Imperial War Museum Duxford
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Duxford’s Education staff are now developing more activities for schools related to technology and science, including Science Connections for Science Week on 17 March 2010. The STEM TEAM Duxford 2010 event with STEM TEAM Cambridgeshire is on 9 and 10 June. Please telephone 01223 499341 for details. If you wish to discuss your Science and Technology requirements, please contact Peter Halford on 01223 497287.
Forces and Motion
Suitable for children studying ‘Friction’ (Year 4) and ‘Forces in Action’ (Year 6), this activity encompasses key themes such as the forces of gravity, push and pull, lift and drag, up-thrust, reaction, buoyancy, and friction. Students work in small groups and explore these themes using purpose-built demonstration equipment. For Year 6 pupils, the activity extends their understanding of everyday forces into a greater appreciation of aircraft and their landing gear, and how forces need to be taken into account for practical design and manufacturing purposes.
Dates: Monday-Friday, by appointment
Session length: 90 minutes
Suitability: Key Stage 2, Years 4-6
Party size: Maximum 36 students and 6 adults
Cost: £90 per session
How Things Fly
This session is suitable for any year group and builds on the KS1 units ‘Pushes and Pulls’ and ‘Forces and Movement’ and complements all KS2 studies involving forces and movement, including the Year 6 unit ‘Balanced and Unbalanced Forces’. Museum staff use simple materials and flying models to demonstrate the main forces governing flight. Students are fully involved throughout and there are several ‘hands-on’ activities. The level and detail is tailored to each group. A follow-up pack will be provided.
Dates: Monday-Friday, by appointment
Session length: 60 minutes
Suitability: Key Stage 2
Party size: Maximum 36 students and 6 adults
Cost: £60 per session
Structures
A two-part activity, students first follow a Museum trail which focuses on the structures of the hangars, the aircraft, and the way the exhibits are housed and presented. Next, students take part in a hands-on designing and building activity where they work in teams to make a model hangar to house a model aircraft. A range of materials are available, and shape, rigidity, stability and joining methods will be investigated along with the problems of housing and displaying the exhibits.
Preparatory notes can be provided on request.
Dates: Monday-Friday, by appointment
Session length: 90 minutes
Suitability: Key Stage 2, Years 5-6
Party size: Maximum 36 students and 6 adults
Cost: £90 per session
A Closer Look
Museum staff take small groups of students amongst the aircraft to let them see for themselves the major developments in aircraft over the past century.
Dates: Monday-Friday, by appointment
Session length: 60 minutes
Suitability: Key Stage 2
Party size: Maximum 36 students and 6 adults
Cost: £60 per session
Control Technology
Depending on the level of students’ pre-knowledge, you can choose from two sessions.
For pupils who have used flow diagram program software, the session extends their knowledge and skills and puts them into a real-world context. This session is ideal as an end-of-module outing and includes a visit to the Air Traffic Control Tower. Pupils program runway approach lights on a physical model by downloading their programs to Programmable Integrated Chips (PIC).
For pupils with little or no pre-knowledge, the session serves as a good introduction to flow diagrams and electronic control. Starting with a short introduction to control in the context of aircraft and aviation, the session then moves on to the basics of using flow charts to produce simple programs to control flashing beacons. The session can be can be extended as appropriate and will be put into context on this operational airfield.
The software is Flowol and the download interface is SOLO, both from Data Harvest. Pupils work in small groups at highly specified workstations, and demonstrations are made via an interactive whiteboard.
Dates: Monday-Friday, by appointment
Session length: 90 minutes
Suitability: Key Stage 2, Years 5-6
Party size: Maximum 15 students and 3 adults
Cost: £90 per session
Characteristics of Materials
Through hands-on investigation, students can extend their knowledge of a range of materials, including those used in the aircraft industry, the properties that characterise them and why they are chosen for particular applications.
Reference will be made to some of the exhibits you can go on to see at the Museum (such as Concorde) to appreciate how and where the materials have been used. For Years 5 and 6, the Science and Technology quiz sheet will focus observation around the Museum on different materials and where they have been used.
Dates: Monday-Friday, by appointment
Session length: 60 minutes
Suitability: Key Stage 2
Party size: Maximum 36 students and 6 adults
Cost: £60 per session
Mechanisms
Levers, wheels and axles, pulleys, cogs, and screws are found in the machines at Duxford. Students investigate these and other mechanisms through observation of the exhibits. The restoration and conservation workshops in Hangars 2 and 5 provide unrivalled opportunities for pupils and students to see beneath the skin of machines. Practical activities using K’Nex, Lego and Brio allow students to understand mechanisms more fully.
Dates: Monday-Friday, by appointment
Session length: 90 minutes
Suitability: Key Stage 2
Party size: Maximum 36 students and 6 adults
Cost: £90 per session