Volume 8 Number 7

GEOLOGICAL CURATORS’ GROUP

Registered Charity No. 296050 The Group is affiliated to the Geological Society of London. It was founded in 1974 to improve the status of geology in museums and similar institutions, and to improve the standard of geological curation in general by: - holding meetings to promote the exchange of information - providing information and advice on all matters relating to geology in museums - the surveillance of collections of geological specimens and information with a view to ensuring their well being - the maintenance of a code of practice for the curation and deployment of collections - the advancement of the documentation and conservation of geological sites - initiating and conducting surveys relating to the aims of the Group.

2007 COMMITTEE Chairman Amanda Edwards, School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, U.K. (tel: 0161 275 3825; fax: 0161 275 3947; e-mail: mandy.edwards@manchester.ac.uk) Secretary Matthew Parkes, Natural History Division, National Museum of Ireland, Merrion Street, Dublin 2, Ireland (tel: 353-(0)87-1221967; e-mail: mparkes@museum.ie) Treasurer John Nudds, School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, U.K. (tel: +44 161 275 7861; e-mail: john.nudds@manchester.ac.uk) Programme Secretary Steve McLean, The Hancock Museum, The University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne NE2 4PT, U.K. (tel: 0191 2226765; fax: 0191 2226753; e-mail: s.g.mclean@ncl.ac.uk) Editor of Matthew Parkes, Natural History Division, National Museum of Ireland, Merrion Street, The Geological Curator Dublin 2, Ireland (tel: 353 (0)87 1221967; e-mail: mparkes@museum.ie) Editor of Coprolite Tom Sharpe, Department of Geology, National Museums and Galleries of Wales, Cathays Park, Cardiff CF10 3NP, Wales, U.K. (tel: 029 20 573265; fax: 029 20 667332; e-mail: Tom.Sharpe@museumwales.ac.uk) Recorder Helen Fothergill, Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery: Drake Circus, Plymouth, PL4 8AJ, U.K. (tel: 01752 304774; fax: 01752 304775; e-mail: helen.fothergill@plymouth.gov.uk) Minutes Secretary Tony Morgan, Clore Natural History Centre, World Museum Liverpool, William Brown Street, Liverpool L3 8EN, U.K. (tel: 0151 478 4286; fax: 0151 478 4390; e-mail: tony.morgan@liverpoolmuseums.co.uk) Committee Michael Howe, British Geological Survey, Kingsley Dunham Centre, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG, U.K. (tel:0115 936 3105; fax: 0115 936 3200; e-mail: mhowe@bgs.ac.uk) Will Watts, Scarborough Museums & Gallery, Town Hall, St Nicholas Street, Scarborough YO11 2HG, U.K. (tel: 01723 232572; fax: 01723 376941; e-mail: Will.watts@scarborough.gov.uk) Hannah Chalk, School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, U.K. (tel: 0795 6208704; e-mail: Hannah-lee.Chalk@manchester.ac.uk) Cindy Howells, Department of Geology, National Museums and Galleries of Wales, Cathays Park, Cardiff CF10 3NP, Wales, U.K. (tel: 029 20 573554; fax: 029 20 667332; e-mail: cindy.howells@museumwales.ac.uk) Co-opted members: Steve Thompson, (NatSCA), Museum of North Lincolnshire, Oswald Road, Scunthorpe, South Humberside DN15 7BD, U.K. (tel: 01724 843533; fax: 01724 270474; e-mail: Steve.Thompson@northlincs.gov.uk) David Gelsthorpe, Manchester Museum, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, U.K. (tel: 0161 2752660; fax: 0161 2752676; e-mail: David.gelsthorpe@manchester.ac.uk) David Craven, Bolton Museums, Art Gallery and Aquarium, Le Mans Crescent, Bolton, Greater Manchester BL1 1SE, U.K. (tel: 01204 338764/557661; fax: 01204 332241; e-mail: david.craven@bolton.gov.uk) The views expressed by authors in The Geological Curator are entirely their own and do not represent those of either the Geological Curators’ Group or the Geological Society of London unless otherwise stated. © The Geological Curators’ Group 2007. ISSN 0144 - 5294 Cover: C. E. Grey, E. Lloyd Jones and Arthur Hardman excavating a woolly rhinoceros skull from Barrington Pit, Cambridgeshire, in 1910. See paper by Shelford and Peart, page 325.

THE GEOLOGICAL CURATORVOLUME 8, NO. 7

SPECIAL THEMATIC VOLUME

LEARNING WITH GEOLOGY COLLECTIONS

CONTENTS

EDITORIALby Matthew Parkes ..........................................................................................................................296

EARTH SCIENCE TEACHING AND LEARNING RESOURCES AND NETWORKINGOPPORTUNITIES TO SUPPORT GEOLOGICAL CURATORS

by Cally Oldershaw .........................................................................................................................297FIELD SCIENCE WITH GIFTED AND TALENTED STUDENTS AT KEY STAGE 3

by David Craven .............................................................................................................................301EXCAVATING FOSSILS: AN ACTIVITY FOR A GEOLOGY OUTREACH EVENT

by Timothy Ewin .............................................................................................................................305EARTH LAB WORKSHOPS AT THE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM

by Sarah Hone .................................................................................................................................309POETRY ROCKS! DEVELOPING SIMPLE CREATIVE WRITING ACTIVITIES USING GEOLOGICAL COLLECTIONS

by Annette Shelford ........................................................................................................................313EARTH SCIENCE EDUCATION - WAYS OF WORKING TOGETHER

by Helen King .................................................................................................................................315THE 'MUSEUM BUDDY SCHEME FOR SCHOOLS': AN EXAMPLE OF GOOD PRACTICE

by Cally Oldershaw and Simon Putman .........................................................................................317THE BONE TRAIL: GENERATING ENTHUSIASM FOR EARTH SCIENCES IN THE CLASSROOMAND MUSEUM

by Emm Barnes ...............................................................................................................................321IDEAS AND EVIDENCE AT THE SEDGWICK MUSEUM OF EARTH SCIENCES: NEWRESOURCES FOR SECONDARY SCIENCE

by Annette Shelford and Shawn Peart ............................................................................................325RECONSTRUCTING FOSSILS: A DROP IN, SELF LED GEOLOGICAL ACTIVITY

by Tim Ewin ....................................................................................................................................331

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FORGOTTEN HEROES? THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CURATORS AND EDUCATION STAFFREASSESSED

by Jan Freedman .............................................................................................................................335A JOURNEY TOWARDS THE EARTH'S CORE AT THE GEOPHYSICAL MUSEUM OF ROCCA DIPAPA (ROME, ITALY)

by Nicola Mauro Pagliuca, Calvino Gasparini and Donatella Pietrangeli .....................................341BOOK REVIEW ........................................................................................................................................324

GEOLOGICAL CURATORS’ GROUP - July 2007

As the new Editor of The Geological Curator, myfirst pleasant duty is to record, on behalf of all of theGeological Curators’ Group members, gratefulthanks to Patrick Wyse Jackson for his excellentwork over the past thirteen years. Over that time,Patrick has ensured the regular production and distri-bution of a journal which continues to be a vitalresource for our profession.

His diligent work in soliciting papers, seeking refer-ees, editing papers and preparing the texts for publi-cation has been conducted with little fuss and a quietefficiency. The regular appearance of the journal hashelped maintain it as a lasting and useful tool for allkinds of geological curatorial matters. The member-ship of the Geological Curators’ Group and distribu-tion of The Geological Curator is truly internationaland not just focused upon the United Kingdom. Thatemphasises the importance of maintaining a highquality journal and regular publication.

It is my intention to try and maintain the standardsset by Patrick for twenty six issues. I have been for-tunate for this issue in having a thematic set of shortcontributions from the AGM Seminar on Learningwith geology collections, held in Plymouth inDecember 2006. However other papers routinelysubmitted complement the topic. Those contributorswho have submitted papers from the meeting haveprovided a range of material which ranges from aca-

demic analysis to purely practical instruction.Hopefully, they also retain some of the enthusiasmand vigorous fun that was evident at the Seminaritself.

I will endeavour to maintain the regular publicationof two parts a year, usually in the Spring and theAutumn. Some small changes have been agreedhowever. To assist in spreading the workload, DavidCraven has agreed to deal with all book review mat-ters. New titles should be sent to him for review (seeinside rear cover for details), or any suggestions forbooks to be reviewed. Previously, authors have beensupplied with offprints of their papers. This will nowbe replaced by supply of a pdf digital file whichauthors can email to their contacts, instead of postingpaper copies.

Like my predecessor, I can only encourage members,and interested readers, to submit items for possiblepublication in The Geological Curator. The variousregular features such as Lost and Found, Fact File,Notes, Conservation Forum and Information Serieson Geological Collection Labels can all be used aswell as regular research papers. The continued healthand vitality of the journal depends on you.

Matthew Parkes, May 2007.

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EDITORIAL

IntroductionAs geological curators you will be working in a widerange of organisations, from local museums in smallrural communities to national collections in largeurban conurbations. You may be working in isolationfor much of the time as the only geologist withresponsibility for the natural history collections, or aspart of a small team or larger research department.You may work with staff in other departments suchas educational and outreach teams, or may possiblycover curation, education and outreach with littlehelp or support from within the museum.

There are a number of networking opportunities andresources to support geological curators includingthe Earth Science Education Forum for England andWales (ESEF(EW)). The Geological Curators Groupis a member of ESEF(EW) and has a valuable role toplay. Some ESEF(EW) members have expertise inscience education and curriculum matters, othershave academic, research or industry links. All mem-bers can support one another in their interactionswith schools, teachers, technicians and pupils.Support may include the initiation and managementof projects including new resources to support sci-ence teaching and learning.

ESEF(EW) and ESEF Cymru [www.esef.org.uk]

The Earth Science Education Forum for England andWales aims to promote Earth science in education

and to bring together all relevant organisations inpursuit of this. Some very good initiatives alreadyexist and the Forum does not intend to cut across anyof their work, but to enhance their recognition andworth - working with them to facilitate communica-tion for example by providing a focal point and data-base. The Forum is inclusive and all relevant groupsare encouraged to join including:o Primary, secondary, further education (FE) andhigher education (HE) teachers and lecturerso Amateurs with an interest and students in pro-fessional or vocational trainingo Industrial and trade partners

Members and organisations that have indicated theirsupport include:o Anglo American plc o Association for Science Educationo British Geological Surveyo Camborne School of Mineso Capita Symondso Challenger Societyo Committee of Heads of University GeoscienceDepartmentso Countryside Council for Waleso Earth Science Education Unito Earth Science Teachers' Associationo English Heritageo English Nature (now Natural England)o Environment Agencyo Gemmological Association of Great Britaino Geographical Associationo Geological Curators' Group

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EARTH SCIENCE TEACHING AND LEARNINGRESOURCES AND NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES TO

SUPPORT GEOLOGICAL CURATORSby Cally Oldershaw

Oldershaw C.J.E. 2007. Earth Science Teaching and Learning: Resources andNetworking Opportunities to Support Geological Curators. The GeologicalCurator 8(7): 297-300.

The Geological Curators' Group is a member of the Earth Science EducationForum for England and Wales (ESEF(EW)). Members are encouraged to network;sharing ideas and examples of best practice, supporting teaching and learning andworking in collaborative partnerships to develop resources for Earth science edu-cation at all levels (from primary to higher and further education), and with busi-ness partners and other organisations. This presentation aims to highlight the workof just a few of the ESEF(EW) members and encourage Geological Curators tomake the most of networking opportunities and available resources.

Cally Oldershaw, Executive Secretary, Earth Science Education Forum(ESEF(EW)), c/o Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3), 1 CarltonHouse Terrace, London, SW1Y 5DB; e-mail:earthsciencesgroup@btopenworld.com. Received 18th May 2007.

o Geological Society of Londono Geologists' Associationo Geology Trustso Health and Safety Executiveo Institute of Materials, Minerals and Miningo Higher Education Academy, Geography, Earth and Environmental Scienceso Mineral Industry Research Organisationo National Museums and Galleries Waleso National Soil Research Instituteo National Stone Centreo Natural History Museumo Open Universityo Parliamentary Office for Science andTechnologyo Institute of Physicso Quarry Products Associationo Rockwatch o Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers)o Royal Meteorological Societyo Royal Society of Chemistryo Science, Engineering, Technology and

Mathematics Networko UK Offshore Operators Associationo UK RIGS (The Association of UK Regionally Important Geological and Geomorphological SitesGroups)o Workers' Educational Association

Business meetings take place once a term at 1Carlton House Terrace, with office facilities provid-ed by the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining(IOM3). Each organisation nominates a representa-tive to attend. Dale Johnston is the GCG representa-tive. Generally, the Forum meetings coincide with anevening meeting of the All-Party ParliamentaryGroup for Earth Sciences at the House of Commons,to which Forum business meeting attendees are invit-ed.

The Forum administers the All-Party ParliamentaryGroup for Earth Sciences which meets once a monthwhen the House is sitting. The Group was establishedin 2000 by Professor Allan Rogers (former MP forthe Rhondda) and is run by MPs for MPs, with RtHon Kevin Barron MP in the Chair. Professor AllanRogers is Chair of ESEF(EW) and the ProfessionalAdviser to the Group. Meetings address Earth sci-ences in its broadest sense, with recent presentationson topics including:o Geothermal energyo Underground coal gasification (UCG)o Floodingo Contaminated land

o Radioactive waste disposalo Falklands oilo EU Water Framework Directive (WFD)o Minerals and Chinao Tsunamiso British earthquakes

In addition to monthly meetings, the Group andForum have organised conferences in Westminster:o Improving the Effectiveness of EducationResources for Earth Science and Industry held inconjunction with the Earth Science Education Forumfor England and Wales (ESEF(EW)) October 2004(Conference and Conference Report funded by theAggregates Levy Sustainability Fund)o Natural Disasters Day held in conjunction withthe Parliamentary Office for Science and Technology(POST) November 2005

ESEF Cymru [www.esef.org.uk]

ESEF Cymru was formed to support Earth scienceeducation in Wales. It is administered by the EarthScience Education Forum for England and Wales(www.esef.org.uk) and the National Museum ofWales (www.museumwales.ac.uk).

ESEF Cymru was launched in January 2006 at theNational Museum of Wales in Cardiff with a wellattended business meeting followed by a public lec-ture by Professor Paul Pearson (Cardiff University)on 'Climate - past, present and future' - which wasvery well received. The highlight of the evening wasthe formal launch and address by the First Ministerof Wales, the Rt Hon Rhodri Morgan AM.

The Forum is inclusive, and all relevant organisa-tions are encouraged to attend, including:o Primary, secondary, further education (FE) andhigher education (HE) teachers, lecturers and techni-cianso Amateurs with an interest and students in profes-sional or vocational trainingo Industrial and trade partnerso Regulatory and planning organisationso Environmental, conservation and heritage groupso Community groups

ESEF Cymru meetings are not the same as theLondon meetings, they comprise an informal net-working session, followed by a business meeting andthen a presentation and plenary discussion. Themeetings are well attended and all who are interestedin Earth sciences and education are welcome. To

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date, all meetings have been held in the NationalMuseum of Wales though meetings will also be heldelsewhere. Plans include a meeting in Wrexham ongeoconservation and geodiversity, and a meeting inCardiff Bay with a trip to the barrage.

Association for Science Education(ASE) [www.ase.org.uk]

The ASE is the professional association for teachersof science, with 20,000 members, from primary andsecondary teachers, to technicians, those involved inInitial Teacher Education, and 3,500 student mem-bers. Each year more than 3,500 members attend theAnnual Meeting and Conference which takes placein early January.

Based at Hatfield in Hertfordshire, the ASE hasregional groups throughout the UK. I have recentlyjoined the ASE as Curriculum DevelopmentManager responsible for curriculum developmentactivities of ASE and initiation and management ofprojects including new resources to support scienceteaching and learning. I will be working part-time,based at ASE HQ in Hatfield, working with the pri-mary and 11-19 Committees, helping the Upd8 team,developing the new SATIS (Science and Technologyin Society) resources for science teachers and sup-porting teachers and technicians through curriculumchanges.

The ASE website, publications and journals, curricu-lum and health and safety advice are just a few of themany benefits of membership. Upd8 (pronounced'update') and Primary Upd8 are curriculum linkedtopical activities based on ideas in the media that canbe downloaded by teachers for immediate use withwhite boards in the classroom.

ASE and its Outdoor Science Working Group aresupportive of the Learning outside the ClassroomManifesto (see www.ase.org.uk/learning-outside.pdf) that was launched at the Natural History Museum atthe beginning of January 2006, and aim to provideexamples of activities members can browse by sci-ence discipline (biology, physics, chemistry, Earthand environmental science) or by Key Stage (KS1-KS5). This is a key area for museum involvement;with teachers being encouraged to take the pupilsoutdoors, the opportunities for museums and schoolsto work together may be increased (see 'MuseumBuddy Scheme for Schools', in this volume).

How Science Works has been included in the ratio-

nale for examining boards. The ASE is encouragingScience Learning Centres (see www.sciencelearning-centres.org.uk) and others to include outdoor learn-ing/fieldwork in How Science Works courses at KS4(data and enquiry skills focus). This is another areawhere museums can play a useful role.

The Earth Science Teachers'Association (ESTA) [www.esta-org.uk]

ESTA has approximately 600 members, includinginternational members comprising working andretired science, geology and geography teachersfrom primary and secondary schools, and teachersand lecturers in further and higher education. ESTAhas three committees: Primary Committee, GCSE(11-16) Committee and the Post-16 Committee.

The Primary Committee develops and publishesresources for teachers and pupils and delivers work-shops for primary teacher CPD. Rocks and soils aregenerally taught in Year 3 (7 - 8 years old). Projectsincluding Earth science topics are also popular withteachers and pupils making use of the intervalbetween finishing Year 6 SATs (examinations) in theSummer Term and leaving primary school. Two ofthe primary workshops are 'Working with Soil' (withthe booklet 'Waldorf the Worm') and 'Working withRocks' (with an option to purchase a rock box).

