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Here at the Manchester Museum we absolutely love projects that get pupils involved in real life science that matters – they are, after all, the researchers of tomorrow.
How much rain falls in Manchester?
So we were really pleased to get information on the ‘Crowdsourcing4Climate: Community Rainfalls Collections’ pilot project, which hopes to get the public and schools collecting rainfall data to add to the data we can use in all sorts of scientific research. It’s simple but could be a brilliant and effective school project and will support research at Manchester, Birmingham and Leicester Universities.
We’ve attached some information on how you can get involved and would love to see local schools contributing – so do take a look and let us know if you need any further information C4C_TeacherGuide-1.
Celebrating Manchester’s History
Posted on: March 13, 2013
We were very excited to work with our colleagues from Widening Participating, and one of our Partnership institutions, Whitworth Art Gallery, on creating two, one day workshops for Secondary students concentrating on Manchester’s History.
This followed on from our successful model last year, as part of the Manchester Histories Festival, where various schools brought students to participate in workshops at the Whitworth and the Museum. They were also treated to an introductory lecture on Manchester’s history – this year – by Professor John Pickstone.
Objects used during Collecting the World workshop at Manchester Museum
As part of the Museum’s workshop, called Collecting the World, students were asked to investigate the collection and determine how, and why, it ended up in Manchester. They identified objects of interest on the Manchester Gallery and their links to the city. Then they were allocated objects from the collection not on display and asked to research them using online resources to find their link to Manchester. They were encouraged to consider sources of their information and the relevance any connected individuals had to their home city.
All in all it was really wonderful to be able to focus on Manchester’s history and how the Museum’s collection links to the city and illustrious indviduals – such as William Boyd Dawkins, Jesse Haworth, Joseph Whitworth and Lydia Becker – not to mention highlight historical Manchester events such as the Exhibition of Art Treasures, the opening of the Manchester Ship Canal and the Peterloo Massacre.
Manchester Ship Canal Medal
Questioned at the end of the session on which object they felt best represented Manchester’s History, the majority of students chose the Ship Canal Medal due to it’s links with trade and economy that helped make Manchester the hub of industry in the North and contributed to it becoming known as ‘Cottonopolis’!
Many thanks to all those invovled on the day: Stockport School, Parrs Wood HS, Manchester Health Academy, Manchester Enterprise Academy, Alder Community School, Cardinal Langley RC HS, Loreto High School.
We’ll be repeating these fantastic local history focused days next year during the Manchester Histories Festival celebrations.
Students working with researchers on the ‘Dragons Den’ task
Giving students access to the fascinating cutting edge research that happens at the University of Manchester is a key priority for the Secondary and Post-16 science programme at Manchester Museum. So when i was approcached by Elizabeth Pawson, a postdoctoral researcher in a research instutite called CADET (Centre for Advanced Discovery and Experimental Therapeutics) to help them develop an A-Level Study day about their research on diabetes i jumped at the chance. Below is a blog post written by Lizz about their experience and the study day which took place on 18th October:
14 members of CADET (ranging from PhD students to professors) took part in the first Discovering Diabetes Study Day on October 18th. The study day, which was developed and designed by researchers at CADET, in collaboration with Alexa at Manchester Museum, to specifically complement the A ‘Level syllabus and was attended by AS and A2 Level students from Cardinal Newman College in Preston and Salford City College. The study day enabled students to find out about diabetes, diabetic complications and how diabetes research is carried out whilst working closely with the range of scientists and clinicians who work at CADET.
After an opening talk which introduced the students to diabetes and to the role of CADET within the University, the students then participated in a “Dragons’ Den” style activity. In this the students worked in small groups and learned about different secondary complications of diabetes, how they are investigated at CADET and how scientific research is funded. They then had to pitch for future funding for research into the different complications, with the chance of winning £1 million. As shown by the evaluation at the end of the study day, the students very much enjoyed this activity and as such were very vocal during the pitching process! They were also very interested in learning about how academic research is conducted and felt that this session provided them with new insights into scientific research careers.
In a second activity the students were taught about the different technologies that CADET scientists use regularly as part of their research. The students had a work book of data and analysed results from a series of experiments with the aim of identifying biomarkers of importance in diabetes. They then had to decide which molecules could be potential future therapeutic agents and justify future research into their role in the disease.
Winning group
Evaluations carried out at the end of the day showed that the over 90% of the students felt the day directly contributed to what they were learning in college and felt that had a better understanding of diabetes research. In addition they were keen to study science at degree level and found the interactions with the scientists a useful and invaluable experience. Moreover the staff who attended with the students recommended that the day is repeated again next year. The researchers at CADET thoroughly enjoyed themselves too, and are currently working on extending the study day so that more students can attend. Then next day is scheduled for March 2013 and will hopefully become a regular, biannual event.
