Underpinning the teaching of biology through the material revelation of organic form, 19th-century scientific visual aids operated at the intersection of science and art. From the 1860s, three-dimensional models and chromolithographic wall charts became a critical component of university curricula and public instruction at museums and colleges. This article explores the manufacture, dissemination, and application of these biological teaching aids in a colonial Australasian educational context.

This article analyses the challenges and opportunities of interpreting house museums, with a focus on Home Hill, the Tasmanian family home of Joseph Lyons, Australian prime minister from 1932 to 1939, and his wife Dame Enid Lyons, a significant public figure in her own right. The article draws upon a project undertaken by second year pre-service primary teachers as part of a unit introducing them to the aims and purposes of humanities and social sciences education, including history. It explores the educational opportunities for primary-aged children at Home Hill and advocates for teachers to implement a sophisticated place-based pedagogy that foregrounds connections between the past and the present.