On Friday 22^nd January, Year Seven went on a science trip to the Natural History Museum in Kensington.

They started off with some hard work in the Human Body gallery, this term’s topic, before moving to the Investigate hands on activity in the basement. Here the pupils saw and handled real specimens from the store rooms of the museum. They had to ask questions and use their observations and measurements to deduce information about the samples.

Towards the end of the session the museum staff turned on the computers so they could find out exactly what the specimens were and whether their deductions were correct. Next we moved to the new Darwin Centre and tried more simulations and activities like grouping beetles, preparing for a specimen collecting expedition and examining a tick microscopically. This was a packed day with plenty of good quality learning.

The best moment, as a teacher, was when the museum staff, not once but on three separate occasions, sought me out to compliment me on the interest shown by our students, the quality of their questions and their excellent behaviour.

IRP