Researchers from CADET
Some comments from students who attended the day:
“ ..Really enjoyed the Dragons’ Den session as it was a good insight into the real scientific world”
“..New found knowledge was very interesting and relevant to my future interests and courses…”
“The workbooks will be very useful in future study”
“I not only learnt about the effects of diabetes but also about how funding is gained for research”
“I learnt a lot and would really like to do more events like this”
“Everyone is nice and helpful”
“It was fun, hopefully coming back soon”
“I really enjoyed working with scientists and asking them questions, that was the most important and interesting part”
Working with scientists investigating biomarkers of diabetes
Our engage with the experts A-Level Study days are always very popular and this one was no different. It was fully booked within a couple of days of the date being advertised on the website! We are delighted to annouce that we will be running it again on 21st March 2012, so if you would like to give your students the opportunity to take part and work with the scientists, please do get in touch.
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- Students working with researchers on the ‘Dragons Den’ task
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- Researchers from CADET
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- Dragons Den Posters
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- Winning group
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- Dragons Den winning group
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- Working with scientists investigating biomarkers
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- Dragons Den Posters
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- Working with researchers to identify possible biomarkers for investigation
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- Students presenting their ‘pitch’ to the Dragons
On the eve of Wednesday 3rd October Manchester Museum opened it’s new temporary exhibition - Breed: The British and their Dogs.
Not only were there treats for humans on offer, along with canine-themed beverages but we had some very special guests too!
Ruby, jumping the ribbon, to open the Breed exhibition.
© Paul Cliff
To celebrate the exhibition’s exploration of six breeds linked with British History – the Borzoi, Bulldog, Bloodhound, Pekingese, Collie and Irish Wolfhound – the Kennel Club arranged for their members to bring one of each breed to attend the opening so visitors could see them in all their splendor and understand just what it is about dogs that make them our ‘best friends’.
In addition, the individual to officially open the exhibition for the public was special guest Ruby – a miniature Schnauzer owned by Museum Director, Nick Merriman.
It was a fantastic opening event with the very dintinguishing difference that humans weren’t the only species to attend! The exhibition has been developed with The University of Manchester’s Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine and supported by the AHRC and will be at the Museum until 14th April 2013.
In the Learning Team we will be preparing some self-guided resources to accompany the exhibtion and we have a very special Secondary session called British: Born and Bred that investigates the concept of Britishness and how these dogs might represent particular periods of British History.
For more information on this Secondary workshop please contact Cat Lumb.
Ancient Worlds Teacher Preview
Posted on: October 3, 2012
- In: About the Learning Programme | Event | Exhibitions | Galleries | Post-16 | Primary | Resources | Secondary
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With the opening of our new Ancient World Galleries the Museum’s Learning Team are pleased to announce that we will be hosting a Teacher Preview event to introduce teacher’s to our brand new galleries and associated learning programmes across the Key Stages.
This event will take place on Wednesday 14th November between 4.30 and 6.30pm. There will be a short introduction by our Learning Manager, followed by optional tours of the gallery spaces with our Curators. In addition our entire team will be present, allowing teachers to ask questions, learn about our new sessions and even register their interest in booking workshops on offer.
Our temporary exhibition, Breed:The British and their Dogs, will also be open and our Resources and Secondary workshop for this gallery will also be on show.
To book your space on the Preview Event email our bookings co-ordinator on school.bookings@manchester.ac.uk or call 0161 3052630.
Matrix in the Museum 2012
Posted on: July 31, 2012
Making a Cartilage model
On 10th, 12th and 13th July, the Manchester Museum hosted our annual ‘Matrix in the Museum’ events which are run in partnership with the Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell Matrix Research in the Faculty of Life Sciences. This year we had three schools visiting over the week; Stretford High School, Manchester Academy and All Hallows RC High School, all bringing year 8 classes to take part in the days’ activities.
The students were split into 5 teams for the day; Team Mucus, Team DNA, Team Cell, Team Cartilage and Team Matrix, all with a research scientist as their team leader. The day started by having a tour of the research laboratories in the Michael Smith building. The students get to see real scientists at work and find out about the work that they do. It was then over to the Manchester Museum to complete their team challenges!
Each team had a different challenge to do about their respective area of research i.e. team name, from making a model, to writing a song/poem or rap to preparing a presentation to show the rest of the class. The students worked brilliantly to complete these challenges, coming up with some fantastic ideas and creative ways to showcase what they have learnt. After lunch, during their final preparations, two ‘judges’ or Professor and research group leaders came round to talk to the students about what they had been doing over the course of the day.
Team DNA (Team Pro) from Manchester Academy with Dr Keith Brennan and Dr Pat Caswell
It was then time to show off the work they had been doing. Each team presented their topic to the judges and the rest of the group and demonstrated their model and song/rap/poem. The judges then had to pick a winner – itwas often a very tough decision with all groups performing really well and showing how much they have leant from the day. A special mention has to go to Team DNA or Team Pro as they were known from Manchester Academy whose constant energy and enthusiasm throughout the whole day was just fantastic! It was a brilliant few days and I hope the students enjoyed as much as we did!
Thank you to all students, researchers and PI’s that took part which made it such a successful event.
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- Team DNA (Team Pro) from Manchester Academy with their prize and Dr Keith Brennan
Cells, Senses and C.Elegans and GCSE Body Experience – collaboration with undergraduate students from FLS
Posted on: June 5, 2012
Back in March, we hosted two special days aimed at KS4 and A-Level students. We had been working closely with 3rd year undergraduate students from Faculty of Life Sciences from University of Manchester who had been developing activities to be delivered in the museum during these bespoke events.
