Education and Training

The tours, under the guidance of experienced naturalists, provide opportunities to delve into the main subject areas of the natural sciences.

The tours, which vary in their aims and content according to the grade, are designed to trigger the pupils' interest on specific contents as displayed in the museum's exhibition rooms.

a) Activities designed for pupils from pre-school and the first two years of primary school, focussing on hands-on practical experiences. They enable them to:

• meet the creatures that inhabited the ancient sea that covered present-day Piedmont;
• experience a day as an industrious insect, filled with thrilling adventures and unexpected pitfalls;
• help a clumsy and absent-minded witch free the animals trapped in her abode;
• identify the features of dyeing plants by playing games and manual handling activities;
• provide tips on basic gardening techniques;
• have an overview of zoology through cartoon animals.

For further information, please check the Online Notebook from p. 6 to p. 12.

b) Activities for pupils from primary to secondary school

The activities, led by experienced naturalists, stimulate pupils' interest through the observation of specimens and samples and the support of models, audiovisuals and laboratory equipment.

For further information, please check the Online Notebook from p. 12 to p. 92.

Subject Areas

Subject area covers key disciplines of natural sciences:

OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES

The three-hour outdoor activities enable children and teens to reconnect with nature, to develop skills such as orientation and calmness, to strengthen their environmental awareness (Online Notebook, p. 93).

By combining theoretical knowledge and practical experience, cross-curricular and orientation activities strengthen participants' awareness of their own aptitudes, helping them choose the suitable study programme and/or the right career.

During PCTO activities, girls and boys, assisted by tutors from their home institution and the scientific staff of the Education & Training Section, learn to design and plan tour itineraries and workshop activities for students both of primary and secondary school, and the first two-year of upper education, as museum's future visitors.

Deepening content knowledge for teaching and building peer learning pathways are the main opportunities offered to teachers.

A certain number of hours (depending on the course) are spent on training and refresher courses, based (also) on knowledge sharing for and by colleagues.

Thus teachers:

• are given guidance, training and orientation on subject-specific instructional methods, in which to be prevalent is not the design of the content to be transmitted, but rather the planning of activities to be carried out by the students;
• learn how to set up the conceptual frameworks the activities are to be placed within and to steer the 'scenarios' in which they will be carried out.

The Online Notebook is an annual designed to inform both students and teachers about educational initiatives they are beneficiaries of.

In-house activities will be blended with school-based ones throughout any academic year.

The Education & Training Section provides engagement activities in the museum halls on Saturdays and Sundays.

To be informed about programmes and schedules, please call the number + 39 011 432 6307.

Booking is essential (same number).

The touring exhibitions, which are offered on loan free of charge, are both produced by the museum and cross-institutional collaborations.

For further information, please check the Online Notebook, p. 107.

Partnerships with cultural institutions, museums and parks

Cross-disciplinary approaches geared towards sharing experiences and providing student with enrichment programmes, in partnership with:

• Centroscienza ONLUS Association ~ Weeks... at School 2024
• Turin Academy of Sciences
• BiblioYoung ~ Tour of the Turin libraries
• Asti Palaeontology Park
• Managing Authority of the Royal Parks Protected Areas
• Gran Paradiso National Park

The Education & Training Section is delighted to present:

ONLINE SCIENCE

~ intended for teachers and students at all levels and grades ~

The selection of videos, to be watched on the MRSN’s YouTube channel, aims at demonstrating that science, as much a creative expression as art, is essential for human survival, especially when in harmony with the environment.

Here are the videos:

• Flying Leonardo
• Astronomy: the sublime science
• The Garden of Flying Flowers
• Magic sundials
• Shining Einstein

MRSN’s YouTube channel