Science

Science

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:

British Science Association

Association for Science Education

CLEAPSS

Membership through Handsam

Radiation Protection Officer services through Handsam

Science Learning Centres

National STEM Centre

Inclusion: NASEN

Thought of visiting?

The Science Museum

Natural History Museum

National Space Museum

Centre for Alternative Technology

Cern Education website

ThinkTank, Birmingham

Michael Faraday Museum, London

National Conservation Centre, Liverpool

Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester

Techniquest (various locations in Wales including Cardiff, Wrexham and Pembrokeshire)

The Wellcome Collection, London

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Earth Centres

Venues for this Curriculum

Fully restored 18th-century working watermill

Visit this impressive restored 18th-century watermill built on the site of a mill mentioned in the Domesday Survey of 1086. The mill currently produces stoneground wholemeal flour from organic wheat. The team also pack porridge oats and jumbo oats, and mix and pack their own museli. All are available to buy onsite.

Tavistock Museum is a town museum which has permanent exhibitions relating to its monastic, market, and mining past. It is also a community museum and each year has new exhibitions relating to different community interests and organisations.

Europe's Largest Naval Aviation Collection

The Museum comprises four large halls. Each hall has ground floor and upper levels telling the stories of naval aviation from the first manned kites towed behind naval vessels, to helium filled airships, seaplanes, bi-planes and the carrier borne aircraft of WW2 and modern Sea Harriers and helicopters. We also have an original Concorde 002.

Extraordinary Victorian house, gardens and woodland - the wonder of its age

Enter the world of Lord Armstrong - Victorian inventor, innovator and landscape genius. Cragside house was truly a wonder of its age.

Birthplace of the world-famous railway engineer

Discover the humble birthplace of great railway pioneer, George Stephenson, whose entire family lived in just one room. Our costumed guide tells the story of how challenging life was for mining families, like George’s, that once crammed into this now charming little stone cottage, nestled in a pretty garden near the river Tyne.

It is popularly thought that Thomas Crapper invented the W.C., and that the vulgar word for faeces is a derivative of his name, but neither belief is true. However, etymologists attest that the Amercian word, "crapper", meaning the W.C. is directly from his name.

Visit the Birthplace of the Titanic

Titanic Belfast is a visitor attraction and a monument to Belfast's maritime heritage on the site of the former Harland & Wolff shipyard. It tells the stories of the ill-fated RMS Titanic, which sank on her maiden voyage in 1912, and her sister ships RMS Olympic and HMHS Britannic.

Locks, keys and lock-making tools displayed in a Victorian locksmith's house.

The Locksmith's House is located in a Victorian lockmaker’s house and workshops, that are a typical example of many of the small business premises that occupied a great deal of Willenhall and the surrounding area. 

A wonderful world of wheels and water

Come and explore how the curious cogs and machinery of a fully operational watermill work in the grounds of Hardwick Hall.

For centuries, the water wheel at Stainsby Mill has ground flour for the Hall and the estate. The wheel is still turning today, fed by the adjoining Miller's pond. Find out more about this fascinating process at Stainsby Mill.

From Britain’s finest hour to space-age defence systems

A visit to this massively atmospheric museum includes a compelling and informative guided tour. You’ll be walked through a history of Radar and Air Defence from 1935 to the present day Space Defence Systems. 

Recalling scenes from the best WWII and Bond movies, two of the museum highlights are the original 1942 Battle of Britain and Cold War operations rooms. 

This experience follows the lives of children in East Anglia in World War II. How children lived and to hear about the lives of children then.

Four Study Areas  

Home Front / Sea Prince

Norfolk Tank Museum offers visitors an excitingly, hands-on experience of tanks, military vehicles and equipment. Visitors can climb aboard and even experience the confined inner workings of a tank operating some of the controls. And on the museum’s off-road track, there’s the opportunity of going for a ride in a tracked or wheeled military vehicle.

What is the universe made of? How did it start? What is a Higgs boson particle?

Physicists at CERN are seeking answers, using some of the world's most powerful particle accelerators

Classic south Lakeland countryside with views of the fells and lakes

The western shore of Windermere is perfect for a car-free adventure for all the family. Why not travel over on the ferry from Bowness? In less than 15 minutes you’ll leave the busy eastern shore behind you and arrive at the naturally beautiful west shore.  

From here you can discover the mystical heights of Claife Viewing Station and learn about its colourful history.

Almost 250 million visitors regardless of age or origin have come from all over the planet to see the metal latticework of the Eiffel Tower since its opening in 1889.

Like all towers, it allows us to see and to be seen, with a spectacular ascent, a unique panoramic view of Paris, and a glittering beacon in the skies of the capital of France.

Picturesque watermill with working waterwheel

A delightful piece of late Elizabethan playfulness. Built for banquets and converted into a mill in the 19th century.

Escape the bustle and enjoy a secluded woodland walk

Visit Combe Wood, 10 acres of mixed ash and oak woodland.

Criss-crossed with pathways, this is the perfect place for a sheltered walk on a warm day and a favourite for local residents.

In spring time the wood is transformed by a carpet of vibrant bluebells and purple orchids.

Working coastguard lookout with a marvellous miscellany of maritime exhibits

One of England’s smallest museums, Mundesley Maritime Museum is packed with exhibits, including  lifesaving paraphernalia, ships wheels, and navigation lights. 

Prints and other information illustrate over 200 years of the town’s maritime history taking in lifeboats, shipwrecks, fishing, railways and the tragic story of the Mundesley Minefield.

Well preserved Ironworks with furnaces, casting house, dressed cottages & company shop

Captivated by the Coal House series? You’re not alone! The BBC television series, filmed on site, has attracted thousands of new visitors to witness how difficult life was for working families at Blaenavon Ironworks’ Stack Square cottages.

Internationally important nature reserve, with a fascinating 20th-century military history

Take a short boat trip to this wild and remote shingle spit, the largest in Europe.

Follow trails through a stunning landscape and a history that will both delight and intrigue.

Discover an internationally important nature reserve littered with debris and unusual, often forbidding, buildings from a sometimes disturbing past.

A company for canoeing, kayaking and stand up paddleboarding. Crafts for hire, plus tuition and guided tours available.

There are a number of guided tours on kayak and canoes or you can hire the craft and go out paddling by yourself.

Officially the highest zipline tour in Australia, the Illawarra Fly Zipline Tour involves flying on a series of cable spans and suspension bridges up to 35 metres above the forest floor!

The Royal Welch Fusiliers Museum is housed in two towers of Caernarfon Castle. In it you will discover the history of over 300 years of service by Wales’s oldest infantry.

A 10-km (6.5 mile) underground track between Paddington Station and Whitechapel sorting offices, it was served by a fleet of 2-ft gauge driverless electric trains, once transporting 30,000 mailbags containing four million letters and packets every day.

Dramatic chalk cliffs with acres of open downland and coastal views

Bembridge and Culver Downs form a dramatic promontory at the east end of the Isle of Wight. The cliffs are part of the same chalk ridge that forms the Needles and cliffs of Tennyson Down in the west. Feel the wind in your hair and admire the views over Sandown Bay and the Solent from this high point perched on top of the cliffs.

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