The first one, on 9th March was entitled ‘GCSE Body Experience’ where 80 students from St Peters RC School, West Hill School, Rydal Penrhos School and St James RC School attended The students took part in workshops exploring different parts of the body, from eyes and ears to gut and immune system. Some comments from teachers that attended are below:
“Well researched, well presented in a logical progression. Challenged students and extended them. Students were engaged and on board” Teacher, Rydal Penrhos.
The A-Level event ‘Cells, Senses and C.Elegans’ was a couple of weeks later on 22nd March. 85 students came along from Holy Cross College, Cardinal Newman College and Sedburgh School. The workshops included topics such as HIV, embryonic development, C.elegans and oogenesis. Some teacher comments about the event are below:
“The students were fully engaged and could relate to a lot of the content as well as gain further insight into the subject” Teacher, Cardinal Newman College
“Excellent materials and presentation. A totally new topic which made my students think!” Teacher, Sedburgh School
James, one of the undergrads involved gives his thoughts below:
“My initial thought was that the museum would be an easier choice, until I realised I would have to interact with GCSE and A-Level pupils which I haven’t done since I was one of them! It became daunting very quickly but after working with the museum staff and developing a resource which I was confident in, my jitters subsided…slightly. Each group and especially each year group was very different and it required lots of on the spot thinking – something which became easier the more time I did the activities. From the responses I got, the students had a great time, not just at my session but at all the sessions. I learnt a lot about myself and about how to overcome obstacles, and ended up with sessions that I am proud of!” James Topham, 3rd Year undergraduate at The University of Manchester
Overall, it was a really successful event in which both the students delivering the activities and students attending both really enjoyed the events. We will be running these days again next year, so look out for them being advertised if you are interested in bringing your students to this unique day.
Some pictures of the events are in the gallery below:
GCSE and A-Level Geology workshops
Posted on: April 23, 2012
During the past few months, we have seen a surge of interest in our GCSE and A-Level Geology offer. It is great to see students fascinated by our specimens and engaging with museum experts, such as our Curator of Earth Sciences David Gelsthorpe. We have a selection of different geology workshops that can be tailored to meet the needs of specific groups, from Understanding and Interpreting Fossils, Trilobites and Exceptional Preservation. For the full menu of session available, please see our website. Workshops can also be supplemented with wow-factor fossil session and gallery tours as required.
We have welcomed Altrincham Boys Grammar School, Aquinas College and Balshaw High School to the museum over the past few months. Below are a few pictures of the workshops in action. If you would like to book any of our Geology workshops, please do get in touch.
We are continuing our popular treasure baskets sessions for babies at 10.30am and 1.30pm on Tuesdays in our Play and Learn gallery on the third floor of Manchester Museum on the following dates:
- 1st May
- 15th May
- 29th May
There’s no need to book, so just drop in and enjoy!
They will be led by Karl Harris and Elaine Bates – we look forward to seeing you there!
Our latest exhibition ‘Alan Turing and Life’s Enigma’ opened at the end of March. The exhibition coincides with 2012 Turing Centenary Year, celebrating 100 years since Turings birth. Alan Turing is known to most people as a mathematician and pioneer of computing, as well as being a significant part in the solving of the Enigma code at Bletchley Park during WW2. However the main focus of this exhibition is his work relating to biology, specifically to his fascination of how pattern, shape and form appear in nature, in a process known as morphogenesis. In 1952, Turing published this work in a paper (The Chemical Basis of Morphogenesis) describing a model showing how these patterns could develop from the interactions of two chemicals. The new exhibition combines material used by Turing during his research time in Manchester with objects from the Museum’s extensive natural science collection. The exhibition is in our 3rd floor exhibition space and runs until 18 November 2012.
As with all our exhibitions, we are developing a learning offer to allow students to explore further the ideas in the display. Due to the high level content, we are planning a KS4 workshop and a series of Turing related A-Level Study Days, during the summer and autumn term. Initial details of the workshops are below:
Maths/Science Turing workshop for KS4 – 2 hours, £75
This hands- on, interactive workshop will allow students to explore the scientific contribution of Alan Turings work. Students will investigate how codes were used in early computing, the numerical patterns found in nature, and how it links to the Fibonacci sequence. Though facilitated learning on the new ‘Alan Turing and Life’s Enigma’ exhibition and getting up close to the museums collection, this session shows applications of maths to the natural world and cleverly links both science and maths curriculum.
Turing A-Level Study day, part of Engage with the Experts series (Full day) £150
Through a series of talks by University of Manchester Academics, hands – on activities and debates, your students will discover how their A-Level studies relates the last work of the famous scientist Alan Turing. They will find out more about embryonic development, morphogenesis and pattern formation in living things and the Maths behind ‘Patterns in Nature’.
We will be offering a few sessions free of charge during the trial phase (May/June/July), so if you are interested in this offer, please do not hesitate to get in touch.
You can get involved with your own Turing experiment, by growing a Turing Sunflower!
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