Teaching resources available on the ESTA websiteinclude:o GEOTREX (16+) sharing of resources and ideaso ESEU (11-16) teacher trainingo JESEI (11-16) chemistry, biology and physicsteacherso Nature for Schools (5-14) more than 100 lessonplans

At the 2006 Annual Course and Conference, held inBristol in mid-September, it was pointed out thatalthough museums are a valuable resource for Earthscience teachers, only one museum curator hadattended the conference. Jan Freedman, AssistantKeeper of Natural History, Plymouth City Museumand Art Gallery) wrote up his views of the confer-ence in the ESTA journal Teaching Earth Sciences(see 'Lone Museum Curator attends his First ESTAConference. The Message - Make More of YourMuseum' TES 31.4 pages 13-14). It is because Janwas at that conference that I was invited to speak tothe Geological Curators' Group. The next AnnualCourse and Conference will be held in Belfast (14-16September 2007).

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Earth Science Education Unit (ESEU)[www.earthscienceeducation.com]

ESEU has a small central team based at KeeleUniversity (Director, Administrator, Researcher), apart-time Support and Development Manageremployed on a consultancy basis and a further Earthscience consultant. In addition there in a network offacilitators (34 in England and Wales,11 in Scotland).The facilitators deliver workshops to science teach-ers, PGCE students and technicians across GreatBritain. Since its inception in 2000, ESEU hasreached a million pupils via their teachers and manymore through ambassadorial events such as careersdays, Earth science activity days, field trips andevents for the general public, held in museums, her-itage centres and shopping malls etc.

90 minute workshops have been developed with cur-riculum links to science at KS3 (11-14 years old)and KS4 (14-16 years old) for teachers and techni-cians and have been delivered to:o Secondary science departments across Englandand Waleso Upper primary teachers in Scotlando PGCE science students in teacher training insti-tutionso Teachers and technicians attending courses atScience Learning Centres

in order to:o enhance their background Earth science knowl-edgeo showcase a variety of engaging Earth scienceactivities

o enhance effective use of practical activities inscienceo develop critical thinking and investigationalskills in pupils

SummaryThis paper deals with only a few of the Earth scienceresources available. There are many more membersof ESEF(EW) and for each there will be possibilitiesfor museums to initiate dialogue and get involved.Museums often have a great deal of experienceworking with primary teachers and pupils, but maynot have as much knowledge or understanding of thecurriculum at 11-19. Teachers and other organisa-tions may feel more comfortable with the 11-19 stu-dents, but less sure about how to engage with prima-ry schools. There is an opportunity for you as muse-um curators to make the links, meet with others andshare ideas and examples of best practice.

AcknowledgementsI have been a member of the Geological Curators'Group for many years (since my time as anExhibition Scientist at the Geological Museum andCurator and Gemmologist at the Natural HistoryMuseum) and would like to thank the GCG for theirhelp and support over the years and for the opportu-nity to give this paper. I have focused upon thoseESEF(EW) members with whom I work or haveworked recently, as these are the organisations that Iknow best.

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IntroductionThe Department for Education and Skills (DfES)define Gifted and Talented (GT) pupils as those inthe top 5% for academic achievement within a spe-cific subject, or those displaying abilities significant-ly in advance of the rest of their year group (DfES2006). Since 2001 the DfES has committed itself toimproving provision for students identified as Giftedand Talented (DfEE 2001).

The National Academy for Gifted and TalentedYouth (NAGTY) was established toward this aim in2002, but cannot provide for all students. Campbellet al. (2004) noted that it is harder to make good pro-vision for small group tuition in a busy classroomamong students of varying ability levels. The samereport also noted that there was a negative culturally-based perception of Gifted and Talented programmesas elitist.

In 2004 Bolton Museum was asked by theConsultants Office of the Secondary Strategy Unitfor Bolton Schools for support in establishing a fieldcourse for Gifted and Talented science students atKey Stage 3 (KS3).

Initially the author was asked to consult on sites thatwould be suitable for a geology-based element of thefieldwork. Following this consultation the role wasextended to active teaching of the geology elementswithin the residential course. The course ran in June2004, 2005 and 2006.

The Founding Principles of theCourseThere were multiple aims for the course:o To enhance and enrich the curriculum for GT stu-dents at KS3o To create an environment in which their abilitieswere encouraged by peer-group interactiono To extend science teaching beyond the classroomo To provide In-Service Training (INSET) forteacherso To create a working model other schools couldfollowo To strengthen inter-school links in Bolton

Campbell et al. (2004) advocated allowing GT stu-dents to find their own pathway to goals, and it wasfelt this was a key aim of the project. The long-termgoal was that schools would run similar coursesthemselves rather than having them run by theConsultants Office.

Course Structure and OrganisationThe Consultants Office had already identifiedAnglesey, Wales as the locality for the field course.Accommodation was at a venue called OutdoorAlternative near Rhoscolyn on Holy Island,Anglesey. Male and female students were housed inseparate blocks.

The trip involved two groups of students, each work-ing two-and-a-half days. This allowed a more man-ageable group size and an Adult:Student ratio of 1:4.Students were split into smaller working parties of upto 4 members. Students were intentionally placed ingroups away from their schoolmates. This meant

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FIELD SCIENCE WITH GIFTED AND TALENTED STUDENTS AT KEY STAGE 3

by David Craven

Craven, D. 2007. Field Science with Gifted and Talented students at Key Stage3. The Geological Curator 8(7): 301-303.

Between 2004 and 2006 Bolton Museum participated in a field-based educa-tion project for Key Stage 3 students identified as Gifted and Talented forScience. The organisation of such a project is outlined here, along with theobserved outcomes of the work. Finally the potential benefits for museums ofsuch a project are discussed.

David J. Craven, Bolton Museum and Archive Service, Le Mans Crescent,Bolton, BL1 1SE, U.K. Received 8th May 2007.

students would have to either complete their tasksduring the trip or co-ordinate their work back inBolton. It was also intended as a means to createpositive peer relationships with other GT students.Each of these groups had an adult assigned to assistthem in their work. Teaching was delivered by theauthor, staff from the Consultants Office and teach-ers from various Bolton schools. Several teachersonly came out for one or two days. This allowedmore teachers to use the project as a learning experi-ence. It is important to ensure male and female staffare present.

Students would conduct three main exercises:o Structural Geology and deformation history("Reading the Rocks")o Rocky shore ecologyo A comparison of power sources

All three were taken from KS4 curricula. Somesmaller activities were also arranged, primarily toprovide a break from the main work. This paper willnot deal with the activities in detail as the content isa secondary consideration. Any suitable field activi-ty could be run to achieve similar outcomes. The stu-dents were told in advance they would be presentingtheir work to an audience of teachers, LocalAuthority (LA) representatives and their invited fam-ily members.

It is necessary to prepare full risk assessments forevery activity, for all aspects of the accommodationand to cover general day-to-day activities. It is alsonecessary to ensure at least one staff member istrained in first aid. Parental consent is needed if youwish to take and use any images of the students overthe course of the trip.

Costs14 secondary schools in the Bolton Borough wereasked to nominate up to 4 students identified as GTfor Science. In 2006, the cost per head stood at £85.Take-up was partial, with schools providing 1-4 stu-dents. Total numbers in each of the three years werearound 45. This is a total cost of £3,825.

The funding was met in part by dedicated GTLeading Edge monies (£1,000). Funds were alsoprovided by schools, the Consultants Office, andfinally some cost was optionally passed to the par-ents; this final provision was at the discretion of indi-vidual schools. Some schools opted to fund thisthemselves.

OutcomesThe average socio-economic status of families inBolton is significantly below the national averageand the borough ranks highly in the Index ofMultiple Deprivation (Local Futures Group 2006). Adirect consequence of this was that many of the stu-dents had not been out of the borough and had onlyever been exposed to an urban environment.Different ethnic backgrounds were represented andmany of the students were not used to spending timeoutside school with people of varied backgrounds.We found this project to be an excellent opportunityfor growth. The issues mentioned above caused nosignificant problems and in many cases the change inenvironment brought a positive response from thestudents.

Immediate reactions to the location were neutral tonegative. The lack of access to shops and theabsence of a mobile phone signal were major con-cerns for many.

However we found that the students adapted rapidlyand soon lost inhibitions and concerns. The rockyshore ecology work caused most of the student con-cerns, with female students in particular expressingreservations over handling the various organismspresent. Again we found these concerns rapidlydiminished and in three years there have been no stu-dents who have failed to adapt to the work.

As previously mentioned, an intended key outcomewas to allow the students to define their own work-ing practices. Students were only made to work atfield localities. Beyond this they were free to settheir own work/rest balance. Again we found thisproduced a positive response. A typical day wouldsee the students in the field from 10.00 till 17.00 withan evening meal around 18.00.

The students seemed to settle into a pattern of restbetween 17.00 and 18.00. Following their eveningmeal they would then work the rest of the evening,taking only small breaks. Often staff had to stopthem working at around 21.30-22.00 to send them tobed. This enthusiasm for the tasks and determinationto produce quality work was regarded as a major suc-cess of the project. The presentation evenings havebeen an unqualified success, with excellent responsefrom parents, teachers and the LA.

The tactic of placing students in groups with newpeople was a great success. Because they had tobegin work straight away, they had to communicatestraight away. This helped break down any issues of

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shyness or unfamiliarity. The students' ability to self-organise was also impressive. Frequently one moredominant personality would emerge within eachgroup.

Many GT students from more deprived backgroundsfind their intelligence receives a negative reaction inschool and at home. Over the fieldtrip these studentswere often seen to grow in confidence with regard totheir abilities. Placing them in an environment withstudents of similar capabilities encouraged them tosee their intelligence in a more positive light.

Follow-up work on how students have subsequentlyperformed in A-Levels and in their choices withregard to higher education is currently taking place.Anecdotal evidence suggests a strong trend towardparticipating students progressing to science subjectsat university; however it must be remembered thesestudents were already identified as displaying anaptitude for the subject.

DiscussionThe most obvious question over a project like this is;Why should museums involve themselves?

"Using non-teacher adults with specialist knowl-edge has a number of benefits. Firstly, it allowsthe children to have access to positive young adultrole models that demonstrate there is nothingwrong with being smart and liking science. Non-teachers also provide a fresh perspective and adifferent style of voice for the kids. They willoften relate more to a non-teacher than to ateacher. Finally, museums are in a valuable posi-tion for providing specialist knowledge and sup-port that few schools otherwise have access to"(Jane Thompson, pers. comm. 2006).

In addition to providing positive role models, muse-ums have a skill base that may not be accessible tomany schools. The National Curriculum is notstrong on Earth Sciences and teachers have little timeto develop good, engaging new methods for teachingthe subject.

Learning underpins everything we do. For advocacyof museum existence it is vital that we are seen to beinvolved in this type of project, especially withinlocal authority museums where the LA is often keento see the museums service in a broader context.Service Improvement Action Plans nearly alwaysmake reference to supporting learning activities.

This project is merely an example of the directionmuseums can take. The Gifted and Talented pro-gramme is ideally suited to working with museumstaff.

The DfES has allocated £335m funding for smallgroup tuition in 2007/08, with an emphasis on GTlearners (DfES 2005). The DfES and NAGTY spon-sor summer school programmes working with GTstudents (DfES 2005). In both these cases, it is clearmuseums can provide support to the schools withfunding available. The DfEE (2001) stronglyencouraged schools to enter partnerships with otherinstitutions. While they clearly had higher educationinstitutions in mind, there is no reason why museumscannot also enter such partnerships.

AcknowledgmentsThe author wishes to thank Libby Mooney and JaneThompson of the Consultants Office at Bolton fortheir help in preparing this paper. Thanks are alsodue to the Bolton KS3 Strategy Foundation andCanon Slade School for their financial support of theproject, and to all the schools and parents that pro-vided backing.

ReferencesCAMPBELL, R.J., EYRE, D., MUIJS, R.D., NEE-

LANDS, J.G.A., AND ROBINSON, W. 2004.The English Model of Gifted and TalentedEducation: Policy, Context and Challenges. TheNational Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth.Occasional Paper No.1. The University ofWarwick.

DfEE 2001. Schools: Building for Success.Department for Education and EmploymentLondon: The Stationery Office.

DfES 2005. Higher Standards, Better Schools for AllDepartment for Education and Skills London: TheStationery Office.

DfES 2006 Identifying Gifted and Talented PupilsDepartment for Education and Skills London: TheStationery Office.

LOCAL FUTURES GROUP 2006. The State of theBorough: An Economic, Social andEnvironmental Audit of Bolton Local FuturesGroup.

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IntroductionThe challenge to create a geology outreach event thatis both fun and educational, whilst using the muse-um's collections, arose due to our commitment totake part in the science week celebrations. Whilst inthe past the museum had concentrated on handlingobjects and microscopes, it was felt a more interac-tive approach would be trialled.

We not only wanted to make the activity fun, hands-on, appealing to a broad range of ages (4 - 12 yearolds) and social-economic backgrounds but we alsowanted to give the participants an understanding ofsome basic geological principals and procedures. Wewere also keen to cater for as many learning intelli-gences as possible. For this purpose it was decidedthat we would develop an activity around excavatingfossils buried in a mix of sand and plaster of paris(PoP) and then identify these fossils.

The ActivityThe activity was planned using the Inspired Learningfor All framework1 and four generic learning out-comes were composed. It was decided that we want-ed to increase people's awareness of geology, specif-ically that fossils are only found in certain layers ofrocks and that palaeontologists carefully extract fos-sils from the rock using tools.

The main learning outcomes of the activity were:1. Increase people's awareness and apprecia-tion of rocks and fossils.2. Fossils are found in specific layers of rock

3. Fossils are carefully excavated by geologistsusing specialist tools4. Fossils have specific names

These learning outcomes were met by structuring theactivity into three distinct parts. This structure alsoallowed the activity to meet many different learningintelligences. The three distinct parts were:1) Demonstration as to why fossils were onlyfound in specific layers2) Excavating fossils3) Naming fossils and keeping them safe

To explain how this activity met the learning out-comes, these three parts will now be explained inmore detail. (This procedure can also be used as arough guide for replicating this event. For a list ofequipment needed for this activity see Appendix 1.)

1) In order to meet the learning outcomes that"fossils are found in specific layers" a short practicaldemonstration lasting less than 5 minutes long wasdelivered. This was simplified to describing sedi-ments being laid down in layers and that animals liv-ing on the sediment and which died were incorporat-ed into that layer. These sediments and their fossilswere then turned to stone. Pouring sand into a glassbeaker and then burying the fossils in it demonstrat-ed this idea. To finish off the demonstration special-ist fossil excavation tools were handed round andtheir use explained.

2) The activity then moved on to the excavationstage. Each participant was given a sand/ PoP cake

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EXCAVATING FOSSILS: AN ACTIVITY FOR A GEOLOGY OUTREACH EVENT

by Timothy A. M. Ewin

Ewin, T.A.M. 2007. Excavating fossils: an activity for a geology outreach event.The Geological Curator 8(7): 305-308.

A geology outreach event for children that is both fun and educational is described,with instructions on the materials involved. A layered cake of sand and plaster andparis, is prepared before the event, with a fossil incorporated. The excavation ofthe fossil, with appropriate instructions provides learning outcomes about fossils,complemented by awareness of what a geological museumdoes.

Ewin, T.A.M. Assistant Curator of Geology, Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery,Queens Road, Bristol, BS8 1RL, e-mail: tim.ewin@bristol.gov.uk. Received 14thMay 2007.

with a fossil buried inside it. The sand/ PoP cake waslayered with each layer a different colour with onlyone layer containing the fossil (For instructions onmaking the layered cake please see Appendix 2 and3). A "here is one we did earlier" example was shownwhere the cake had been partially excavated and afossil exposed (see Figure 1) so as to give them anidea of what to do. This was done to reinforce thelearning outcome that fossils were found in certainrock layers. The participants were then asked to digthrough their cake carefully to find the fossil inside.To excavate the cake each participant was providedwith a plastic scraper and goggles (to protect theeyes). Analogies with the way professionals preparefossils using tools were made to again reinforce thelearning outcomes. The participants then scrapedaway the covering sand and PoP to expose the fossil.

3) Once the fossil had been exposed they werethen asked to name the fossil by using a simple dia-gram or for older participants (or particularly keenyounger participants) a copy of the British MesozoicFossils book was used. Once named the participantswere then asked to fill in a museum card, which iden-tified the fossil. This was then put in an unwantedmuseum specimen tray for them to take home. Thisreally helped meet the learning outcomes concerningpeople's awareness and appreciation of fossils, thatfossils have specific names and drawing analogies tothe way museums care for their collections.

Activity OrganisationThis event was run in two sessions to avoid con-stantly repeating the demonstration part of the activ-ity to each participant.

The event took part in an activity room, which con-tained access to sufficient tables and chairs, a bin, asink and was easily cleaned.

Each participant was given all the necessary equip-ment for the activity (see Appendix 1) and a work-sheet explaining each step in the activity. Threedemonstrators were also on hand to help out andanswer questions. The parents/carers of the partici-pants were also encouraged to be involved so thatthey could help out with the excavation and identifi-cations. This was particularly helpful with theyounger participants. In many cases the parents/car-ers were as keen as the participants themselves.

Variations of the Event

The event outlined above was designed to run in ses-sions, however this event could easily be convertedinto a drop in event whereby each participant is pro-vided with a worksheet, a sand/PoP cake containinga fossil, plastic excavation tools and goggles. Theworksheet would describe that fossils are found inlayers and then instruct participants to excavate andthen name the fossil they find.

Excavating Fossils EvaluationThis activity catered particularly well for kinaesthet-ic and audio-visual learners and appeals to variouslearning intelligences including: Visual/Spatial;Verbal/Linguistic; Logical/Mathematical;Kinaesthetic; Interpersonal; and Intrapersonal. Theactivity only neglects musical/rhythm learners.

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Figure 1. Sand/Plaster of paris multilayered cake partial-ly excavated to expose fossil (Gryphea).

