 minute walk from the Visitor Centre.
Go through the doors and turn right after the Polaris nuclear missile.
Follow the path with the dots, at the end go left.
You will see toilets, then the doors to the Eating Space.
Your session
The Vietnam Gallery Session lasts for around 90 minutes. The session starts at the
entrance of the American Air Museum, looking down on the B-52. A member of
staff will meet you there at your session time. Museum staff will ask you to divide
the class into two groups. One half will start with an interactive talk, the other half
will start with the tour. Both groups do both activities.
In the interactive talk, students will be shown archive clips and real and replica
artefacts. A student will be invited to dress in the uniform of an American GI and
another to wear the clothes of the Viet Cong. We consider the advantages and
disadvantages of the kit and clothing of each. This session takes place in the
gallery and students are invited to sit on stools without backs.
The tour focuses on the aeroplanes in our museum that played a significant role in
the Vietnam conflict. The tour requires the class to stand or walk for approximately
40 minutes.
Staff are welcome to take photographs, but not film. Students will be given specific
points in the session to take photographs. We ask that students do not take
photographs of the guns and that staff could please help us to enforce this.
Learning Objectives
o Developing an historical enquiry focusing on the Vietnam War in the context
of global conflict in the second half of the twentieth century
o Interpreting aircraft and considering the roles they played in the war
o Handling objects and discussing the relative merits of different weapons
2
Teacher’s notes: Vietnam War Gallery Session