Museum Trails

If you are visiting the Museum with young children, why not download our Rainbow of Colour trail to print out and bring with you? It will keep the children entertained as they look for all the colourful specimens in the Museum, and they can even use it in the garden or any outdoor space too.

 

All bookings are subject to change in accordance with government guidance.

There is no charge for our standard school sessions, but donations are welcomed to support the Museum learning programme (recommended donation of £3 per child).

If you are a UK based school or college (teaching under 18 year olds) wishing to visit the Museum with your class, please use the booking form to make a request.

All other groups should use our group booking form (including international schools) or language school booking form.

Bookings are now open for the 2022/23 school year

Planning, prices and pre-visit information

If you wish to check availability before you complete the form, either email us or call on 01223 331875.

To make your zine you will need:

  • a sheet of paper
  • coloured pencils or pens
  • coloured paper
  • some glue
  • fossils, rocks, pebbles for inspiration
Download the zine folding instructions and watch the video below

 

Asteriornis maastrichtensis, affectionately known as the Wonderchicken, is among the most exciting bird fossils ever found. It has one of the best-preserved fossil bird skulls in the world, and gives us important insights into the evolutionary origins of modern birds.

It might not look very exciting but flint gravel has a story to tell of a warm chalky sea that covered a lot of England about 90 million years ago. That’s when dinosaur were around although they were not living in this particular sea. Sometimes flint filles the holes made by borrowing animals and sometimes, if we’re lucky it enclosed the remains of sea creatures meaning it is great place to look for fossils.

Scientists use all sorts of different ways to name the new plants, animals and fossils they find.

Two parts - Scientific names usually have two parts, just as people have a first name and a family name.

Latin or Ancient Greek - Often the names use words from Latin or Ancient Greek.

About the Session 

This set of activities covers and expands on the Year 5 national curriculum unit "Earth and Space", using objects from the Whipple Museum to explore:

The solar system

Terrestrial, celestial and planetary globes

The earth's movement around the sun

Space science today 

Duration: Can be booked as: 

A 90-minute session in the museum - you can find an example timetable for a museum session here

About the Session 

This set of activities covers aspects of the "animals, including humans" topic and can be adapted for KS1 or KS2, using objects from the Whipple Museum to explore:

How we hear

How we see

Bones in the body

The heart

The brain 

Duration: Can be booked as: 

A 90-minute session in the museum

or

One or more museum-led online sessions (up to an hour in total length) and a loans box of equipment for groups of up to six 

or

It is really unusual for a palaeontologist (scientist who study fossils) to find a complete skeleton with all the bones in the right place. We are more likely to find only a few bones or a jumbled up skeleton.

Putting a skeleton back to together when you know what the animal looks like can be a challenge, but imagine how hard that becomes when there are no more of those creatures alive for you look at. It is a bit like trying to put a jigsaw puzzle together when you don’t have the photo on the box as a guide.

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