Figure 2. Some equipment for the activity; starting topand going clockwise: Paper cup, Plastic cutlery handlesused as scraping tools, robust fossils including Gryphea,coral, brachiopod and 3 belemnite guards.

From the evaluation of the event the activityappealed to participants of all ages (as well as theirparents and carers). The participants found the eventboth highly enjoyable and rewarding. This was main-ly centred on excavating the fossil from the cake,which was often done with much vigour and excite-ment. The success of the activity was due, in part, tothe fact that the activity provided a reward for theparticipants, as they were allowed to take the fossilshome. This provided a real sense of ownership aswell as a new regard for fossils and where they hadonce come from.

The only slight drawbacks about this activity is thatit takes time to produce the fossils buried in thesand/PoP, the event is quite messy and some of theshort talks were a bit complicated for younger partic-ipants. This said, they still listened intently, whichmay be down to the fact that a grown up was playingwith sand! Another potential draw back is sourcingrobust but disposable fossils. Registered specimens(or those you want to use again) should not be usedfor this activity.

Learning with Science Collections:Some ThoughtsThe emphasis in many science outreach events is onfun and rightly so. However, many events all toooften stop here and use of science collections in theseactivities seems almost incidental. When this occursa real opportunity to inspire people in the museum,its collections and science has been missed. This isperhaps borne out of the reluctance to provide toomuch information through fear of excluding parts ofour audiences. Whilst too much information certain-ly does deter visitors and however enjoyable anactivity is, too little or no information about a sub-ject/object makes the activity superficial and unin-spiring. There is a balance to be struck and if infor-mation is layered to varying degrees of depth, thenevery participant's learning capabilities can becatered for. Other participants will not be deterred asthis extra information can be and is ignored.

The activity outlined above attempts to redress thisproblem by trying to draw analogies between theactivity and what actually happens in real life. Theactivity and some concepts may be slightly too com-plicated for some children however they eitherignored it or their parents helped to interpret whatwas going on. For most of the other participants theextra information certainly was understood and hadinspired them. In addition to this several parents/car-ers also said that they had learned something.Parents/carers are also an important and often over-

looked audience during outreach activities.

Thus through fun activities, geological informationcan be successfully provided without reducing theappeal of the museum or activity. Instead more infor-mation actually enhances the activity and the partici-pant's appreciation of the subject and the museum.

References1. http://www.inspiringlearningforall.gov.uk/intro-duction/default.aspx

Appendix 1. Equipment Neededo Transparent aquarium, tank or container, Sandand a Fossil - to demonstrate that fossils are found indistinct layers o Visual material to show what the fossils lookedlike in lifeo Pre-made multi-layered and coloured sand/plasterof paris cake including buried fossil o Excavating tools: Plastic cutlery handles (theheads, e.g. fork prongs and knife blades, were brokenoff); and a geological hammer (in case too muchplaster of paris has been used) o Goggleso Identification material/publicationso Specimen trays and specimen information cards

Appendix 2. Ingredients for Makingthe Cakeo Childrens play sando Plaster of paris (PoP)o Robust fossil (e.g. belemnite guard, Gryphea(devil's toe nails), Brachiopod, small solitary coral)o Watero Water colour paint (either powder or tubes)o Paper cupso Spatula

Appendix 3. Recipe for Making theCake1. Mix the sand and plaster of paris (PoP)together dry at a ratio of 1:1. pour a small amountinto a paper cup so that it covers the entire base to adepth of 2cm.2. Then mix watercolour paint with water andadd this too the sand/PoP mix and stir thoroughly.Alternatively, if using powdered watercolour paintthen add this to the sand/PoP mix dry, stir well andthen add water. Both these approaches provide aneven colour throughout the layer. For either methoddo not overfill with water as the plaster of paris will

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not set properly. I found that it was best to add about1/3 the volume of the mixture in water.3. Leave PoP to set. The PoP setting reaction isendothermic so once it has warmed up and thencooled it has set and you are ready to continue.[Warning - do not mix by hand as burns may occurfrom the heat generated].4. Once the PoP has set place a fossil in thecentre of the cup on top of the first layer. In a sepa-rate container mix up another batch of sand/PoP,coloured differently to the first layer, and then pourthis over the fossil so that it is buried. Tap the cup onthe work surface to ensure air bubbles around thefossil are removed.

5. Leave PoP to set.6. For the third layer again mix in a separatecontainer and colour differently to the layer contain-ing the fossil and then pour this into the paper cupagain to a depth of about 2cm. 7. Once everything has set hard, remove thepaper cup by carefully tearing it. You should then beleft with a hard (hopefully slightly friable) multilay-ered cake inside which is a fossil. It is then ready touse for the activity.

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IntroductionWith more than 70 million specimens, ranging frommicroscopic slides to mammoth skeletons, theNatural History Museum in London is home to oneof the largest and most important natural history col-lections in the world. The Earth Lab gallery containsmore than 2000 specimens of British fossils, miner-als and rocks and was developed in 1998 as a spacefor amateur geologists. The displays are supportedby a database and there are specialist tools and liter-ature available for research purposes.

I am a Formal Learning Programme Developer at theMuseum, and my role includes working on a numberof different projects such as videoconferencing,developing new gallery learning resources and EarthLab workshops. I have a degree in Zoology followedby six years experience as a teacher (mostly in theprimary sector). A perfect grounding for developingsecondary school workshops in geology!

Before the projectEarth Lab is tucked away on a mezzanine floor in theEarth Galleries (Red Zone) at the Museum. Untilrecently the signage to the space was poor, and evennow it is not a place that you 'stumble upon' whilevisiting the Museum - you have to go out of your wayto get there. The response from the target audienceof amateur geologists was not as strong as expected,and the space was being underused, despite being fullof high quality specimens with great scientific inter-est. The space was primarily aimed for an adult audi-ence with a few ad hoc sessions for secondaryschools. The low level of use meant it was becom-ing less and less viable to continue staffing the spaceto allow drop in visits.

In the meantime, the formal learning offer at theMuseum was expanding rapidly, and we neededspaces in which to offer workshops as well as a moreeffective use of Explainer (now Science Educator)time. The Real World Science project, as part of theDfES / DCMS Strategic Commissioning EducationProgramme ran a consultative study in summer 2005to determine what secondary teachers wanted. Theresults, published in March 2006, showed that therewas a clear need for non-specialist teachers to havesupport in earth science. Topics mentioned includedgeology, more specifically the rock cycle and platetectonics. They also wanted to be able to use muse-um collections and specimens not normally on dis-play for practical experiments and workshops.

With the motivation to use the space more effective-ly, the expansion of the formal learning programme,funding for a specific Earth Sciences programme inApril 2006 and the results from the StrategicCommissioning consultation, it was clear that we hadthe right reasons to develop a workshop for sec-ondary schools in Earth Lab.

The processDevelopment began in Spring 2005, and I workedwith Explainers at the Museum with geological orpalaeontological backgrounds. My role was mainlyas a coordinator; ensuring that the curriculum linkswere in place, providing support for student manage-ment and liaising with our in-house print and designteam amongst other things.

We developed three activities covering mineralogy,gemmology and geology. These sessions were pilot-

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EARTH LAB WORKSHOPS AT THE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM

by Sarah Hone

Hone, S. 2007. Earth Lab workshops at the Natural History Museum. TheGeological Curator 8(7): 309-311.

The formal learning opportunities provided by the Earth Lab workshops at theNatural History Museum are described along with their recent development andimprovement.

Hone, S., Formal Learning Programme Developer, The Natural HistoryMuseum/EG314, Cromwell Road, South Kensington, London, SW7 5BD, UK.; e-mail:s.hone@nhm.ac.uk. Received 17th May 2007.

ed with schools and evaluated throughout the firstyear. Even in one year a large number of changeswere put into place, including:o Improving the Earth Lab space for its new func-tion, with new seating and more open-plan work sta-tionso Improving the identification keyso Providing training and support for new Explainers/ Science Educatorso Removing the gemmology activity

We run two workshops every day in term time, eachcatering for 24 students per session at key stages 3and 4. We are aware that limiting the number to 24students has acted as a barrier to allowing full class-es to attend the workshop and are working on modi-fying the space further to overcome this.

The learning outcomes include:o Understanding the way scientists work and devel-op scientific ideaso Discovering how rocks and minerals are formedover timeo Using observable characteristics and keys to iden-tify specieso Understanding that the fossil record is evidencefor evolution

Although fossils are not directly linked to theNational Curriculum, understanding the process ofscience ('how science works') is fundamental to thenew 2006 GCSE curriculum. The workshop is bro-ken down into two halves. In 'Date with anammonite' the students use a dichotomous key toidentify different ammonite genera. They are intro-duced to the different features, which they record asthey work through the key, following it up with anobservational drawing. Once they have identifiedthe ammonite, they compare it with those in theEarth Lab gallery to find out how old it is. Thisbrings in the concept of dating rocks by studying theammonites within them.

In 'Rocks and minerals' students are introduced to theprocess of rock formation and the rock cycle. Theyare given six minerals to identify using a key withdifferent tests such as the scratch test, streak test andmagnetism. We would like to offer a test demon-strating if the minerals react with acid, but don't wantto make goggles and adult supervision compulsory.We are yet to find a way to manage this with a testsafely in situ. We are also in the process of buying anultraviolet lamp in order to test fluorescence.

Testing the minerals leads neatly onto studying rocks

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Figures 1-4. Students ‘in action’ at Earth Lab. Photos:Natural History Museum.

and placing them into the rock cycle. The ensuingdiscussion covers the differences between sedimen-tary, igneous and metamorphic rocks, plus some ofthe ones in between.

EvaluationTo date nearly 4000 students have attended the work-shop, approximately 80% of these from key stage 3classes. We have had very positive feedback fromboth teachers and students including the followingpoints:

o It linked to a wide variety of earth science topicso The opportunity to handle real, good quality spec-imenso Friendly and helpful staff

However, there is plenty of room for improvement.These include offering more time for the work-shops,developing new material for earthquakes andvolcanoes, making content available online so thatthe workshop can be followed up in school and pro-viding better signage to Earth Lab.

Next stepsAs mentioned earlier we hope to increase the work-shops to 30 students per session, and we are planningto increase the session time in order to give a higherquality interaction between students and Museumstaff. We also plan to expand the workshop for Alevel students. So far we have had a number of ALevel Geology days led by our colleagues inpalaeontology department at the Museum. Our aimis to develop a self guided day for A level studentswhere they can select from a menu of activities tobest suit their requirements. We are aware that thereare only a few thousand AS and A level students inthe country, so what we offer has to be worthwhile.In addition to these steps, we also want to link upwith course providers and curriculum developers, aswell as working closely with teachers and examiningboards to provide effective continuing professionaldevelopment for teachers in accessible formats. Theaccess that we can give to high quality specimensand expert knowledge is second to none.

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IntroductionThe activity "Poetry Rocks!" is regularly booked as ataught part of school visits to the Sedgwick Museum,in particular by primary school groups. It extends theopportunities for the children to handle rock speci-mens, and covers a whole range of cross curricularskills from literacy, science and numeracy along withengagement and behavioural skills such as speakingand listening and working in a group.

It is a useful, simple activity with all sorts of appli-cations and variations. It can be used as a means torunning a well-controlled handling session in a smallspace, or it can be developed into a longer sessionwhich includes writing activities. Most importantly,it is an activity which does not require a creativewriting specialist to run it, so there is no need to buyin a facilitator.

ContextThere is a significant hiatus for children betweenlearning about Rocks and Soils in Year 3 and theRock Cycle in Year 8, the only pre-GCSE presenta-tion of earth sciences in the context of "science". Asgeologists in museums, with access to inspiring col-lections, we are at the front line for helping andencouraging teachers to firstly engage with geologythemselves, and through them encouraging childrento sustain early interests in geology which oftencome from dinosaurs or crystals. Developing andsharing simple, cross-curricular activities such as thisone can give teachers the confidence to use rocks andfossils in different parts of the curriculum and help toplug the 5-year gap.

How to...Choose a rock. It's not important to know much, oranything, about the rock, though if the activity isbeing included in a science session it can help to beable to give some information at the end. The nameof the rock could be the title for the poem, revealedat the end of the activity- maybe on a card in a sealedenvelope to build up interest. Rocks with excitingnames work well- write the name down and ask thechildren to read it out. The more colourful the rock,usually the more interesting the poem will be. Mica-schist or a crystalline limestone work very well as"starter" rocks.

Sit the children in a circle and include adult helpersif you can to help with language and with keepingcontrol of the session. Introduce the session - it iscalled the One Word Game at the Sedgwick Museumbecause introducing a ‘Poetry Activity’ can provokea negative response. Making it into a game is moreinclusive. The rules of the One Word Game are:

1. Handle the mystery rock carefully (eg holdin both hands- reinforce your object handling code)2. Use different senses to investigate the rock -you can ask the children to name the senses they canuse safely as part of this. Be careful if you are usinghalite!3. Everybody in the circle has to choose oneword which describes the rock, and say it loudly,then pass the rock on to the next person in the circle.4. Only the person with the rock in their handscan speak.5. Each describing word can only be used once.

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POETRY ROCKS! DEVELOPING SIMPLE CREATIVE WRITINGACTIVITIES USING GEOLOGICAL COLLECTIONS

by Annette Shelford

Shelford, A. 2007. Poetry rocks! Developing simple creative writing activitiesusing geological collections. The Geological Curator 8(7): 313-314.

How can we use the rocks and fossils in our handling collections to engage visi-tors without feeling under pressure to recite facts and figures? Good object basedlearning uses questioning and observations to tease out the story of an object, butwithout teaching labs or interactive experiments it can be difficult to make rocksexciting as objects in their scientific context because the processes that form andshape them are so abstract. So why not use them in other ways? Outlined here isan example of an activity used at the Sedgwick Museum with many different audi-ences to focus rock handling sessions and use them to help participants to devel-op skills of observation and description, as well as producing a piece of originalpoetry.

Annette Shelford, Education Officer, Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences,Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EQ Received 20th June 2007.

Pass the rock around the circle and collect the wordson post-its or index cards. This will build up a wordbank. Lay the words out in short lines of 4 or 5words so that everybody can see and by the time therock has been around the circle you will have creat-ed a simple poem by chance. Ask the children toread the poem out loud with you.

This can be the end of the activity. Alternatively youcan build on the poem and start to shape it- for exam-ple:

o Ask the children for new words they havethought of since their "go".o Ask the children how they would like to organ-ise their poem (or choose for them, or ask theteacher in advance to define this) eg structure,shape, number of words in each line, number of syl-lables in each line.o Ask the children about different ways to groupwords eg rhymes, alliteration, number of syllables,similarities and differences, oppositeso Ask the children to develop new code words tomake the poem theirs eg "blue" might become"Rosie's cardigan"o Ask the children to think of alternatives forsome of the simpler words eg "rough" mightbecome "cat tongue" or "sandpaper"; "light" mightbecome "sunshine" or "floating"; "brown" mightbecome "chocolate" or "coffee" o Ask the children to take out words that theydon't need in the poem, and to organise the words tomake a final version.

Because the words are on post-its or index cards,they are easily moved around and placed on the flooror on a board or wall.

Depending on the size of the group, repeat the exer-cise with different rocks so that you can split thegroup to make the final stages more easily managed.This also provides an opportunity for the children toperform their poem to the other groups. Preparingthis activity with the teacher prior to the visit meansthat adult helpers can also be ready to help to lead thelast part of the activity.

Teachers often want to take the word banks back toschool with them for follow-up work. Encouragethis to help to make the museum learning experiencelast for longer.

With adaptations this activity can be used with dif-ferent age groups, and in lots of different ways:

o Use this game as an ice-breaker and to get thechildren thinking and observing and learning how tohandle museum objects correctly, even if the visit isnot about rocks or science.o Use fossils for the activity and use this as a partof a workshop about adaptation or skeletons.Choose objects which you will use again later in adifferent context to introduce themes and encourageobservation.o Suggest this activity to teachers as a way ofusing rocks or fossils in loan boxes. It could helpto engage children with science who are not alwaysswitched on by standard science lessons, or couldbring some science and a tactile activity into litera-cy, English or even other language lessons.o Use the activity as a method for running calm-down handling sessions for families during activitydays. It can be very rewarding and a good learningexperience for families to work with other families,and gets the adults involved. Put the poems up onyour website and make sure that the participantsknow that you plan to do this to encourage moretraffic to your website.

Example of a rock poemThis poem was written by a group of 15 parents andchildren, some of whom have special learning needs,from the Fields Early Years Centre in northCambridge during a visit to the Sedgwick Museum.We used a fossil because so many of the childrenwanted to find out about it. The name of the fossil isunimportant, though I think that the source of inspi-ration will be clear as the words capture it so well.

Toffee coffee brownPolished smooth spiralOld mottled fossilTwinkly shiny sparklyCoiled chambers crystallisedSegmented stripy shellHeavy hollow home

AcknowledgementsThe activity has been developed as an outcome ofinvolvement in "Wordscapes", a creative writing pro-ject led by the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridgewhich was funded by the East of England Hub.

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IntroductionThe GEES Subject Centre is a UK-wide organisationdedicated to supporting learning and teaching inhigher education in the three disciplines through theprovision of information and resources. We workwith both academic (lecturers) and support staff (e.g.lab technicians, cartographers, subject-based librari-ans) in university departments that teach geography,earth or environmental sciences in England,Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Activities and ServicesOur main activities and services cover a wide varietyof current key themes in UK higher education includ-ing employability, linking teaching and research,education for sustainable development, studentrecruitment and retention, assessment, field and lab-oratory work, and supporting widening participation(including students with disabilities). Our core activ-ities include:o National Conferences;o Departmental Workshops (half-day workshopstailored to the needs of individual departments);o An annual residential event for new and aspiringlecturers (e.g. graduate teaching assistants and otherpostgraduate students);o An on-line Resource Database (records coveringcase studies of good practice, tutorials, journal arti-cles, and course textbooks are in the database andreference not only web-based resources but alsophysical resources including books and CDs.);o An annual programme of funding for small-scalelearning & teaching research or development pro-jects (curators may bid for funding but the projectmust meet our required criteria and be led by amember of university staff - seehttp://gees.ac.uk/projtheme/projtheme.htm);

o Research into student learning in the disciplines;o Publications including learning and teachingguides and our bi-annual magazine, 'Planet'.

