 |
 |
Science Museum: Collecting Stories Project What is the project about? As part of the Collecting Stories project, the Science Museum is working in partnership with four museums in the South East and four museums in the North to help them engage KS3 groups in the science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) behind their collections. The project will run from 2009 to 2011, throughout the project the Science Museum will work with 16 museums nationally including its sister museum, the National Railway Museum as an internal partner and regional partners in the South and North East. The project aims to engage and inspire secondary school students in science by highlighting aspect of STEM in museum collections and relating these to skills and content to the national curriculum. The museums and local secondary school students will collaborate to develop a resource aimed at KS3. It will give students opportunities to take science outside of the classroom and to become content creators, for example curate a display case, develop and deliver performances to their peers, or produce podcasts or animations. Phase 1 Currently, the Collecting Stories team have successfully delivered four sessions in the South East and North at the host museums, involving local secondary schools and consulting scientists. The museums involved in phase 1 of the project are: • Royal Marines Museum, Hampshire (host) • Chatham Dockyards, Kent • Brooklands Museum, Surrey • URE Museum of Archaeology, Reading • The National Railway Museum, York (host) • Thackray Medical Museum, Leeds • Ryedale Folk Museum • Captain Cook’s Birthplace museum, Middlesbrough The sessions have included workshops on Presentation Skills, Engaging with KS3 audiences, Podcasting, engaging students from a local secondary school with the museum collections and many more. At the last session each museum worked with a group of local secondary school students to create the content for a resource to be developed for their own museum. Consulting scientists were invited and interviewed by the students to check science content and understand scientific concepts. Examples of the resources to be created are an introductory film that the museum would send out to schools and make accessible on their website to encourage teachers to book the workshop being promoted. Another museum will be working with the students to create an interactive computer game to help explore the collection. Phase 1 of the project will be concluded by a showcase event with students presenting their work to the education teams from the museums, their peers and those that have expressed an interest in the project. Evaluation The events and activities thorughout the project are being evaluated through a variety of means and museum education officers, teachers, students and consulting scientists are participating in this process. Legacy It is hoped that the resources, skills and relationships developed during the project will continue beyond the life of the project, leaving a legacy to aid any museum to engage with KS3 audiences. Links: http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/ http://www.nrm.org.uk http://www.captcook-ne.co.uk/ccbm/index.htm http://www.ryedalefolkmuseum.co.uk/ http://www.thackraymuseum.org/ http://www.royalmarinesmuseum.co.uk/ http://www.chdt.org.uk/ http://www.brooklandsmuseum.com/ http://www.rdg.ac.uk/Ure/ For more information about the project please contact [log in to unmask]