The teaching and learning of science can take many forms due to the large number of branches of the discipline, but all of them involve a large element of doing things, of experimenting, of making and breaking, of trying out new ideas, whether at primary or secondary level. This has been appreciated by museums and visitors centres, so that we now have a plethora of possibilities.
The Association for Science Education is the lead body helping schools to develop their teaching and learning. It offers support for primary and secondary science subject leaders, teachers and schools, and keeps schools abreast of curriculum and assessment changes and reforms. The Association aims to enrich science teaching and learning with free resources, which can be found at: www.schoolscience.co.uk
Some venues are obviously specifically suitable for science groups, but others, which are more cross-curricular, are less obvious. Below we give staff a pointer to these as well as making it easy to access the websites of the well known attractions.
CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, has long been popular with British school groups. It is celebrating 60 years this year and is encouraging teachers to look at its Cern Education website.
CAT, the Centre for Alternative Technology in Machynlleth, is also celebrating a major birthday this year – its 40th. It is a very different experience from CERN, but fascinating nonetheless.
The announcement in April 2015 that the new SKA radiotelescope is to be built in the UK will also be a huge boost for scientists looking for projects to follow and then visit as the telescope is built in readiness for full operational capability in 2025.
We should draw your attention to the fact that farm visits are popular with primary schools and there is a growing number of farms offering excellent opportunities – from feeding animals to driving tanks. But there are some stringent health and safety rules to be observed. For advice and guidance please contact Handsam by calling 03332 070737 or emailing [email protected].
Main organisations:
Association for Science Education
Membership through Handsam
Radiation Protection Officer services through Handsam
Inclusion: NASEN
Thought of visiting?
Centre for Alternative Technology
Michael Faraday Museum, London
National Conservation Centre, Liverpool
Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester
Techniquest (various locations in Wales including Cardiff, Wrexham and Pembrokeshire)
This accredited museum is supported by the Friends of Windsor & Royal Borough Museum, the Heritage Lottery Fund and a team of very enthusiastic volunteers.
The Museum covers five themes; The Royal Borough & its settlement, Military Associations, Aeronautical Windsor, Working Windsor and Childhood.
A riding school offering lessons and great hacks, with a choice of over 50 horses, plus ponies for children. Suitable for all levels of ability. Regular fun rides held throughout the year.
The National Space Centre is the United Kingdom's leading visitor attraction that is devoted to space science and astronomy.
The Centre has on display one of the only known Soyuz spacecraft in Western Europe. It also encompasses the Sir Patrick Moore Planetarium.
A wildlife habitat offering many outdoor and leisure activities, such as adventure playgrounds, fishing, bird watching, sailing and cycling.
Staunton Harold is a wildlife habitat offering many outdoor and leisure activities, such as adventure playgrounds, fishing, bird watching, sailing and cycling, as well as countryside walks for those who want to explore the region.
Our wide range of talks and workshops are curriculum-linked and suit ages from early years to college levels. Enjoy an exciting and educational visit, coming face-to-face with exotic animals and artefacts in our Education Centre.
On the summit of Oldbury Hill, commanding a powerfully defensive position, is one of the finest Iron Age hill forts in the Medway, with substantial earth ramparts 2 miles in length. Ancient woodland, scrub and relic heathland disguise its complete outline.
Teignmouth and Shaldon are beautiful. They are not, however, just pretty places! Products of a turbulent past and the strivings of succeeding generations, Teignmouth and Shaldon have colourful and absorbing stories to tell. The stories are told in the Museum - what happened, when and who the players were.
Home to the renowned Strumpshaw Steam Rally, the museum houses a nostalgic collection of traction engines, steam rollers, tractors and beam engines.
There’s also a Christie cinema organ and fairground organs and you can take a countryside walk or a trip on the narrow gauge railway to explore the grounds of the old hall.
As soon as you think about the Isle of Wight, the iconic image of the world famous Needles Park chairlift immediately springs to mind, transporting guests from the cliff-top above Alum Bay down to the beach below. So, grab a bird’s eye view of the multi-coloured sand cliffs of Alum Bay and the stunning turquoise waters that stretch as far as the eye can see.
Exmouth Museum was first opened in 1985 and is housed in a 19th century building which was the Council Stables together with the adjoining foreman's cottage.
School Adventures at Chessington
Maryport Maritime Museum is ideally situated at the quayside in the beautiful and historic town of Maryport.
The museum occupies the building formally known as The Queen's Head public house which entertained and boarded a great many sailors between their voyages on the high seas.
Thomas Bewick is perhaps Northumberland’s greatest artist: a wood engraver and naturalist who revolutionised print art in Georgian England.
The world’s first iron bridge was erected over the River Severn here in 1779. Britain’s best-known industrial monument, the bridge gave its name to the spectacular wooded gorge which, though now tranquil, was once an industrial powerhouse and the cradle of the Industrial Revolution. Ironbridge Gorge is now a World Heritage Site.
The architect Sir John Soane’s house, museum and library at No. 13 Lincoln’s Inn Fields has been a public museum since the early 19th century. Soane demolished and rebuilt three houses in succession on the north side of Lincoln’s Inn Fields, beginning with No. 12 between 1792 and 1794, moving on to No. 13, re-built in two phases in 1808-9 and 1812, and concluding with No.
Travel back in time and discover the history of the Potteries and of Staffordshire.
See the largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold ever found on display, plus the world's finest collection of Staffordshire ceramics, Reginald Mitchell's WW2 Spitfire, Ozzy the famous pottery owl and all sorts of art and craft.
THIS HISTORIC MILL, HOME TO THE JORDAN FAMILY FOR OVER 150 YEARS, WAS REVOLUTIONARY FOR ITS TIME AND COULD BE COMPARED WITH THE DAWN OF THE INTERNET AGE TODAY…
Discover to the Key to England on a fantastic educational trip visit Dover Castle!
New: Operation Dynamo: Rescue from Dunkirk.
Explore the Secret Wartime Tunnels deep beneath the castle to see, hear and feel - as never before!
Drayton Manor is a fun-filled theme park near Tamworth with rides like Apocalypse, Maelstrom and Pandemonium, animals and of course Thomas Land, home of Thomas the Tank Engine. There's even a 4D cinema and a Dino Trail.
School Visits
Stunning woodcarving and elaborate panelling made this wealthy merchant's house a medieval des res built to impress.
Built around 1500 for Thomas Paycocke, the house is a grand example of the wealth generated in East Anglia by the cloth trade in the 16th century.
Theme park and CBeebies Land with great kids attractions; white-knuckle roller coaster rides including the Smiler, Air and Oblivion; special events and much, much more.
You can stay at our Alton Towers Resort hotel too.
Education
All aboard! See how engines work; what buses are made of; go aboard some; see old tickets and uniforms once used. View the workshop and on special days ride on a vintage bus. Morris Museum: see a 1970s police car; 1920s Bullnose Morris and a Mini in the original style.
The Bushcraft Company offer residential school trips with a difference, taking students into the wild and giving them real back-to-nature experiences they will never forget.
A 15-year-old boy fell 60ft over the edge of a cliff whilst on a geography school trip, miraculously only suffering minor injuries.