The majority of our activities are managed in order toencourage collaboration / co-operation between thethree subject areas. However, we are also mindful ofthe individual needs of the disciplines and, to thisend, we have three Senior Advisors who each pro-vide support to their particular subject area. TheEarth Sciences Senior Advisor is Neil Thomas, basedat the School of Earth Sciences & Geography atKingston University. For more information on hisactivities, Neil can be contacted atn.thomas@kingston.ac.uk

How can Geology Curators getinvolved / benefit?Brokering Contacts: The GEES Subject Centre hascontacts in every relevant university department inthe UK. If you are not sure who to contact in yourlocal university then let us know and we can put youin touch with the right person. Emailinfo@gees.ac.uk to enquire.

Publicity: if you would like to publicise your work(individual museums or the GCG as a whole) to uni-versity lecturers then we'd be happy to include you inour regular email newsletter; or if you would like towrite a short article or news item for Planet then we'dbe delighted to receive a draft at any time (seehttp://gees.ac.uk/pubs/planet/index.htm for guide-lines for contributors). Please contact ourDissemination Co-ordinator, Elaine, for more details(Elaine.tilson@plymouth.ac.uk).

Networking / sharing experiences and ideas: our

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EARTH SCIENCE EDUCATION - WAYS OF WORKING TOGETHER

by Dr Helen King

King, H. 2007. Earth Science Education - Ways of Working Together. TheGeological Curator 8(7): 315-316.

The GEES Subject Centre is a UK-wide organisation dedicated to supportinglearning and teaching in higher education in the three disciplines of Geography,Earth and Environmental Sciences. The activities and services provided, and rel-evant contact details are reported.

Dr Helen King, Assistant Director: Higher Education Academy Subject Centre forGeography, Earth & Environmental Sciences (GEES). Received 26th April 2007.

events are not just for university staff, other col-leagues involved in teaching geography, earth orenvironmental sciences are very much welcomed.So do look at our events pages and see what is ofinterest. Conferences coming up that will be relevantinclude:o Recruitment and Retention (how to encourageyoung people to take up our subjects in higher edu-cation): Birmingham, 25th / 26th June 2007o Support Staff (an event specifically for non-aca-demic staff who work with students): Cheltenham,10th September 2007.

For more information on the GEES Subject Centreand any of its activities see our website athttp://www.gees.ac.uk or contact us by telephone(our administrator, Jane: 01752 233 530) or email(our enquiries address: info@gees.ac.uk).

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IntroductionThe 'Museum Buddy Scheme for Schools' proposalresulted from an idea put forward at the workshop"Using objects to extend and enrich scientific think-ing: Museums and schools working together" by asteering group of teachers, museum educators andscientists exploring sciences as a means of extendingand enriching scientific thinking. The workshop,held on 2 February 2005, was part of the ScienceLearning Centre East of England's programme ofProfessional Development for Science educators.The aim of the day was to explore and define naturallinks between collections and programmes in muse-ums and science learning and teaching in schools.

At the end of the meeting, which was held at theScience Learning Centre East of England, the organ-isers, Jenny Duke and Jane Turner, asked those inter-ested in working on collaborative projects to remainfor a discussion. It was soon clear that there wereseveral informal groups gathering within the room.Each group comprised scientists, educators andmuseum staff all talking excitedly and sharing ideason how to make the best of a museum's collection asa resource for teaching and learning for schools.

A number of informal working relationships havebeen developed between museums and schools.However, there is no procedure in place to enableschools and museums to establish a more definiterelationship - "A Museum Buddy Scheme forSchools". Our group arranged to meet with JennyDuke and Jane Turner for a more formal discussionto explore the possibility of using geological collec-tions and to agree our aims and objectives, ourexpected outcomes and our separate roles.

Aims and objectives

o To form a new partnership with a primary schooland a museum to enrich scientific thinking and learn-ing and make meaningful cross-curricular linkso To provide a model of good practice that is sus-tainable and can be adapted by any school at any keystageo To deliver CPD using project case study

Expected Outcomes

o Pupils to produce PowerPoint presentations ofwork for school and museum to evaluateo Teacher and Museum staff to evaluate experi-ence with childreno CPD training pack to be producedo Good practice to be extended throughoutWroxham School and links to be maintained withMill Green Museumo Secondary School to become 'buddy' forMuseumo Science Club to be established in WroxhamSchool

The Partnerso Museums, Libraries and Archives Council - Eastof England www.mlaeastofengland.org.uk o Mill Green Museum, Welwyn Garden Citywww.hertsmuseums.org.uk/millgreen/o Wroxham School, Potters Bar, Herts www.wrox-ham.herts.sch.uk/o Earth Science Consultanto Science Learning Centre East of Englandwww.sciencelearningcentres.org.uk

Museums, Libraries & Archives Council East ofEngland

Jenny Duke is Regional Learning Officer Lead offi-317

THE 'MUSEUM BUDDY SCHEME FOR SCHOOLS': AN EXAMPLE OF GOOD PRACTICE

by Cally Oldershaw and Simon Putman

Oldershaw C.J.E. and Putman S. 2007. The 'Museum Buddy Scheme for Schools':an example of good practice. The Geological Curator 8(7): 317-320.

The 'Museum Buddy Scheme for Schools' is an example of good practice - engag-ing primary children in science activities and facilitating the development of along-term collaborative relationship between a school and a museum.

Cally Oldershaw, Earth Science Education Consultant, 12 Albert Street, St Albans,Herts AL1 1RU; e-mail: cally.oldershaw@btopenworld.com. Simon Putman,Deputy Head, The Wroxham School, Wroxham Gardens, Potters Bar,Hertfordshire, EN6 3DJ; e-mail: simonputman@aol.com. Received 18thMay2007.

cer for learning initiatives, cross domain for theMuseums, Libraries & Archives Council East ofEngland (EEMLAC). EEMLAC aims to supportmuseums, libraries and archives in the East ofEngland in developing high quality learning opportu-nities for school age children in both formal andinformal settings. It is funded by the Department ofCulture Media and Sport (DCMS) through theMuseums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA).Their website states EEMLAC is "part of the newMLA Partnership covering all of the Regions ofEngland, working together to improve people's livesthrough access to museum, library and archive col-lections and resources - building knowledge, sup-porting learning, inspiring creativity and celebratingidentity."

Mill Green Museum, Hatfield

Caroline Rawle is the Museum Curator. Mill GreenMuseum is a local history museum for the WelwynHatfield District. It is housed in what was for cen-turies the home of the millers who worked in theadjoining watermill. The watermill is fully restoredand operational. Visitors can watch milling of organ-ic flour and see the waterwheel in action. The muse-um contains two permanent galleries displaying localartefacts from prehistory to the present day.

The Wroxham School, Hertfordshire

Simon Putman is Deputy Head and Year 6 teacher atThe Wroxham School. The school is an average sizednon-denominational mixed primary school with 240pupils aged 4-11 years old. It is situated in a residen-tial area on the edge of Potters Bar. Year 6 pupils,Cheryl Lynch (Year 1 teacher) and Year 1 pupils werealso 'partners with a voice'.

Earth Science Consultant

Cally Oldershaw has more than 20 years experienceworking in science education and science communi-cation. An experienced teacher and author, Cally hasan international reputation as a Geologist andGemmologist. Former Education and ParliamentaryOfficer at the Geological Society and Gemmologistat the Natural History Museum, Cally has helped todevelop and deliver workshops for science teachersand technicians and resources to support scienceteaching and learning.

Science Learning Centre East of England

Jane Turner is Deputy Director of the ScienceLearning East of England, part of the national net-work of Science Learning Centres (SLCs) set up bythe DfES in October 2004 to provide continuing pro-

fessional development for teachers, technicians andteaching assistants working in all phases of scienceeducation.

The Project The Geological Curators Group was contacted inorder that they might be invited to join the team, butunfortunately there was no museum in the area whichhad both geological collections and a geologicalcurator. The team met at Mill Green Museum in Apriland toured the site and explored the resources (bothon display and in storage). The collections had a fewgeological specimens, but it was agreed that theywere not ideal for this project i.e. defining naturallinks between the geological collections, museumeducation programmes and science learning andteaching in schools. The museum mill and local his-tory collections and galleries were deemed moresuitable.

Science Objectives identified

AT1o Planning experimental work (raising questions,making predictions, devising a fair test, choosingequipment)o Obtaining evidence (observation and measure-ment, recording data, using equipment)o Considering evidence (organising results andobserving patterns, evaluating tests and drawingconclusions)

KS1/KS2 primary science curriculum links iden-tified

QCA/DfES Schemes of Work http://www.stan-dards.dfes.gov.uk/schemes2/science/?view=get o Forces and movement 2Eo Friction 4Eo Rocks and soils 3Do Balanced and unbalanced forces 6Eo Growing plants 1B

Cross curricular links identified

o Literacy - Report writing, explanation andinstruction writingo Maths - Ratioo Art - Observational drawing, pattern and textureo ICT - PowerPoint and multimedia presentationso DT - Bread 5B, Structures 6A, Mechanisms 5Co PSHE - Co-operating with others

Museum Curator visits the school

Simon and Caroline arranged for Sarah Adamson,the Museum Arts and Heritage Education and

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Development Officer to visit the school with a fewmuseum specimens in order to enthuse and engagethe pupils. Sarah invited pupils to visit the museumand asked for their help to evaluate the museum gal-leries. She also said that she needed their help toarrange a visit for Year 1 pupils. She asked 'How canthe Museum be used to help younger children learnabout science?' The request for help may be real orbased on a hypothetical situation e.g. museum/speci-mens need replacing, destroyed by fire, need newworksheets etc.

Year 6 pupils visit the Museum

Pupils suggested solutions and planned their museumvisit (web search etc.). Following their visit, Year 6pupils presented museum staff with honest and clear-ly argued evaluation of the museum and its exhibi-tions. As part of the solution to the request for theirhelp, Year 6 pupils chose to develop worksheets andtrial activities that they thought would engage theyounger pupils and help them learn about science.They prepared presentations and portfolios, complet-ed self-evaluations and continued with the task backat school. The development of the activities and thecreative input were led by the pupils, with guidancefrom staff as necessary.

Year 6 pupils tried out the four activities at themuseum

Key:

Each activity will last 90 minutes and be led by 1adult/teacherActivity AObjective: Design and make a Water Wheel to pull a50g weight 1m.Learning outcomes: Children will understand theneed for the careful design and testing of a machinethat will use water (a clean energy source) to carryout a task. Potential and kinetic energy will beexplored and discussed. Activity BObjective: To use a digital photograph to explore thetexture and pattern of wooden beams inside MillGreen mill, with pencil, oil pastel and clay.Learning outcomes: Children will make a clay tileusing sketches and enlargements made from a digitalphotograph they have selected. Texture and patternwill be generated using clay tools to understand the

beauty of the ancient wooden beams.Activity CObjective: To plan a trip for Key Stage 1 (Year 1)children to Mill Green Museum, with a focus on sci-ence, based on a story.Learning outcomes: Children will learn how to plana trip for Year 1 and several Year 6 children will leadthe activities on the day of the trip. Children willunderstand the learning needs of children youngerthan themselves and how to liaise with museum staffto put forward their proposals.Activity DObjective: To work with archives, looking at photosthrough time.Learning outcomes: Children will learn to sequenceobjects in time and introduces children to the con-cepts of 'old' and 'new', and encourages them to thinkabout the changes in their own lives and in those oftheir family or adults around them. Children willunderstand that some things were different in thepast.

Year 1 pupils visit the Museum 'run' by Year 6pupils

Year 6 were then given the opportunity of 'runningthe museum' for a day. The museum was closed tothe public during a week day and Year 6 organisedtickets and set up the activities. They prepared Year 1pupils for their visit and accompanied them whilethey completed the activities:

o The science of herbs: seeds were planted in apart of the museum garden (rocks and soils, grow-ing plants)o Making bread: followed by setting tables for atea party for pupils (changing materials)o Gears and cogs: the working mill was visitedand a model of the mill was used to help understandthe workings of the mill (forces)o Going on an archaeological dig: in part of themuseum garden and working with Plaster of ParisTM

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Figure 1. The Mill Green Museum. Photo: the MillGreen Museum.

Activity A Activity B Activity C Activity D1 2 3 4

Group 2 3 4 13 4 1 24 1 2 3

o Being a Roman: dressing in togaso Cleaning up: dolly washing using washing'machines' from earlier times.

Year 1 pupils thoroughly enjoyed their visit and wereengaged in the activities. Year 6 were well focusedand took their responsibilities seriously, while alsoenjoying the day.

EvaluationFollowing the visit, Year 6 continued to work on theirpresentations, portfolios and self-evaluation, inpreparation for giving presentations at the schoolopen evening for parents and pupils. They were alsogiven the opportunity to broadcast their news on theschool radio system, transmitted throughout theschool. The Year 6 classroom was changed into amuseum for an open day and Year 6 pupils were ableto enthuse the rest of the school to such an extent thatYear 5 pupils (now Year 6) are already looking for-ward to 'running the museum' for a day and havestarted to make plans for 'their Buddy day' - evenbefore the school visit by the Museum Curator.

Strengthening the bonds of the 'Museum BuddyScheme' and dissemination of good practice

Since visiting the museum, pupils have been back tothe museum independently with friends and family,further cementing the bonds between pupils and'their museum'. They have some of their work on dis-play in a special case reserved for exhibits from theirschool, which they are proud to show family andfriends. Some Year 6 pupils, now in Year 7, havereturned to visit the museum from their secondaryschool and there are plans to introduce a local sec-ondary school to the museum, to further develop thecross-phase 'Museum Buddy Scheme for Schools'.

This year the plan is to also allow Year 6 to 'run themuseum' for a day for Year 1 pupils, but also to 'run

the museum' for a day at the weekend and to invitefamily and friends, in order to engage the local com-munity to a greater extent. The project has been agreat success and the museum staff, teachers andpupils have enjoyed the 'Museum Buddy Scheme' aswell as establishing a strong and lasting bond. As partof the dissemination of this example of good prac-tice, Primary School Headteachers from Welwyn andHatfield have attended 'Museums in Classrooms'INSET (teacher training, teacher CPD) at Mill GreenMuseum. In addition, the MLA East of England hascommissioned the production of a DVD to promotethe 'Museum Buddy Scheme for Schools' to a wideraudience.

AcknowledgementsCosts for the preparation and development of theproposal, including preliminary meetings, were sup-ported by the Science Learning Centre East ofEngland. Grant support was provided by theMuseums, Libraries & Archives Council East ofEngland (MLA East of England), which is funded bythe Department of Culture Media and Sport (DCMS)through the Museums, Libraries and ArchivesCouncil (MLA).

We would also like to thank Caroline Rawle(Museum Curator), Carol Rigby (Facility Manager)and Sarah Adamson (Museum Arts and HeritageEducation and Development Officer) at the MillGreen Museum, Hatfield for their support and enthu-siasm for the project and for taking the risk and trust-ing the children to run the museum for a day.

ReferencesMUSEUMS LIBRARIES ARCHIVES COUNCIL

EAST OF ENGLAND 2004. Excellence,Enjoyment and Engagement: Museums workingtogether with schools in the East of England(EEMLAC, 2004) pp39.

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Figure 2. Wroxham School year 6 pupils getting hands-on experience in the mill, working with musical instru-ments from the collections of the Mill Green Museumduring their first visit. Photo: Simon Putman.

Figure 3. Wroxham School year 1 pupils enjoying out-door activities in the gardens of the Mill Green Museumduring their break-time, organised by year 6 pupils.Photo: Simon Putman

Introduction"The Bone Trail" is an exciting education projectwhich was piloted in 2006. It was funded jointly bythe British Society for the History of Science, BoltonLocal Authority Secondary Strategy, and theManchester Museum. A team of three educators - oneacademic historian of science (the author), and twoscience teachers (Peter Fowler and Alison Henning)- designed two full days of activities for Year 9 stu-dents on the history of comparative anatomy, geolo-gy, and palaeontology, drawing extensively on theskills of Phil Manning and David Craven fromManchester and Bolton museums respectively, andrespected historians of geology Hugh Torrens andEric Robinson. The team had three aims: o to develop resources for thinking skills to mixedability classes, not just those children identified asgifted and talented, o to inspire enthusiasm in earth sciences in particu-lar and in learning in general,o and to test highly engaging activities which woulddraw secondary age children into museums.

Most English primary schools use topics to teach andintegrate history and geography, science and art, lit-eracy and numeracy, themes such as "where we live"or "life in the 1930s." In secondary schools, childreninstead experience subjects as separate, and for manychildren this appears to be when they decide that theydo not like or are not good at science or the humani-ties, or indeed that they do not belong in school at all.We wanted to reunite science with history, maths, lit-erature, art, and food technology, to combat this ten-

dency. Interdisciplinary activities encourage childrento reflect on their process skills, and offer scope forteachers to cater to the full range of learning prefer-ences. We have tried to produce materials which areas enriching and fun as those sometimes made avail-able to children identified as gifted and talented,intended for use with all children, as we believe thatevery child can benefit, intellectually and socially,from the extra attention and from making connec-tions between different subject areas.

The full range of resources are available to downloadat www.bshs.org.uk/bshs/outreach. We welcome sug-gestions for how to improve them and stories of theiruse in classrooms and museums. To give you a taster,here is part of the "Edible Geology" activity. In thefull set of resources, children are given two ways tomake three-dimensional models of the solid geologyin their local area, firstly with bread and butter andcheese, and secondly in three colours of chocolate;printed here is the recipe for the second and sweeteroption. Making edible models helps children learnhow sedimentary rocks are made, and the theory ofsuperposition. Sculpting with food also increasesinterest and engagement in group discussion of thedifferent purposes for and relations between variousways of representing strata - two-dimensional repre-sentations such as cross-sections and surface viewsof solid geology, and three-dimensional models suchas relief maps.

