A Day in the Life of a Scientist at the Natural History Museum

Posted: 27 January 2010

The Natural History Museum in London has recently opened the Darwin Centre, a state-of-the-art research, exhibition and collections-storage space.

At the heart of the Darwin Centre is the 7-storey Cocoon building, where visitors can engage with the science that goes on at the Museum through interactive exhibits, meeting Museum educators and watching scientists as they work.

The Museum has produced a set of online activities for schools, called A Day in the Life of a Scientist, where you can take the role of a researcher or a science journalist. Your task is to prepare for your Cocoon visit by doing background research, and then use your visit to find out information which you‟ll report back to your class back at school.

There are separate activities for Key Stage 3, Key Stage 4 and post-16 students:

• KS3 - Who Works at the Museum?
  Choose to be either a journalist or a scientist presenting research about Biodiversity at the Darwin Centre. This activity is supported by free booklets for students to use during their Cocoon visit.
  
  
• KS4 - Careers in Science
  Conduct interviews for a research post at the Museum.
  
  
• Post-16 - Planning an expedition
  Take the role of scientists planning an expedition to investigate insect-borne diseases.

To access the online activities go to www.nhm.ac.uk/a-day-in-the-life

To find out more about visiting the Natural History Museum with schools go to:
www.nhm.ac.uk/education/index.html