Resource created by Leeds Museums and Galleries: Leeds Discovery Centre.
Aim of resource
This resource is based on the Living with Death exhibition at Leeds City Museum (2024–2025). It explores beliefs, practices and experiences relating to death and bereavement across cultures and time periods, using museum objects to support discussion and reflection.
Curriculum Links
- KS2/3 Religious Education
- KS2/3 PSHE: Health and wellbeing, Relationships, Living in the wider world
- KS3 History: Society, culture and beliefs across time
- KS3 Citizenship: Diversity, identity and community
- Understand that beliefs about death and the afterlife vary across cultures and individuals
- Explore different ways people remember and mourn those who have died
- Identify how funerary practices differ across time and place
- Recognise how objects can help us explore sensitive or complex topics
- Reflect on personal thoughts and responses in a respectful and considered way
This resource explores five key themes: belief, remembrance, ceremony, the body, and the wider impact of death on society. Through museum objects and case studies, learners encounter a range of perspectives, including ideas about the afterlife, ancestor relationships, mourning practices, funerals, and changing attitudes towards death.
It also considers contemporary issues such as environmental impacts of burial and cremation, and how experiences of death can lead to social action or personal decision-making. The resource includes reflective questions to support discussion, but teachers should be aware that the topic may be sensitive and should be approached with care.
Discussion Ideas
KS2/3 PSHE
- Why can talking about death feel difficult?
- What different emotions might people experience when someone dies?
- Why is it important to respect different responses to grief?
KS2/3 Religious Education
- What different beliefs are there about what happens after death?
- How do beliefs influence funeral practices?
- Why do some cultures maintain connections with ancestors?
KS3 Citizenship
- How can the death of an individual lead to social or political change?
- Why might people campaign in response to a death?
- What role can communities play in supporting those who are grieving?
KS3 History
- How have attitudes towards death changed over time in the UK?
- What can objects such as mourning jewellery or memorials tell us about the past?
- How might Victorian mourning practices differ from today?
Activity Ideas
KS2/3 PSHE
- Create a set of class guidelines for discussing sensitive topics respectfully.
- Write a short reflection on how people can support someone who is grieving.
- Consider ways people remember those who have died. Create a list of different types of memorials or acts of remembrance.
KS2/3 Religious Education
- Compare funeral or mourning practices from different cultures and present your findings.
- Create a diagram showing different beliefs about the afterlife.
KS3 History
- Investigate how funerary practices in Britain have changed over time.
- Choose one object from the resource and explain what it reveals about attitudes to death.
Art / English
- Design a memorial object, symbol or space to remember a person or group.
- Write a poem or piece of descriptive writing inspired by one of the objects or themes.