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THE BONE TRAIL: GENERATING ENTHUSIASM FOR EARTH SCIENCES IN THE CLASSROOM AND MUSEUM

by Emm Barnes

Barnes, E. 2007. The Bone Trail: generating enthusiasm for earth sciences in theclassroom and museum. The Geological Curator 8(7): 321-323.

"The Bone Trail" is an exciting education project which was piloted in 2006. It wasfunded jointly by the British Society for the History of Science, Bolton LocalAuthority Secondary Strategy, and the Manchester Museum. A team of three edu-cators - one academic historian of science (the author), and two science teachers(Peter Fowler and Alison Henning) - designed two full days of activities for Year9 students on the history of comparative anatomy, geology, and palaeontology.

Dr Emm Barnes, Former chair of the Outreach and Education Committee of theBritish Society for the History of Science, Centre for the History of Science,Technology and Medicine, University of Manchester, Simon Building, OxfordRoad, Manchester M13 9PL, UK. email: emm.barnes@manchester.ac.uk Received22 May 2007.

Stratified chocolate refrigerator cakeIn 1859, Punch jokingly suggesting that a good wayto teach the public about geology would be throughthe sale of layered cakes: "Let cakes be made to illus-trate the science of geology - composed of strataresembling those of the earth except in their relationto the sense of taste. Children might thus be crammedat once with cake and geological science, and acquirea knowledge of the crust of the earth in eating themodel of it."1

In this recipe, children sandwich a cherry-studdedlayer in between two other strata of chocolate "rock."After it has set, they create a fault line to reveal thecherry seam.

Ingredients100g white chocolate100g milk chocolate100g dark chocolate3 pieces of butter each weighing 20g25g rice crispies120g glace cherries, cut into halves (if not available,use sultanas or raisins)75g digestive biscuits, turned into crumbsYou also need a round cake tin 15-17 cm in diameter.(Small disposable foil baking trays also work and cansimply be ripped open when it is time to cut, mineand eat the cake, which removes the need to line thecake tins.)

Method1. Prepare the cake tin (ifusing) by lining it with bakingparchment.

2. Melt the white chocolatewith one of 20g pieces of but-ter, in a microwave oven onmedium power (set it for 30seconds and then stir, andrepeat until it is melted; it willtake about 2 minutes in total),or in a heatproof bowl placedover a saucepan of simmeringwater.Add the rice crispies.Pour the mixture into the caketin, level it off and pressdown. (Here you are com-pressing "sediments" to helpthem become densely packedrock.) Place somewhere cold

to help it set a little while you prepare the next layer.

3. Melt the milk chocolate with 20g of the butter asabove.Add the cherries.Pour on top of the white chocolate layer, and level itthen press down.

4. Melt the dark chocolate with the remaining 20g ofbutter.Add the biscuit crumbs.Pour onto the top of the other two layers, level it andthen press firmly.

4. Place the cake tin in a refrigerator and leave to setfor about 8 hours.Once the cake has set, remove it from the tin by lift-ing it out on the baking parchment. Carefully removethe paper. Leave to warm for 15 minutes or so beforeattempting to "fault" the "rock."

5. Take a sharp knife and make a cut through themiddle of the cake, preferably at a slight angle ratherthan straight down. This is your fault line.

6. Now move one of the pieces so that the top of thedark chocolate layer on one half is level with themiddle of top of the milk chocolate layer on theother, exposing the cherry seam. If you like, youcould use toothpicks to carefully mine out the cher-ries. Try not to disturb the other layers of rock - youdon't want to cause a rock fall!

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Figure 1. Eating the finished cake.

1 "Geological Twelfth-Cakes," Punch 36 (1859) p. 31.

During the pilot it was obvi-ous that those activities whichavoided worksheets were themost popular, stimulating dis-cussion over lunch breaks andon follow-up weblog sites setup for the purposes of evalu-ating the activities. One of thesimplest activities was to pre-sent children with two differ-ent solid geology maps ofEngland, one a replica ofWilliam Smith's 1815 map,the first ever produced whichrepresented the whole coun-try, and the other a modernsurvey, and set the childrenthree tasks on which to workin small groups. These wereto write down the similaritiesand differences between thetwo maps, to try to answer when each had beendrawn, and to come up with their own questionsabout the maps. This last was crucial, as it encour-aged the students to decide what the most interestingquestions about the maps were, and allowed theirteachers to more accurately assess the level at whichindividual children were working. We found thatchildren were stunned to discover that the older maphad been produced almost two centuries ago, fromthe work of one surveyor, especially given how sim-ilar were the two maps.

To explore how we know how extinct animals lookedand moved, we set the children the task of each com-piling a one-page poster about the history of theoriesabout dinosaurs using internet searches. We recom-mended several sites rich in reproductions of artists'reconstructions from the nineteenth and twentiethcenturies, as well as the use of image search engines,so that children could discover for themselves howtheories about the animals' anatomy and physiologyhad evolved over time. They showed great sophisti-cation thinking about how to present their findings totheir peers.

The final activity was for teams to design and build alife-size model of an iguanadon leg from galvanisedwire, newspaper, and gauze impregnated with plasterof paris. Children started by dissecting cooked chick-en legs to calculate how to the muscles on a present-day descendent of the dinosaurs attach to the bones.We then set them a simple maths problem: to scale upfrom chicken to iguanadon, remembering that vol-ume increases on the cube rule. In the Manchesterpilot, we were fortunate enough to have a fossilisediguanadon femur to help children calculate the sizeof the model leg required. The resulting modelswere, frankly, stunning. Some of those children oftendisruptive in the classroom proved themselves to begreat engineers and team-leaders in this exercise, andwe could see their self-esteem grow as the modelstook shape.

For further information on the project, please con-tact emm.barnes@manchester.ac.uk, oroutreach@bshs.org.uk.

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Figure 2. After 90 minutes of modeling.

Taylor, Michael A. 2007. Hugh Miller: stonemason,geologist, writer. NMS Enterprises Limited, NationalMuseums of Scotland, Edinburgh. 176pp. Paperback.ISBN 978-1-905267-05-7. Price £12.99

Hugh Miller (1802-1856) was a powerful force in theearly history of Scottish geology. Through his writings forthe general public he excited an interest in geology at atime when the science was rapidly developing into afavoured pastime in Britain. Miller was also a significantfigure in religious debate that led to the establishment ofthe Free Church of Scotland ('free' that is from landlordand state interference in its religious business). He was acomplex individual - insubordinate schoolboy, lacking informal education but widely read, positioned to betterhimself but stubbornly embarking on a career as a stone-mason, and argumentative but rich in friends and family.

Miller is not a new subject for biography or analysis, hewas a much talked about character in his lifetime - paint-ed, sketched and even photographed (by the pioneeringcalotype process). Mike Taylor has drawn on extensivepersonal research and the culmination of numerous arti-cles arising form a bicentenary conference in 2002.Together with the voluminous writings by Miller (numer-ous books and pamphlets and columns in the newspaperhe edited) it is a daunting task to pull together a genuineand fair summary of a complex character who died a cen-tury and a half ago. Taylor has done this well, not just tothe satisfaction of a reader encountering Miller for the firsttime but also for the experts, in the words of one descen-dant 'I felt no connection whatsoever with the interpreta-tion of Hugh's character by some biographers. But inMike's Hugh, I recognise Family.'

The chapters are structured not as a heavy dish consumingevery scrap of knowledge about their subject but as a tastermenu giving a flavour of the various sides to Miller andstages in his life. There are endnotes for those who want tocheck facts and an extensive structured bibliography foranyone who wants to navigate their way into Miller's writ-ings.

Miller grew up in the small fishing village of Cromarty, inan area of classic geology. As a stonemason he was high-ly observant and an avid collector, not just of prize speci-mens but of the scraps of Old Red Sandstone fishes thataided their reconstruction as once-living animals, very dif-ferent to any of the fisherman's experience. His worldview widened considerably when he relocated to the'Athens of the North' as Edinburgh was known at the time.The move broadened his experience of geology andopened him to encounters with academics; he was able toinclude Archibald Geikie and Louis Agassiz among hisadmirers.

His tragic death at a relatively early age came at a timewhen geology was passing to a new professional class ofscientist. His son, also Hugh Miller, followed this routeand re-mapped the Cromarty area, noting with great satis-faction that his father had properly understood the localstratigraphy. Hugh Miller senior was a man of his time andplace. To savour his works try reading aloud, slowly, asthey would have been read throughout Scotland in familyhomes on quiet Sundays. Then the quality of his writingcomes through. In his native Cromarty he lives on in localmonuments and folklore while for many curators heappears in the classic armoured Devonian fishPterichthyodes milleri (Agassiz). If this was your onlyencounter with Miller to date, he deserves that you readthis book.

Mr Nigel T. Monaghan, National Museum of Ireland,Merrion Street, Dublin 2, Ireland. 1 May 2007.

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BOOK REVIEW

IntroductionThe Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences is a part ofthe Department of Earth Sciences at the University ofCambridge. The oldest of the University Museumsin Cambridge, it aims to promote access to and stim-ulate learning through the collections in its care. TheMuseum has a long history of being a friendly andaccessible place of learning for the whole communi-ty.

The past 10 years have seen significant changesbeing made to the exhibitions and interpretation ofthe objects on display in the public gallery (Figure 1).As we have improved access to the objects andopportunities for learning from them, we have alsobegun to build formal and informal education pro-grammes to complement these improvements. Onesignificant aspect of this has been the implementa-tion of a schools service, and the development oftaught sessions and resources which address theneeds of teachers and pupils with respect to theNational Curriculum and the associated schemes ofwork. The majority of school visits to the SedgwickMuseum are by primary schools. Despite numerousattempts to encourage secondary schools to visit forcurriculum-related science sessions, the lack of ateaching space which can accommodate a wholeclass and lack of access to a laboratory space for car-rying out practical experiments deters them.

The project described in this report was the result ofa partnership between the Sedgwick Museum andSuffolk County Council, aiming to provide novellearning resources to support teaching and learningof science at Key Stage 3 (pre-GCSE secondary, chil-dren aged 11-14) and to promote museum visits as ameans of achieving improved understanding of cer-tain aspects of the science curriculum, in particularearth science.

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IDEAS AND EVIDENCE AT THE SEDGWICK MUSEUM OF EARTH SCIENCES: NEW RESOURCES FOR

SECONDARY SCIENCEby Annette Shelford and Shawn Peart

Shelford, A. and Peart, S. 2007. Ideas and evidence at the Sedgwick Museum ofEarth Sciences: new resources for secondary science. The Geological Curator8(7): 325-330.

Developing new learning resources for schools can be a good way of attractingvisits, building new partnerships and sharing skills and expertise among museumstaff. How can we make sure that geological collections are fully utilised for allof the learning opportunities that they offer? A project at the Sedgwick Museumof Earth Sciences has identified a target audience and through collaborative workwith teachers and a consultant has produced a new pack of resources and activitiesto engage secondary school pupils with earth sciences in the context of Ideas andEvidence.

Annette Shelford (Education Officer, Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences,University of Cambridge) and Shawn Peart (Secondary Science StrategyConsultant, Suffolk County Council) Received 27 June 2007.

Figure 1. View of the Sedgwick Museum of EarthSciences "Oak Wing". New exhibitions were opened in2001 which retain a specimen-rich, stratigraphic fossildisplay style within the listed interior layout and casesbut also introduced vibrant colour, interpretative text,images and models to bring the objects to life.

Through programmes of funding for strategic com-missioning, regional Museum, Libraries andArchives Councils (MLA's) are encouraging muse-ums to work closely with schools to develop newlearning resources and create new opportunities forlearning and professional development for teachersand museum staff. This project was planned on asimilar basis, funded by Suffolk County Council withmatching, mostly in-kind funding provided by theSedgwick Museum. A partnership was developedbetween the Secondary Science Strategy Consultantfor Suffolk, the Education Officer at the SedgwickMuseum and three teachers from schools close to theSuffolk/Cambridgeshire border. The teaching of"Ideas and Evidence" at Key Stage 3 (KS3) has beenidentified as an area which needs strengthening with-in the partner local authority. Ideas and Evidence isan aspect of the science curriculum that focuses onthe nature of science and how ideas and evidence areused to construct scientific theories and geology, inparticular palaeontology, provides fertile ground fordeveloping this aspect of the curriculum (e.g. Figure2).

This project has provided an opportunity for theSedgwick Museum to build new relationships withnearby middle and secondary schools. Through col-laborative work we have developed new teachingresources and activities for use in the Museum whichbuild on the strengths of the Museum- the collec-tions, exhibitions, and the specialist subject and col-lections knowledge of the museum staff. This hasbeen achieved through focussing on a curricular areawhich is mostly conceptual in content, so can betaught effectively using a much broader scope ofactivities than might be expected for secondary sci-ence.

Why ideas and evidence?Ideas and Evidence was introduced as an aspect ofschool science after the National Curriculum forEngland and Wales was reviewed in 2000. Until theadvent of the National Strategy for Science it was anarea that was not planned for or taught explicitly,despite being fundamental to a real understanding ofscience and how it works. This part of the core cur-riculum involves the development of key skills suchas observation, questioning and predicting alongwith gaining an appreciation of how science and sci-entific techniques have changed through time, andhow creative thinking lies at the heart of science.

The project and the materials we have developedconcentrate on supporting the delivery of the follow-ing objectives from KS 3 Ideas and Evidence:

"Pupils should be taught:o That it is important to test explanations by usingthem to make predictions and by seeing if evidencematches the predictions

o About the ways in which scientists work todayand how they worked in the past, including the rolesof experimentation, evidence and creative thought inthe development of scientific ideas."

Recent changes to the GCSE science curriculummean that the emphasis has moved away from theprovision of facts to be recalled in the exam hall to aprocess where teachers are aiming to help pupils todevelop their scientific thinking. KS3 science isbeing reviewed at present, and the new programmeof study will include adaptations designed to betterintroduce the pupils to the concepts they will need tocarry on to GSCE, A-level and beyond. At presentthere are very few classroom or museum resourceswhich specifically address this area of the curricu-lum.

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Figure 2. Ideas and evidence in the exhibitions. This casedisplays the Devonian fossil Acanthostega. The textlabels encourage observation of the fish-like skeletonwhich includes leg bones, and how and why this is sig-nificant. The text labels feature magnifying glass or lightbulb icons to indicate observations/ideas or evidence-based interpretation. The model and illustration showother interpretations of the animal such as posture,lifestyle and colour which the large label nearest to themodel invites the viewer to challenge.

At the Sedgwick Museum, the new exhibitionsinclude text labels which were designed and writtento emphasise the processes of scientific thinking -observation and questioning, hypothesis and evi-dence- which are needed to interpret fossils androcks. Producing a learning resource to cover suchan abstract area of the curriculum can exemplify thecreative elements of scientific thinking, reinforcingthe understanding that science is not always aboutright answers but more about having an idea andbeing able to articulate and demonstrate the evidenceto support it. This is a particular strength whenworking with geological and natural history collec-tions. Geologists understand and appreciate that thehistory of the science is littered with examples of dif-fering interpretations and changing ideas which are afunction of knowledge and experience both of theindividual and of the time (Figure 3). A good exam-ple of this is the different interpretations of posture,mode of life and even the position of different bodyparts of Iguanodon. This and a further example areused in pre-visit activities in the pack- what can we

learn about scientific thinking by identifying a linkbetween fossils and the mythologies of early cul-tures? Could ancient Greeks have interpreted thebones of a mammoth or mastodon as those of a one-eyed monster? Where might legends of dragons ineastern cultures have originated- from dinosaurskeletons in the Gobi Desert?

An activity called "Bag of Bones" also highlights thesorts of fundamental questions which palaeontolo-gists have to answer with every new find. How dowe rearrange a jumble of bones to make sense ofthem? Would everybody make the same interpreta-tion? (See Figure 4).

This activity asks the pupils to make decisions andprovide an interpretation based on their own knowl-edge. Ultimately they are asked to discuss the ques-tion at the basis of the ideas and evidence: Is therealways a correct answer?

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Figure 3. How would a palaeontolo-gist who had never seen a mammothor elephant interpret its bones?These illustrations from AdrienneMayor's book "The First FossilHunters" provide a possible solution,suggesting a link between mytholo-gy and ancient fossil finds in ancientGreece. The mammoth model isinset for comparison.

Planning and consultation The production of these resources has been carriedout in consultation with teachers or by them- thebedrock of any museum learning resource aimed atschools. The funding for the project included 2 dayscover for 3 teachers. This allowed a one-day INSETvisit to the Museum to work with the education offi-cer and discuss ideas. This was followed by a one-day session with the consultant to consolidate ideasfollowing the museum visit and produce some draftactivities.

The first draft pack was further consolidated by theeducation officer and the consultant. Teacher evalu-ation of the pack was carried out during a trainingday which included a practical workshop to try outand discuss the classroom-based activities. This,along with feedback from staff and volunteers at theSedgwick provided sufficient input to produce a finaldraft.

What have we made?The pack includes pre- and post visit lesson plansand resources as well as teachers notes and a bookletof activities for pupils to work through during theMuseum visit. A loan box of rocks, minerals and fos-sils has also been developed and is available to use tosupport pre-visit describing and questioning activi-ties, as well as other parts of the secondary science orgeography curriculum which include direct referenceto rocks and fossils, ie:

Scienceo Unit 8G: Rocks and weatheringo Unit 8H: The rock cycle

Geographyo Unit 2: The restless earth - earthquakes and vol-canoeso Unit 8: Coastal environmentso Unit 13: Limestone landscapes of England

Providing a handling set presents a valuable opportu-nity for pupils to experience and investigate the rocktypes being referred to throughout these units, whichcan enrich the learning experience for the pupils, andemphasise the real-world relevance of what they arebeing taught.

