Most schools visit Magna Science Adventure Centre on the back of careful planning and preparation. Magna is a fairly unique environment. "Steelos", the local name for the former Templeborough steelworks in Rotherham, West Yorkshire, was a vast plant. It became home to Magna in 2001. The building is over half a kilometre long and 45…

From the World Conservation Union to front-line practitioners, there is increasing recognition of the interaction between nature and people, and a growing integration of environmental and social issues. This also rings true for natural and cultural heritage educators as the line between nature and culture education slowly blurs. Perhaps the…

Museum educators often think about what they want children to take away with them from museum visits. But at least as important is what children bring to these visits. Research in developmental psychology shows that children and adolescents progress through a sequence of ways of understanding knowledge and knowing--understanding that lies at the…

What kinds of programming should an art museum's education department offer to the K-12 school community? How can educators best contribute to students' current and future intellectual development? What type of programming best fits the needs of students and teachers, while also addressing the unique aspects of the museum setting? At the Isabella…

Many art museum programs aim to facilitate the development of young people's critical-thinking skills, but most are unclear in their definitions of critical thinking and their notions of how it is best facilitated. This article shares a diagnostic tool for identifying instances of critical thinking in art museum programs. Specifically, the authors…

Since World War II, European museums have abandoned their laissez-faire policy and design, and have decided to actively teach or guide visitors' learning. The position of museum educator has been created to place objects in their scientific, social, or historical context, and to help members of the public to extract the maximum meaning from these…

A study attempted to describe visitors' psychological functioning while viewing museum exhibits. The research was designed to enable a comparison of psychological functioning as viewed by subjects and a researcher. Two sets of data were gathered, the first with 45 visitors (men and women, 25-65 years of age, with various educational levels) to a…

This document is a brochure to guide young children and their parents as they tour a display of glass art works from the Corning Museum, exhibited at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Questions are posed about individual pieces and the exhibit in general. Activities for children to do at home also are suggested. (DB)

Discussion emphasizes the responsibilities and sensitivities incumbent upon the museums which display American Indian sacred objects. (JC)

Science museums and popular physics shows often exhibit a blower in whose air stream a ball is held hovering in equilibrium some distance above the jet's orifice. The weight of the ball, "mg," is balanced by the drag force of the turbulent air stream, often written as ?Cv[superscript 2]A, where "?" and "v" are the…

This book focuses on the history of the Statue of Liberty National Monument from 1952 through 1982. It describes how the monument has come to symbolize an expanding set of ideals, how the symbolism has produced responses in various groups of people ranging from celebrations to physical attacks upon the Statue, and the manner in which the monument…

Article considered the museum as a storehouse of facts which are not readily available elsewhere and how to make those facts available. (Author/RK)

Procedures of processing, cataloging, and classification are discussed in detail, and in many cases examples are given. (Author)

A discussion of the use of museums for instructional purposes. (HB)

The central element of this teaching museum is an open sculpture gallery on the third-floor level, beyond the reach of vandals. (Author/MLF)