The Science Museum's Learning Resources – plus their Top 5 Activities!

Can you tell us a bit about what you do at the Science Museum?
I am a learning co-ordinator at the Science Museum in their Learning Resources department, which means I am responsible for developing fun and engaging activities for our visitors to try out in the Museum, back at home or in school. We really want everyone who visits us to have a great experience exploring the science in our world, so having these activities is really important. I also help out with teacher training and other events in the Museum – like the late night event for adults.

Laura Meade's top five explorify activities
Fuzzy friend
Snowflake
Weird walkers
What If? There were no clocks
Rocky landscapes

How do you think museums have changed in the last 30 years?
Thirty years ago we may have thought a visit to a museum would be very serious and maybe even a little stuffy, or boring. Museums now are much more vibrant, exciting places, where we can find out more about our own communities, the world around us and explore fascinating objects from history. Using digital technology means that we don’t need to physically visit a museum to engage either, we can now see all sorts of incredible collections online, play games or download activities to help us explore.

And how do you think that impacts teaching?
Museums are great places to support classroom teaching, visiting a museum can really bring curriculum content to life. Teachers have to deal with all sorts of time pressures and targets, so museums can help by offering ready-made, fun activities that to use in the classroom. From surprising digital games and apps to creative ‘make’ activities, museums are offering a wealth of high quality resources for teachers to draw upon.

What does the new Learning Resources site offer to teachers?
At the Science Museum we want to support teachers as much as we can, both during a school visit and back in the classroom by offering surprising activities to keep students engaged. We want to use our collections and activities to show how science is useful and relevant to our everyday lives. Our brand-new learning resources site has a range of different activities for different key stages and science topics which are easily searchable. Whether you’re looking for an activity to try during a museum visit, a creative task to set for homework or a fun lesson starter, you’ll find something here!

Can you name a few of your favourite topics in science and favourite scientists?
I really enjoyed physics at school, because you can find out about the vast universe and the depths of space or you can look really closely into the make-up of tiny atoms, all in the same subject!

One of my favourite people in science is Valentina Tereshkova, she’s actually a cosmonaut and an engineer. She was the first woman to have flown in space which I think makes her incredibly daring.

What are your favourite areas of the Science Museum?
Wonderlab: The Statoil Gallery is great because it’s all about getting hands-on and using science skills like curiosity and creativity, plus there are some amazing things to see! You can stick your head inside a cloud, play with magnetic liquid and listen to music through your teeth. Making the Modern World gallery is another favourite, it's full of weird and wonderful objects that have changed our lives, from the world’s oldest steam engine, to a jumper made from the wool of a cloned sheep.

Visit the new Science Museum Learning Resources site