The activities in the pack combine classroom- andmuseum-based practical work including questioninggames, image and object interpretation and simple"trail" activities which are designed to introduce the

key concepts of ideas and evidence. Follow-upactivities extend and reinforce what the pupils havelearned and all have a strong emphasis on creativity.

ExamplesPre-visit activity - Bag of Bones

Pupils are given a "bag of bones"; a collection ofpaper cut-out bone shapes. They are asked to imag-ine that they are palaeontologists who have justunearthed a new find and need to try to reconstruct it.Two examples are shown in Figure 4.

The cut-out shapes are suggestive of different"generic" bones; pointed teeth or claws, long limbbones, spindle-shaped vertebral bones, large elongatepelvic or skull bones, but there is no right answer tothis puzzle! By comparing the different skeletonsthey come up with the pupils will experience througha practical example that scientific interpretation isevidence and understanding-based, and the way that

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Figure 4. What can we make from a jumbled bag ofbones? Two skeletons which interpret the bones inentirely different ways produced by young people on awork placement at Suffolk County Council. Would agreater understanding of anatomy have made a differenceto these interpretations?

they interpret a shape may notbe the same as that of a class-mate. Through discussion thepupils are then encouraged tothink about what other factorsmight lead to differing inter-pretations, and how new infor-mation eg that there are somebones missing or that there arebones from more than one ani-mal present, can change thefinal interpretation. These areall real problems for palaeon-tologists; the pupils are experi-encing real science! The pupilsalso have an opportunity tobuild on this activity and seehow differing interpretationsthrough time have influenced"real" palaeontology throughinvestigations into Iguanodonand the painting "DuriaAntiquior". They also carryout their own evidence-basedreconstruction based around aninvestigation of aDeinotherium skull when theyvisit the Museum.

Visit activity -"Palaeontologists picture"

The pupils are asked to inter-pret an image (Figure 5) whichis included in the exhibitions of Ice Age fossils in theMuseum. Using a strategy for improving cross-cur-ricular thinking which is part of the secondary strat-egy project Leading in Learning, the pupils are askedto "read" the photograph by looking closely thenquestioning it. This builds on a pre-visit activitywhere the pupils look at conflicting images of andstatements referring to Mary Anning, and gives thema "real" opportunity to test their ability to questioneffectively using the 5 W's - Who, Where, When,What and Why. More importantly they need to justi-fy their answers with evidence found within the pho-tograph.

For example, following the eye-lines of the figures inthe photograph can produce the following:Question: What is most important in the photograph?Answer: Whatever is being excavated.Evidence: All three people in the photograph arelooking at it.

Question: Who did most of the work to unearth thefossil?Answer: The man with the spadeEvidence: He is dirtiest so looks like he has donemore digging.

This question, like many others that the picture cangenerate, offers the opportunity for thinking at dif-ferent levels and draws on the experience and knowl-edge that the pupils have of social history.Classroom discussion following the visit couldinclude looking closer at this evidence and asking"but what about the man with the brush- he is nearerto the pickaxe and the fossil and looks most active"or reading the social hierarchy represented moreclosely based on clothing and posture. There is also

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Figure 5. C. E. Grey, E. Lloyd Jones and ArthurHardman excavating a woolly rhinoceros skull fromBarrington Pit, Cambridgeshire, in 1910. What else doesthis photograph record?

the opportunity for discussing how this scene mightbe different if it were a present day excavation. Howhave fabrics and outdoor clothing changed? Whatmight this mean in terms of safety? Would the samehierarchy be so clearly visible in a photograph takentoday?

To concludeThe activities we have devised are all intended todevelop and build on the following to support Ideasand Evidence at Key Stage 3

o Developing key scientific skills - observing andquestioning, and building up a vocabulary to facili-tate this.

o Learning about different types of evidence - canobservations of the object answer the question, do weneed to do experiments, or do we need to look at asecondary source of information to find the answer?

o Making decisions and working out how to findanswers - what experiments would we need to do tofind the answer we want? What do we need to lookfor? Which piece of evidence is the most com-pelling?

As well as directly addressing the curriculum for sci-ence, the thinking, observation and social aspects ofthe work take the pupils beyond the classroom andinto the realms of 'real' palaeontology and give thema glimpse of what scientific research needs to encom-pass.

This project was funded by Suffolk County Council.Cost: £1500 for teacher placements, travel and sub-sistence, production of loan box, reproduction anddistribution of resources on CD, training and launchINSET day for Suffolk teachers. Time in kind: con-sultant approximately 8 days, education officerapproximately 10 days (match funding).

Funding is available from all UK regional MLA'sthrough strategic commissioning for projects of thisnature that build partnerships between museums andschools. Working with the support of a local authori-ty advisor or consultant can help to keep the projecton track and the teachers involved. Projects seekingthis funding do not have to be led by specialist edu-cation staff, which presents an opportunity for cura-tors of geological collections to get involved andgain some experience of working with teachers andproducing resources for schools.

The pupil and teacher booklets and support materials"Ideas and Evidence at the Sedgwick Museum ofEarth Sciences" will all be available to download,free of charge, from www.sedgwickmuseum.org/education/resources.

AcknowledgementsThanks to our partner teachers and schools for theircontributions and enthusiasm during the project: PaulDainty (Great Cornard Upper School), Sarah Taylor(St. James Middle School) and David Heap (WestleyMiddle School).

References"Leading in Learning"http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/secondary/keystage3/downloads/sec_pptl043904u16leading_a.pdf

MAYOR, A. 2000. The First Fossil Hunters.Palaeontology in Greek and Roman times. PrincetonUniversity Press.

QCA schemes of workhttp://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/schemes3/

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IntroductionEvery year, during the February school half term, thegeology department, at Bristol's City Museum andArt gallery (BMAG), run a one-day geology out-reach event called the “Rocky Road Show”. This is adrop in event where the public are able to touch realfossils, use a microscope, have their specimens iden-tified and meet various geological experts and organ-isations in the South West. The centrepiece of thisevent is the life sized reconstruction of the 8.5 metrelong Westbury Pliosaur 2, (See figure 1). Whilst thisevent already has lots to offer the public there was aneed to produce a fun,engaging and creativeactivity appropriate foryounger audiences andrelated to the event, thatproduced something thatthe participants could takehome with them. Owingto the eye-catching cen-trepiece of the event itwas decided to create anactivity based on thepliosaur.

The Westbury Pliosaur 2was preserved in

Kimmeridge limestone with the small parts of theskeleton washed up against the larger elements suchas the skull and pelvis. To extract the skeleton fromthe ground the larger skeletal elements, including thesurrounding smaller bones, were removed in largeblocks of rock. These were then brought back to thelaboratory where each bone was prepared out of therock using air pens and air abrasives. The skeletonwas then reconstructed by analysing the shape of thebones and how each fitted together in life. Theprocess of excavation and reconstruction of thepliosaur was used as the basis for this self-led activi-ty aimed at family audiences.

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RECONSTRUCTING FOSSILS: A DROP IN, SELF LED GEOLOGICAL ACTIVITY

by Tim Ewin

Ewin, T.A.M. 2007. Reconstructing fossils: A drop in, self led geological activity.The Geological Curator 8(7): 331-334.

A fun activity, aimed at younger family audiences, requiring minimal directionfrom museum staff was developed to run alongside the display of a life size recon-struction of a pliosaur. The activity involves cutting out the jumbled bones andbody parts of a pliosaur from a worksheet and then reassembling the creature bystudying the complex shapes of the various parts. The participants were also askedto name the various skeletal parts. Analogies between this activity and how theactual fossil pliosaur was prepared and reconstructed were emphasised and there-by going someway to demystifying science.

Ewin, T.A.M. Assistant Curator of Geology, Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery,Queens Road, Bristol, BS8 1RL, e-mail: tim.ewin@bristol.gov.uk. Received 21stMay 2007.

Figure 1. Reconstruction ofthe Westbury Pliosaur 2 atthe BMAG Rocky RoadShow.

The ActivityA family audience was targeted and we wanted tocater for a broad spectrum of learning styles andintelligences. The main learning outcomes we want-ed the activity participants to take away with themwere:1. The pliosaur skeleton was not found nicelylaid out as in the reconstruction.2. Palaeontologists initially extract the remainsin lumps of rocks and then extract each bone.3. The pliosaur was reconstructed by the analy-sis of bones to understand how they articulate (i.e.the shape of the bones tells us how they fit together). 4. Each part of the skeleton is named and thesenames are given to equivalent bones in other animals.

The activity sheet can be seen in appendix 1 and wasdeveloped so that participants replicated the process-es that palaeontologists applied to extract thepliosaur remains from the ground and reconstruct it.The activity sheet contained a diagrammatic pliosaurskeleton (created by the author) which had been cutinto various parts and jumbled up on the page. Thisaddressed learning outcome 1.

Initially the participants were asked to cut out thevarious elements (solid lines) of the skeleton alongdashed lines to simulate how the bones of thepliosaur were extracted from the rocks in largeblocks of rock. This addressed learning outcome 2.

The participants were then asked to cut round thecomplicated shapes of the skeletal elements. Theythen reassembled the skeleton by looking at the com-plicated shapes of each element and seeing how thesefitted together. This was carried out by sticking thevarious parts of the skeleton together on a thin pieceof card using glue. This simulated the process ofreconstruction and thereby met learning outcome 3.

Finally the participants were then asked to name thevarious parts of the skeleton. This met learning out-come 4.

To help with the reconstruction and naming of thevarious parts of the skeleton a laminated example ofa completed activity sheet was provided (see appen-dix 2). The utensils needed to run the activity can beseen in appendix 3.

EvaluationThe activity met all the learning outcomes and hasbeen used for several outreach events. It has provedvery popular with the intended audience; children

frequently come up to the invigilators and proudlyshow off their new pliosaur. Participants of all agesenjoyed the activity although some of the youngestneeded help from parents or carers when cutting outthe complicated shapes of the bones.

Whilst a little time consuming to initially create, theactivity is very cost and time effective to reproduce.Whilst this activity was based on a pliosaur it couldeasily be converted and applied to any other verte-brate skeleton.

The activity was run as a self led exercise althoughsupervisors were always on hand to help and makeutensils available for the participants. Parents andcarers were also encouraged to help, which they wereusually only too happy to oblige. As the activity waslargely self-led it reduced the time spent by an invig-ilator on each participant. This allowed the invigila-tor to manage more participants and also spend moretime answering questions and inspiring the partici-pants to learn more about geology and science.

Perhaps the most important part of the activity wasthat it answered that common question of "How doyou know that the pliosaur really looked like thatwhen all you found was a load of jumbled bones?"The activity goes someway to demystifying science.Demystifying science or at least exposing people toscientific method is something that all good naturalhistory outreach activities should attempt to do.

Whilst there is merit in the more artistic side of nat-ural history outreach, all too often this is the onlyaspect. This is a missed opportunity as the naturalhistory collections are used consequentially whilstthe wealth of information of these objects is over-looked as emphasis is placed on creativity. Thus theactivity outlined here is not simply a "cut out thedinosaur" exercise.

The activity outlined here is fun, enjoyable andrewarding for the participant and makes aspects ofgeology and science accessible to a wide range ofaudiences.

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333

Appendix 1The activity sheet reproduced.

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The space on the remainder of the paper is left blank to allow the skeletal pieces to be cut out. The cut outpieces are stuck onto a separate sheet of card.

Appendix 2An example of a completed activity sheet.

Appendix 3 Utensils needed to run the activity· Activity sheet· Glue· Scissors· Thin card· Pencils· Colouring pencils (some of the participants wanted to colour in their completed pliosaur although thiswas not part of the activity)

IntroductionRecent funding from the government via the DCMShas allowed for numerous additional positions inmuseums for education staff. These newly appointededucation officers go to schools and the communityand bring school and community groups to the muse-um. The education officers use items from the col-lections (or more frequently, replica or non-collec-tion items) to create learning activities for schoolgroups, which are related to the National Curriculum.

However, this is not such a recent advancement inthe progress of museums as first appears. The gener-al view that museum collections are held in a darkstore with a lonely curator meticulously workingaway on them in a dusty basement away from the eyeof the public is an urban myth. Hutchinson (1893)observed that "the old fashioned…collection whichcomprises all sorts of curiosities without muchregard for their scientific value, or otherwise, hasnearly died out." Indeed, museums in the late 1800'swere moving away from the 'cabinets of curiosity'style museums of two centuries previously, such asthe famous Copenhagen museum of Oleus Worm andthe museum of Francesco Calceolan in Verona.

Although the link between museums and schools wasuncertain in 1890 (Howarth 1908), there werealready ideas of using natural history museum speci-mens for educational use in schools. Higgins (1890)discussed a scheme to use collections to assist theteachers in teaching school pupils by using speci-mens they would otherwise have never seen; a wayto interact with pupils through the collections.Haselmere Museum had an educational room as wellas gallery quizzes and interactive hands-on models(Swanton 1903). At Sheffield Museum, the natural

history curators worked closely with teachers to cre-ate small museums in the schools (Howarth 1908).The 'Lone Curator' may have worked alone, but hewas a very active chap.

There does appear to be a drop in museum curatorsassisting with educational activities after the FirstWorld War, which may reflect the poor post-wareconomy but may also have been due to the hugeamount of work needed to be carried out on the col-lections. However, the Education Act 1918, allowedschools and other educational communities to usemuseums as an educational resource (Kavanagh1994). Some curators saw this addition to theEducation Act as a hindrance on their work, withtheir view of only curating collections as well asmaking the collections more accessible forresearchers only (Bather 1915). Other curators weremore open minded and acknowledged that using realspecimens as a tool for learning was a unique, andunforgettable, experience for the school (Kavanagh1994). Although there was a slight divide, museumswere still pushing out their collections and ideas toschools.

The early 21st Century has seen the input of govern-ment funds, for HUB museums in England, to boostthe educational side of museums in all areas; Art,Human History and Natural History. There arenumerous education staff around the country goingout to schools and bringing schools into museums.But how much is natural history being used and pro-moted? And does the urban myth of the museumcurator stuck in that dusty store stand true?

The studyThe study involved looking at curators in natural his-

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FORGOTTEN HEROES? THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEENCURATORS AND EDUCATION STAFF REASSESSED

by Jan Freedman

Freedman, J. 2007. forgotten heroes? the relationship between curators and edu-cation staff reassessed. The Geological Curator 8(7): 335-340.

A study into the relationship between natural history curators (geology, zoologyand botany) and education staff and the provision of natural history education ser-vices in museums is described. Questionnaires were posted on the GCG, NatSCAand GEM discussion groups to obtain feedback. The results of the questionnairesare discussed and placed in an historical context.

Jan Freedman, Assistant Keeper of Natural History, Plymouth City Museum andArt Gallery, Drake Circus. Plymouth, PL4 8AJ, UK. e-mail: Jan.Freedman@ply-mouth.gov.uk. Received 8th May 2007.

tory (geology, zoology and botany) and how closelythey work with the education staff in their museum.In January this year a questionnaire was posted onthe Geological Curators Group (GCG) and theNatural Sciences Collections Association (NatSCA)discussion boards to obtain feedback from naturalhistory curators for this study. A questionnaire, dif-fering slightly, was posted on the Group forEducation in Museums (GEM) discussion board togather information from education staff for the study.A total of 30 questionnaires were completed on thecuratorial side, all from natural history curators, and19 from the education staff. The institutions thatresponded will remain anonymous.

AimsThis aims of this study are; o To ascertain how closely natural history curatorswork with education staff.o What the main Key Stages museums cater for.o What natural history topics are provided toschools.o How much natural history is used for activities(inreach and outreach).

Natural History Education StaffThe first two questions on the questionnaires wereasked to both curators and education staff; 'Howmany education officers do you have?' and 'Howmany have a natural history (geology, zoology orbotany) degree?' Of the total 49 questionnairesreceived, the results were;

Out of the total 49 responses from curators and edu-cation staff, some curators and education staff fromthe same museums replied. Two curators and oneeducation officer replied from one museum(Museum A which was a large museum), three cura-

tors and one education officer replied from anothermuseum (Museum B, which was a national museum)and finally two curators from the same museumresponded (Museum C, which was a smaller muse-um). These results were interesting, as they werehugely different from each other and shall be referredto again in the Discussion.

The curators at Museum A both gave different num-bers for the number of education staff; 3 and 5+. Theeducation officer at Museum A gave the number ofeducation staff of 10. The education officer and cura-tors both answered the second question the same,which was 1 education officer had a natural historydegree.

The three responses from curators at Museum B dif-fered from each other as well as the education officer.The curators response to 'how many education offi-cers do you have' was one 'Don't know' and two say-ing '5+'. The education officers' answer was 40+! Thesecond question of how many had a natural historydegree also varied drastically; two curators answered'don't know' whereas the third answered '5+'. Theeducation officer answered 32!

At Museum C the two curators gave differentanswers for the two questions. When asked howmany education staff they have in their museum onecurator answered '5+' whereas the other said '2'.Again when asked how many had a natural historydegree the answers differed; one replied '0' and theother '1'.

The main Key stages Englishmuseums provide forAn important question asked to the education offi-cers was 'How many dedicated natural historyeducation staff do you have?' Only 1 answered '5+',and 2 said they had 3 dedicated staff. The resultsincreased as the numbers were lower; o 1 said 2 dedicated staff.o 8 said 1 dedicated staff. o 7 said no dedicated staff.

Both questionnaires asked what the main key stagewith natural history topics they provided for. Theoptions for answers were Key Stage (KS) 1 - 5 and'What's a Key Stage'. Both education staff and cura-tors did answer more than one key stage and theresults can be seen on Figure 1. The graph clearlyshows a large proportion of museums providing nat-ural history topics for KS1-3. The numbers who sup-port the higher KS4 and KS5 are very small, demon-strating that museum support for secondary schools

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No. of education staff with Nat His degree

Total of responses

0 17 1 18 2 3 3 2 4 0

5+ 5 Don’t know 3

No. of education staff

Total of responses

0 1 1 18 2 6 3 3 4 3

5+ 17 Don’t know 1

is not as high as it could be. Four curators did answer'what's a key stage?' but thankfully no educationstaff!

Again, Museum A, B and C had different responseswithin their museum;

o Museum A, with two curator responses and oneeducation staff gave similar responses. The curatorsanswered 'KS2' and 'KS2 and KS3'. The educationofficer answered 'KS1, KS2 and KS3'.

o Museum B, with three curator responses and oneeducation officer, the responses differed. The cura-tors responses were; 'Don't know', and the other tworeplying 'All'. The education officer answered 'weoffer life and earth sciences related schools pro-grammes for early years to undergrad level'.

o Museum C, with the responses from the two cura-tors were again slightly different, with one curatoranswering ' KS1 and KS2' the other curator answered'KS1-KS3'.

Curators working with education staffThe curators were asked if they create educationpacks for the education staff to use for outreach orinreach. The results were even, with 15 answering'Yes', and 14 said 'No'. One curator answered 'Notsure what's in them'.

The curators were also asked if they create informa-tion for the education staff for these education packs;o 6 replied 'Yes'.o 14 replied 'No'. o 2 answered that they didn't know if they did themor not.

o 1 answered that they were not sure what's in them. o 7 didn't answer.

The curators were finally asked how often they workwith the education staff. The results varied;o 2 answering that they are never asked.o 4 answering that they do at every big event.o 14 when they were asked by the education staff. o 10 answered that they work with the educationstaff very often.

The three museums with more than one curatoranswering the questionnaires responded only slightlydifferently;

o Museum A, with two curators both stated theyhelp when they are asked, but one added that theyalso help very often, '4-5 times a year'.

o Museum B, with three curators replying, twocurators stated "when they are asked", for example'to have something identified…editing informationin a guide or book'. The other curator from the samemuseum stated that they were never asked.

o Museum C, one curator answered that they workwith education staff when they were asked and theother answered when they were asked at every bigevent.

DiscussionIn the early 20th Century, it was noted that that muse-ums are a "necessary part of the educational machin-ery of schools" (Latter 1907). Curators were assistingwith school sessions and often working closely withteachers, sometimes three times a week (Swanton1903). In the early 20th Century there were several

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Figure 1. Graph illustrat-ing the main key stagesmuseums from thisstudy aim for.

ideas from museum curators to assist schools in edu-cation, such as making the museum more accessiblefor the public and schools (Hecht 1904) and evenwall displays of specimens in the schools (Cockerell1904). This was an important focus of the curators,and may have resulted in the creation of a handlingcollection for the school (Baker 1906). These centu-ry old ideas are now looked at as innovative uses ofcollections!

However, these early museums did not have educa-tion staff, due to lack of funding (Kavanagh 1995).This study has shown that all but 1 museum thatanswered the questionnaire has at least one educationofficer. A large number, 17 museums out of the total49 responses have 5+ education officers in theirmuseum, providing a wonderful tool for promotingmuseum related topics to schools and the communi-ty. However, this study is interested in the number ofeducation staff with a natural history (geology, zool-ogy or botany) qualification (A-Level or degree).These results were interesting for two reasons:

o 3 of the 30 curators did not know, which illus-trates that neither curator or education staff in thesemuseums works terribly closely. o It appears that a large number of education staffdo not have a natural history qualification (17 out ofthe 49 responses).

Leading on from this, the education staff were askedhow many dedicated natural history staff they had;13 out of 19 answered 'none'. This is interesting as allthe questionnaires came back filled out with naturalhistory topics (see table opposite), which are taughtto schools at various key stages. To teach a subject atschool, Maths, Drama, English or Science, it isessential that the teacher has the relevant degreebefore they begin their teacher training. Yet this doesnot seem to be a requirement of education staff eventhough they too are 'teaching' to schools.

When asked what key stage the museum providesfor, 4 of the curators answered, 'What's a key stage?'Key stages were first introduced in England, Walesand Northern Ireland through the Education Act 1988to accompany the introduction of the NationalCurriculum. The different Key Stages relate to dif-ferent years at primary and secondary school. KeyStage 0 (KS0) is aimed at reception (3-5 years old),KS1 is aimed at Years 1-2 (5-7 years old), KS2 isaimed at Years 3-6 (7 to 11 year olds), KS3 is aimedat Years 7-9 (11-14 year olds), KS4 is aimed at Years10-11 (14-16 year olds) and KS5 is aimed at 6th form(ages 16-18).

Linking the use of museum specimens in schools tothe curriculum has not just been a recent develop-ment. Bolton (1908), observes "if the material com-posing [school museums] is of any value in theschool curriculum it will have a much greater value."The questionnaires demonstrated that the main KeyStages provided for were KS1, KS2 and KS3, with asmaller number of museum curators responding as tobe providing for KS3 and KS4, only 6 and 4 respec-tively. Using the museum for secondary education ismore difficult due to the schools schedule. Differentlessons are taught on the same day, so bringing theschool to the museum for a session (with an educa-tion officer or a curator) requires either agreementwith the other teachers, or a cross curriculum sessionin the museum. Alternatively, going out to the schoolrequires a more focused plan of what the teacherneeds, and consequently will require more planningand a shorter period of time with the pupils.

The education staff were asked to estimate the per-centages of natural history bookings per year. Theaverage was 34% Natural History, 54% HumanHistory and 12% Art. The human history bookingsare larger, because the Egyptians, the Victorians andWorld War II are firmly embedded on the curriculum.But there is a lot on the curriculum for natural histo-ry too, including rocks and minerals, weathering(which can bring in the rock cycle), adaptation andevolution. If more cross curricular activities can becreated it may increase the natural history bookings.For example, the eye in biology, also crosses over tophysics in KS3 and KS4, but could involve lookingat fossil eyes throughout time and comparing them toeyes of different animals today. There is also the cre-ative writing part, which was mentioned by onemuseum, and is a fantastic way of using natural his-tory collections for English classes. Even simpleideas, such as the 'Natural History of the AncientEgyptians', or the 'Victorians and Science' cross overinto different subjects, whilst still covering the keycurriculum topics.

The average inreach in museums, reported by theeducation staff, was 88% and the average outreachwas 12%. The percentage of inreach is high for manymuseums, as it brings up the museum figures. It isalso easier as the pupils are there for half a day atleast with activities the education staff or curatorsplan. Outreach is more difficult, as already men-tioned, as there is the time constraint and it has to bemore directed by the teacher.

There was a large amount of feedback on activitiesrelating to different key stages from curators andeducation staff, illustrating a wide range of natural

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history activities in museums at present. Some ofthese topics are provided on the table below :

Although the curator's role does differ from the edu-cation officer's role, in that they catalogue and docu-ment collections, carry out research, deal withenquiries, etc. they are also responsible for the pro-motion of the collections. The more obvious curator-ial way to promote any museums collection isthrough research and publications. However, usingthe collections in activities, such as those listedabove is another easy way to promote and use thecollections. Outreach events, such as weekend activ-ities in the museum is another way of promoting thecollections to the public (see Figures 2,3).

Lunchtime or evening lectures can promote the col-lections and work going on behind the scenes, as well

as offer knowledge of the collections to the pub-lic and school children alike. This was comment-ed on by Hutchinson (1893) and Rennie, (1896),who gave public lectures about their collections,with Huxley and others at the then BritishMuseum of Natural History providing slightlymore 'formal' lectures (Higgins 1890).

Total school booking for 2005/2006 from only 17responses by the education staff totalled over at37, 000 school bookings. (Two national museumsresponded with very large figures of school book-ings totalling 200 000, which will not be includ-ed here). Swanton (1903) was the only early 20thCentury curator to specifically remark on theschool visits. If this was the average for that time,then Swanton's museum would have received 156school bookings per year. If, hypothetically, thequestionnaire was sent out in 1903 and the 17responses were 156, then they would have, hypo-thetically, had a total of 2, 652 school bookings.This is a large amount considering that there wereno education staff in 1903. This is not to mentionany visits to schools the curators did, and assum-ing that the 17 museums would have the same

number of school bookings. So it is most likely avery low estimation.

What was interesting with the results was that forthree museums, curators and education staff respond-ed to the questionnaires, with substantial variations.This demonstrates that although the curators maywork with the education staff, and vice-versa, it doesnot appear that they actually talk to each other!?!Each of these museums were also different in theirsize, and the bigger the museum, the less theyseemed to know about each other. Maybe the biggermuseums, which have funding for more education

staff, see no need to consult the curators.Maybe the curators are content withworking with their collections. But bothdepartments still need to work together,and neither should forget the other.

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Key Stage 1 (5-7 year olds)

Key Stage 2 (7-11 year olds)

Key Stage 3 (11-14 year

olds)

Key Stage 4 (14-16 year

olds)

Key Stage 5 (16-18 year

olds) Eyes, ears and

noses Rocks Flight Kingdom to

species

Dinosaurs Rocks and Fossils

Adaptation Evolution

Animals Skulls and Bones

Rocks and weathering

Field trips

Skeletons and movement

Minerals Classification Genetics

Flight Science Ideas and evidence

Rocks and minerals

Planets

Animals Creative writing

Victorian field book

Media related

Skeletons and movement

Ant behaviour

Geology in action; rocks

and soils

Timelines

Patterns in nature

Dinosaurs

Figure 2. Left. BristolCity Museum and ArtGallery using rocks,minerals and fossilsfrom its collections atthe ‘Bristol Festival ofNature’. (Reproducedwith permission byBristol City Museumand Art Gallery).

Figure 3. The author using mounted bird specimens from the collection todemonstrate key differences between different types of birds for ScienceWeek event in Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery. Over 1400 peoplecame to the event: an informative, interactive use of specimens to promotethe collections, as well as educate.

SummarySince the early 1900's there is a lot of evidence ofcurators working with schools to assist in education.Even then they were breaking away from the oldregime of the 'cabinets of curiosities'. The idea ofmuseums working closely with schools is not a newone. It appears, from this study, that curators andeducation staff could work more closely to help eachother. The curators do have to curate and conservetheir collections, but also have to promote their col-lections. This can be done easily by working witheducation staff on activities and events they aredoing. But the education staff have to let the curatorsknow. Curators have the specialist knowledge of thesubject and of the collections to offer to the educationstaff. Conversely education staff have the experienceand skills to present diverse topics to a wide range ofaudiences.

The main Key Stages supported by many museumsare KS1 to KS3. Fewer museums cater for KS4 andless for KS5. It is fantastic that so many museums docater for primary school pupils, but it is just asimportant to provide activities for secondary schools,as teenagers rarely visit museums (the other group torarely visit is the early twenties). Using the uniquecollections of any museum can open up any mind ofany age. There are numerous natural history topicsbeing used for schools and events, such as fossils andevolution, skeletons and movement, skulls andbones, rocks and minerals, timelines, patterns innature, adaptation, weathering, creative writing,genetics and classification. There are many activitiesand events using natural history as an educationaltool, which are being produced by the educationstaff, and to a lesser extent, the curators.

The following quote sums up this small study ofcurators and education staff perfectly in just one sen-tence, and how, over a hundred years ago, the cura-tors were working with teachers with the beauty ofnatural history;

"Are there not in nature, countless fields ofresearch, original enough for the millions thathave never had the chance to be recreated in them,whether they be teachers or the taught, andreminding us of the promised harvest, in which hesoweth and he that reapeth, the teacher and thescholar rejoice together"

(Higgins 1890)The 'Lone Curator' now has a new ally, the strong andgrowing education staff, his very own 'Tonto'.Working closer together they can make natural histo-ry one of the most interesting topics; the 'Lone

Curator' with his specialist knowledge and 'Tonto'pushing out the fascinating world of natural history.Together they can make natural history.

AcknowledgmentsI would like to thank all those individuals who tookthe time to respond to the questionnaires posted onthe GCG, NatSCA and GEM discussion boards.Thanks to Helen Fothergill for her support andpatience with this study.

ReferencesBAKER, F., C. 1906. The Museum and the public

school. The Museums Journal Vol 5, 50 - 55.

BATHER, F., A. 1915. In discussion of Howarth. E.article: The museum and the school. TheMuseums Journal 9, 284.

BOLTON, H. 1908. Museums of Elementary andHigher Grade schools. Museums Journal 7 (9),299 - 303.

COCKERELL, T. D. A. 1903. Wall Museum forSchools. The Museums Journal 4, 350 - 351.

EDUCATION REFORM ACT 1988.

HECHT, E. 1903. How to make small NaturalHistory museums interesting. The MuseumsJournal 3, 188 - 191.

HIGGINS, H. H. 1890. Appendix A. CirculatingMuseum for schools and other educational pur-poses. Museums Association reports of proceed-ings with the papers read at the first annual meet-ing. Held in Liverpool. June 17-19. pp. 60-64.Edited by H.M. Palmer and E. Howarth.Published by the Association, 1890.

HOWARTH, E. 1908. The School Museum system inSheffield. The Museums Journal 7 (10), 339 -343.

HUTCHINSON, J. 1893. On Educational Museums.Museums Association. Report of proceedings atthe fourth Annual General Meeting held atLondon. July 3-7. Edited by H.M. Palmer and E.Howarth. Published by the association. 1893.

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IntroductionThe purpose of this paper is to introduce the reader tothe Geophysical Museum of Rocca di Papa (Figure1), and illustrate waysthat modern and ancientstudies of geophysicistscan be used in museumexhibits to allow thepublic to see how scien-tists study and interpretthe Earth's data. TheMuseum has an area of300 square metres andits location was former-ly the seat of theG e o d y n a m i c

Observatory, built in 1889. The Museum was madepossible thanks to an agreement between the IstitutoNazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) andthe Town Council of Rocca di Papa, a small town

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A JOURNEY TOWARDS THE EARTH'S CORE AT THE GEOPHYSICAL MUSEUM OF ROCCA DI PAPA (ROME, ITALY)

by Nicola Mauro Pagliuca, Calvino Gasparini and Donatella Pietrangeli

Pagliuca, N.M., Gasparini, C. and Pietrangeli, D. 2007. A journey towards theearth's core at the geophysical museum of Rocca di Papa (Rome, Italy). TheGeological Curator 8(7): 341-350. Received 30th April 2007.

This paper introduces the Geophysical Museum of Rocca di Papa (Roma, Italy)where visitors can encounter a fascinating journey towards the Earth's core. Theaim of the Museum, which was founded on February 26th 2005, is to make the lan-guage of Geophysics friendlier and to show the relationship between science andscience fiction. The Geophysical Museum is housed in the historical GeodynamicObservatory, built in 1889 by the famous seismologist Michele Stefano De Rossi.The Museum explains the main topics of Geophysics through the use of posters,movie presentations and interactive experiments and presents the stages of scien-tific research that led to the modern definition of the Earth's internal model. Themain focus of the Museum has been school students of all ages, with eight thou-sand visitors in two years. The Museum connects geophysics to the world of natureand by using science fiction techniques, shows that science is not only the productof certainty or established facts, but also the product of trials and failures. Visitorswill find special importance given to seismology, with a special section of ancientand modern seismographs. There is also a room dedicated to a three-dimensionalprojection system where the visitor can enjoy movies about Alban Hills earth-quakes to appreciate the geological evolution of volcanism in this area.

Pagliuca Nicola Mauro, Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Via diVigna Murata 605 00143 Rome, Italy; email: pagliuca@ingv.it; GaspariniCalvino , Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Via di Vigna Murata 605,00143 Rome, Italy; email: gasparini@ingv.it and Pietrangeli Donatella, IstitutoNazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Via di Vigna Murata 605, 00143 Rome,Italy; email: pietrangeli@ingv.it. Received

Figure 1. The GeophysicalMuseum is close to theancient Colonna Fortress,on the top of Rocca diPapa and it overlooks thehistoric village centre.

located only 25 km south east of Rome. TheObservatory is located on the top of the southernmostQuaternary volcano along the Roman magmaticprovince, called the Alban Hills, in which the mainactivity took place between 600 and 400 ka. The areais affected by seismicity, which suggests the volcanocould still be active today. The issue is stronglydebated because the presence of a potentially activevolcano near Rome is not reassuring, and the newfindings have stimulated a wave of intense study.

The restoration of the Geodynamic Observatorybuilding was necessary to make the Museum acces-sible to the public. It was part of the first Italian net-work of seismic observatories with the others beingin Catania, Casamicciola (Ischia) and Pavia, and wasoperated by the Central Office of Meteorology andGeodynamic, as per Royal Decree n. 3534, of 1876,and n. 4636, of 1887.

The Geodynamic Observatory was built by MicheleStefano De Rossi, its first director, who noticed sys-tematic changes in telluric movements in Rocca diPapa. His observations led him to introduce seismol-ogy, a new field of science. In those days, it wascalled endogenic meteorology, following theAristotelian principles of the causes of earthquakes. De Rossi soon realized how important it was to orga-nize a network that would connect the observatorieslocated all over the Italian peninsula, for the collec-tion and management of seismic data. From 1873 hewas personally involved in this project and, in 1874,he founded and edited Bullettino del VulcanismoItaliano, the first journal devoted to solid-earth geo-physics. The Bulletin was closed in 1893, but thesame work was resumed in 1895 with the Bolletinodella Società Italiana di Sismologia.

De Rossi's passion for his work and the good resultshe obtained were noticed by the "Royal GeodynamicCommission", whose President was senator andphysician Pietro Blaserna. The commission wasfounded in 1883, following the ruinous earthquakethat hit the isle of Ischia, with disastrous effect. Theplan to build a Geodynamic Observatory in Rocca diPapa, as De Rossi had suggested, was soon approved(Blaserna 1888).

Following De Rossi's death, Giovanni Agamennonebecame the Director of the Observatory in 1899, andhe enriched it with new instruments for the study ofearthquakes. Its work led seismologists of interna-tional fame like Galitzin, Omori and Wiechert, tovisit Italy (Davison 1927). In 1936, the Observatorywas managed by the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica(ING), which became the Istituto Nazionale di

Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) in 2001. At pre-sent, INGV represents one of the most importantEuropean Research Institutions operating in the areaof geophysics, seismologic and vulcanology.

At the turn of the 19th century Rocca di Papa was notonly an important centre for the collection of dataand information on seismic activity, but was also alaboratory that was famous for building and experi-menting with new instruments (Dewey and Byerly1969). Many articles appeared in the Bollettino dellaSocietà Sismologica Italiana providing constructioninformation on the instruments that were built. In1931, since Rocca di Papa no longer satisfied therequirements of modern seismologists, theObservatory stopped its seismic observations activi-ties. The Director retired and the Observatory closeddown (Gasparini 1990).

Since 1951 the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica hasplaced the Observatory among the seismic stations ofthe centralized Italian network, and it was includedas part of the geodetic network of the Alban Hills. Aweather station was incorporated together with theinstruments to detect radon in the soil, a gas emittedin larger quantities during an earthquake.

Nowadays, the Observatory is known in the interna-tional seismic and weather nomenclature by theacronym RDP and its geographic coordinates are: lat-itude 41° 45' 37,35" North, longitude 41° 45' 37,35East and altitude 816,7 m.

One of the main objectives of the current initiative toopen the Geophysical Museum is to make the lan-guage of geophysics a friendly one and to present therelationship between science and science fiction as itis a bond which is often marked by lack of compre-hension, ignorance and contempt.

The Museum and Science FictionThe aim of the Museum is to introduce the discoveryof the Earth's interior and to try to illustrate how man,in the course of time, has accumulated informationthat permitted him to hypothesise about the internalstructure of the Earth. This choice is strictly a prod-uct of scientific thinking and can by viewed in twodifferent ways, both of which do not separate imagi-nation from reason.

A visit to the museum begins with two cinemaposters, "Journey to the centre of the Earth", based onthe famous book by Jules Verne, and "The Core", afilm made in 2003 in which geophysicists become'earthnauts' and travel to the Earth's core, using a spe-

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cial space shuttle, to reactivate the movement of theEarth which generates the Earth's magnetic field.

The design of the museum was carefully engineeredto give space to fantasy and creativity. The fantasyand creativity concept, although not necessarilyunderstood, is encouraged by utilizing science fic-tion. This didactic instrument is useful in educatingvisitors that the solution to a problem is often arrivedat after centuries of work dotted with failed attemptsand aborted theories.

We do not know what the internal part of earth lookslike or the damage that has been sustained fromearthquakes and tsunami, or nuclear threats and vol-canic activity, but the scientific possibilities stimu-late our sense of creativity. We have chosen thisapproach because we believe that in order to solve ascientific problem there is always a certain need forcreativity. Science cannot be grasped only fromnaked observation, for when we observe we almostcertainly have in mind some kind of a question, andthen imagination and the genius of creativity help usfind the answer. This is why the museum cannotignore the impact that Verne had on our society, as heis probably the most influential early science fictionwriter whose ideas still inspire writers and dreamersalike.

In addition, many of the people who became pioneersin the field of space exploration were influenced by

the literature they read when they were young, par-ticularly the works of Jules Verne (Costello 1978). Ofcourse, many other science fiction authors haveinspired people to invent ways of turning dreams intoreality, but we begin the journey (the visit to themuseum) with the fantasy of Verne, who inspired inus the realisation that exhibits and recreationalmachines could be built for the purpose of guidingthe visitor through the Earth.

It is possible to visit the museum through differentroutes as it has three floors so the visitor can begin bychoosing any of them (Figure 2). Here, the seismicinstruments and the games are exhibited without anyprotection so that the visitor can interact with them.In doing so, the visitor acquires a conscious feelingthat a phenomenon (which is apparently casual andunforeseeable) is instead less unusual than he hadoriginally believed.

As an example, the earthquake itself, (a phenomenoncommonly considered unusual by anybody with littleor no experience of Geophysics), occurs frequentlyall over the world. During the visit to the museum,people are able to connect to the web site of theINGV (www.ingv.it) or to the web site of interna-tional seismic networks, where they will discoverwhat ordinary events earthquakes are in our life andhow frequently they occur.

In addition to the recreational component of the mod-

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Figure 2. The floorplan of the museum,and the position of thefigures shown in thetext. They are all atthe first floor.

ern structure of the Museum, it interacts with schoolsto promote programmes on Earth sciences and theknowledge of Geophysics.

Philosophy of the MuseumGeophysics relates to a vast subject matter that can-not be totally explored in the small space available atRocca di Papa. To understand how the Earth is madeup internally, one has to resort to the geophysics ofthe solid earth, which enables us to study the Earthwith the help of natural phenomena using models andmethods of experimental physics.

This highlights the areas of uncertainty in science, asnature with her tricks can sometimes distort reality(mirage), and then that which seems to be clear anddistinct, may be only the fruit of an illusion. Afterintroducing the difficult bond between science andscience fiction, we move on to the world of the nat-ural phenomena, as scientists see it through experi-mental data.

At the moment, we are working on different stationsin the museum: seismic equipment connected to theNational Seismic Centralised Network of INGV; ageodetic station for monitoring crustal deformationin the Alban Hills volcano area and a meteorologicalstation. There are also the devices for the detection ofradon in the subsoil. All the data from the machinesare recorded in real time and displayed through dif-ferent monitors placed along the rooms.

By so doing, the visitor comes in contact with aworld where analysis and observations are collectedin a systematic way and where the experimental datais distributed regularly. This is the method that leadsto the definition of a new scientific law to describe adeterminate aspect of nature. Data is then collected to

verify their truth. At the same time the visitor isasked to play a game that allows them to get involvedwith the philosophical concepts of induction, deduc-tion, intuition and faith (Figure 3). The first part ofthe game deals with the deductive method thatAristotle used, which is the basis of the natural phi-losophy of ancient Greece. He built the model thathas influenced scientific thought to the present day.

However, from the end of the 19th century to thebeginning of the 20th century, the development ofhuman and social sciences has brought about manydiscussions on the unique model of the scientificmethod.

The Development of ScienceEarth sciences deal with the history of our planet andour resources. In describing the current scientificunderstanding to visitors in a highly understandableway, the museum tries to provide a fascinating visu-al to the secrets of our past. Scientists have collectedand made an analysis on available data found in theoutermost layer of the Earth ("direct" observations)and formulated hypotheses on the deepest layers("geophysical" observations).

The scientific development of modern methods cur-rently being used to predict natural disasters are wellrepresented in the different sections of the museum.Visitors can view book exhibits, ancient documentsand other important tools. They can also play educa-tional games designed to help them understand meth-ods scientists use to discover what the Earth's core islike.

Geology gives us information about the subsoil. Thiskind of knowledge helps us understand the factorscontrolling the global environment, the developmentof methods for the prediction of natural events suchas Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunami, land-slides or floods. Also in developing more effectiveways of finding and assessing natural resources,energy, and water. Meanwhile, understanding theEarth's climate has been obtained through the analy-sis of sedimentary records or ice cores fromAntarctica and Greenland. The rock carrot (Figure 4)is a way to directly verify the perforations of thecrust of the Earth. Geological and geophysicalknowledge is acquired at the surface and within afew kilometres of depth and in a few cases about tenkilometres. So, to know the interior of the Earth,which has a radius of above 6374 km, it has beennecessary to rely upon different instruments otherthan the direct ones.

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Figure 3. The philosophical play game, which expressthe concepts of induction, deduction, intuition and faith.

The next step is to explain the Earth's gravitationalfield, which has allowed us to assume what types ofmaterials we should find inside the Earth andwhether they could look like meteorites. Some mete-orites are rich in iron and nickel and are consideredto be fragments of other planetary bodies of our solarsystem, so they probably reflect the original compo-sition of the solid Earth during its formation. Otherinformation about the inside of the Earth is obtainedby the study of rocks produced by the cooling ofmagma. This is why samples of meteorites and mag-matic rocks are shown in the section, as some sam-ples appear in the section of geomagnetism. This lastdiscipline, developed thanks to the discovery of thecompass, is a branch of science that deals with thestudy and characteristics of Earth's magnetic field.The Earth behaves like a magnet that produces amagnetic field, which in general resembles the fieldgenerated by a dipole magnet located at the centre ofthe Earth. The axis of the dipole is offset from theaxis of the Earth's rotation by approximately 11degrees.

In this section, there is a game used to find the pole(Figure 5). Notice that the compass needle placesitself tangential to the lines of magnetic force, andhow the north and south geographic poles and thenorth and south magnetic poles are not located in thesame place at any point and time. The Earth's mag-netic field, is produced by convection movements inits liquid core, and is characterized by direction andintensity so the appropriate instruments (shown) canbe used to measure it.

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Figure 4. The rock carrot, reproduced in the Museum,located between two magnetometers, instruments used togauge the Earth's magnetic field.

Figure 5. The play called"looking for the pole",together with exhibits andother play games aboutrocks and geomagnetism.

Seismology and knowledge of theEarthSeismology is the science that has contributed mostin our study of the Earth's interior. This is the reasona special area of the Museum was dedicated to thisdiscipline. The octagonal room (Figure 6), is conve-niently located in the middle of the first floor andused like an amphitheatre, to project educationalmovies that show what happens when an earthquakeoccurs.

There are two round screens where visitors canwatch the different behaviours of the seismic waveson the surface and in the interior of the Earth. Inaddition, there are three video machines that displaythe seismic signals as they are recorded by the threeseismic stations that have been placed at differentdistance from the epicentre.

On the other side, there are seismic instruments usedfor registration of ground motion caused by earth-quakes. These tools are essential for the study of seis-mology. In order to demonstrate how these instru-ments have evolved over the years the seismologicalinstrumentation exhibit begins with the older modelsand progresses up to the most recent ones.

Included in the exhibit are some simple instrumentscalled seismoscopes. These are used to detect thepresence of seismic oscillations, but are not useful inmeasuring the energy produced by earthquakes. Alsoinside Rocca di Papa Observatory there is a seismic

station that was established in the 1930s when seis-mographs used smoked paper to record seismic sig-nals. The station is still equipped with accessoriessuch as an instrument that was used to blacken thepaper with smoke, and another that was needed to fixthe smoke on the paper with lacquer.

The station is a combination of two mechanical seis-mographs called Wiechert, which was the name ofthe German scientist who developed them. In thefifties, a horizontal component weighing 200 kg anda vertical component weighing 80 kg were puttogether (Figure 7) by the technicians of the ING andplaced in the Observatory to record local earth-quakes.

This particular mechanically-recording seismographwas built and completed by Wiechert in 1900(Wiechert 1903; 1904). Wiechert, may have beengreatly influenced by a research mission that broughthim to Italy in 1899 and resulted is his tours of Roccadi Papa and other seismological Observatories.Wiechert was the first scientist to demand that seis-mograms must obtain the highest quality readings inorder to guarantee that the movements of the Earth'ssurface are appropriately recorded. The informationcontained in recorded waves can only be used if aseismologist can read them. For a sensor, Wiechertused an inverted pendulum that was stabilised bysprings and left free to oscillate in any parallel direc-tion. The Wiechert recorded the two horizontal com-ponents of ground motion on smoked paper andamplified the movements by a factor of 80.

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Figure 6. Theoctagonalroom and thedisplays onthe evolutionof the philo-sophicalthought,located alongthe top-floor.

In the same room are Ishimoto seismographs (Figure8), named after the Japanese scientist who built themin 1933. Ishimoto is well known for finding a statis-tical law on the frequency distribution of earthquakesize, which is equivalent to the Gutenberg-Richterrelation (Ishimoto and Iida 1939). These instrumentswere reproduced by the technicians of ING. The prin-ciples these instruments are based on are the same asthe Wiechert, but smaller. For this reason theIshimoto seismographs were considered portable andused for the study of seismic delimited zones.

The next step in the evolution of these instruments isrepresented by a seismograph called the Galitzin, andwas named after Russian Prince Boris Galitzin, whowas responsible for the seismological station ofPulkowa (Galitzin 1914).

Around 1906, Galitzin developed the first seismome-ter that was based on electromagnetic induction. Hisinstrument marks the changeover to the modern seis-mometers that utilise an inertial mass of a few gramsor, at maximum, a few hundreds of grammes. Thesensitivity of the Galitzin seismometer is due to theway electric circuits are connected and to mechanicsinstead of mass. Galitzin's seismograph introducedthree important innovations: the electromagnetictransduction of the seismic movement, the galvanicrecording on film paper and the electromagnetic low-ering and the consequent aperiodicity of the sensor.The film recording was more reliable than the previ-ous system because it avoided amplifications andfrictions that were typical of mechanical instruments.In addition, it increased sensitivity as well as the

Figure 7. The room ofthe seismologic instru-ments, on the left thetwo mechanicalWiechert's seismo-graphs with, on theright, the Ishimotoseismograph.

Figure 8. The Ishimoto seismograph, recorded one of thetwo horizontal components of ground motion, amplifyingmotions by a factor of 100. In the background, theinstrument used to blacken the paper with the smoke, asthe ancient seismographs used smoked paper to recordthe seismic signals.

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capacity to amplify the seismic signal. The instru-ment, exhibited in the Museum (Figure 9), was builtby the technicians of the ING in the sixties. It is acti-vated by pressing a button that produces the move-ment of a mass, and is wrapped in a coil of wire thatis surrounded by a fixed magnet, so designed to sim-ulate an earthquake.

When the button is pushed, the mass moves in themagnet's magnetic field produced by the magnet, andvoltage is produced in the coil of wire that can bemeasured and recorded. As a bonus, the induced cur-rent in the coil produces a secondary magnetic fieldthat dampens the motion of the mass in a predictableand useful way.

In spite of its advantages, the Galitzin seismographwas not a preferred instrument due to the high cost ofits accessories and the difficulty in maintaining it.

On the other hand, the Helicorder seismograph wasmuch more practical. It connected to a vertical sensorcommonly called S13. It was made in the USA in the1960s, by Teledyne, and is still being produced. Thisseismograph is able to record all the compatibleearthquakes on thermo-sensitive paper with itsamplification.

At the end of the room sits a functioning monitor,connected to the National Seismic Network, display-ing data as it is recorded by the digital seismographin real time. It utilises electronic format for the datarecording by hardware memories, such as magneticand optical disks.

The LaboratoriesThe didactic laboratory is on the second floor of the

Geophysical Museum, and, on the third level, there isa laboratory for the projection of three-dimensionalmovies. The first laboratory is divided into the threedisciplinary sections: volcanology, seismology andmagnetism, each related for different aspects, to thepeculiarity of the Geophysical Museum. The labhouses three computers connected by lan to theINGV and utilises a series of learning programmes.The topics are geology and physics and use informa-tion to support the learning process. The aim is toencourage visitors to delve deeper into the subject.

Personnel at the Museum take pleasure in teachingpatrons how to operate the instruments and didacticmaterials. In the future, the laboratory might be con-nected to the school programming system.

Following a passage on the third floor to the attic ofthe building, there is a small cinema for three-dimen-sional projections. The visitor can feel he is flying onthe Alban Hills, to experience geology and seismolo-gy in the actual geological era, and also some Italianbelts where past earthquakes occurred, to underlinewhat phenomena have caused them.

Thanks to the sophisticated techniques of screeningand high-powered elaboration, the quality of thethree-dimensional visual effects is excellent. Theimages seem to jump out of the screen making thethree-dimensional spectacle an important instrumentof learning, as the amusing experience leaves anindelible impression in the memory of the visitor.

In fact, the creative, world class, three-dimensionalanimations is a technological frontier in productivefields of entertainment.

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Figure 9. The Galitzin seismometer,which was the first one based on electro-magnetic induction and which becamethe basis for seismic instrumentationused through much of the past 100 years.On the right there is an ancient seismo-scope, an instrument that indicates theoccurrence or time of occurrence of anearthquake. In the background, a playgame that show how to compare magni-tude and intensity of earthquakes.

Besides, due to creative filming it is possible toadmire a geologic plastic of the Alban Hills' belt thatshows the essential lines of stratigraphy and samplesof rock.

From the terrace (Figure 10) one can admire thepanorama view of Rome and the sea on a clear day,to a scale of one to one. Without a doubt it is a moststriking extra feature of the Museum.

ConclusionSince the Museum opened two years ago, approxi-mately eight-thousand people, such as local resi-dents, students and tourists have visited it. TheMuseum is a great success and an excellent ongoingproject. We believe the Museum will enjoy expan-sion as it increases its exhibits and machinery athand. It is clear to those of us involved, judging bythe impressive number of visitors the museum hasenjoyed, that the activities at the Museum have beenwelcomed and appreciated by the community. Theexhibits at the Museum have become an importantinstrument in teaching and have drawn the public'sattention and approval. The Museum is an instrumentused to stimulate creative imaginations and educatevisitors on natural disasters and scientific discoveriesmade about the earth's core.

It is important to understand that machinery housed

in the Museum is in danger of being damaged by thelarge number of patrons who pass through there eachday, if it is not adequately protected. Nevertheless,the Museum strives to provide an interactive envi-ronment for visitors by respecting and replying toquestions, providing activities they can get involvedin, and inviting them to discuss their conclusions.

The Museum is a message launched to educate thepublic about the principles of sciences. It is also awell reasoned way to salvage a cultural patrimony,the old Geodynamic Observatory that ran the risk ofbeing disregarded. Thanks to this new journey, thepublic gets to know the instruments used in the pastand present in studying the inner depths of the world.In fact, we believe that a follow up to this should bethe activation of the scientific instruments and theimplementation of an important didactic function.This should be the forward choice of the Museum.For example, the use of the accelerometer in place,allows both the visitor to compare and have a record-ing of seismic local events in a real time. This is alsothe case when recordings by the meteorological, geo-detic stations take place and when radon is detectedin the ground.

It is necessary to achieve strong collaborationbetween museologists, scientists, institutions and thepublic for new ways to safeguard the scientific-cul-tural patrimony. It is our ambition to provide space

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Figure 10. The panoramic terrace with meteorological station.

for a multitude of personalities while educating themon the importance of the role of the visitor.

Through this Museum, Rocca di Papa, the small citythat accommodates us has attracted a large number ofpeople and we hope it has become a reference pointfor earth sciences all over the Alban Hills area.

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