School Activities

Our school activities are suitable for all ages and levels including primary, secondary and A-Level. We offer workshops, hands-on activities and a teacher support service to help you get the most out of your visit. All school services are free, but must be booked in advance.

Darwin Centre

Find out who you really are and where you come from in our interactive films about evolution, described by Sir David Attenborough.

Hands-on Activities

Get up close and personal with Museum in these hands-on activities, where you can handle real specimens from our collections. Hundreds of real, natural history specimens for students to touch and explore are in our hands-on science centre.

Self-led Activities

Pupils can engage with specimens through role-play in a self-guided explorer challenge through the Museum.

The Great Debate School Program

Students are introduced to the history of the debate during a lively tour. They are then divided into groups and use exhibits to prepare presentations representing the views of the debated key characters.

Booking

All school activities must be booked in advance by calling the schools booking line: 4420 7942 6666.

1. If you’re interested in human evolution, you’d better choose________.

  A. Hands-on Activities                 B. Self-led Activities

  C. The Great Debate Schools Program     D. Darwin Centre

2. Which of the following programs is the most suitable one for team work?

A. Hands-on Activities.      B. The Great Debate School Program.

  C. Self-led Activities.        D. Darwin Centre.

At thirteen, I was diagnosed(诊断) with a kind of attention disorder. It made school difficult for me. When everyone else in the class was focusing on tasks, I could not.

In my first literature class, Mrs.Smith asked us to read a story and then write on it, all within 45 minutes. I raised my hand right away and said, “Mrs.Smith, you see, the doctor said I have attention problems. I might not be able to do it.” She glanced down at me through her glasses, “You are no different from your classmates, young man.”

I tried, but I didn’t finish the reading when the bell rang. I had to take it home.

In the quietness of my bedroom, the story suddenly all became clear to me. It was about a blind person, Louis Braille. He lived in a time when the blind couldn’t get much education. But Louis didn’t give up. Instead, he invented a reading system of raised dots(点), which opened up a whole new world of knowledge to the blind.

Wasn’t I the “blind” in my class, being made to learn like the “sighted” students? My thoughts spilled out and my pen started to dance. I completed the task within 40 minutes. Indeed, I was no different from others; I just needed a quieter place. If Louis could find his way out of his problems, why should I ever give up?

I didn’t expect anything when I handed in my paper to Mrs.Smith, so it was quite a surprise when it came back to me the next day—with an “A” on it. At the bottom of the paper were these words: “See what you can do when you keep trying?”

3. The author didn’t finish the reading in class because           .   

  A. he wanted to take the task home.     B. he was new to the class

  C. he had an attention disorder        D. he was tired of literature.

4. What was Mrs.Smith’s attitude to the author at the end of the story?

  A. Angry.      B. Impatient.   C. Sympathetic.        D. Encouraging.

5. The underlined phrase spilled out in Paragraph 5 probably means____.

   A. put in   B. crowded in    C. cheated in    D. broke in

6. What is the main idea of the passage?

  A. A teacher can open up a new world to students.   B. One can find his way out of difficulties with efforts.

  C. The disabled should be treated with respect.      D. Everyone needs a hand when faced with challenges.

We produce 500 billion of plastic bags in a year worldwide and they are thrown away polluting oceans, killing wildlife and getting dumped in landfills where they take up to 1,000 years to decompose．Researchers have been unsuccessfully looking for a solution.

The 16-year-old Canadian high school student, Daniel Burd, from Waterloo Collegiate Institute, has-discovered a way to make plastic bags degrade（降解） in as few as 3 months, a finding that won him first prize at the Canada Wide Science Fair, a ＄10,000 prize, a ＄20,000 scholarship, and a chance to revolutionize a major environmental issue.

Burd’s strategy was simple: Since plastic does eventually degrade, it must be eaten by microorganisms（微生物）．If those microorganisms could be identified, we could put them to work eating the plastic much faster than under normal conditions.

With this goal in mind, he grounded plastic bags into a powder and concocted（调制）a solution of household chemicals, yeast（酵母） and tap water to encourage microbes growth．Then he added the plastic powder and let the microbes work their magic for 3 months．Finally, he tested the resulting bacterial culture on plastic bags, exposing one plastic sample to dead bacteria as a control．Sure enough, the plastic exposed（暴露）to the live bacteria was 17% lighter than the control after six weeks.

The inputs are cheap, maintaining the required temperature takes little energy because microbes produce heat as they work, and the only outputs are water and tiny levels of carbon dioxide.

“Almost every week I have to do chores and when I open the closet door, I have piles of plastic bags falling on top of me．One day, I got tired of it and I wanted to know what other people are doing with these plastic bags．The answer: not much．So I decided to do something myself.” Said Daniel Burd.

7. Daniel Burd won first prize at the Canada-Wide Science Fair because      .

   A. he found a way to degrade plastics in shorter time. B. he contributed much to environmental protection.

   C. he found a new kind of microorganism.          D. he could encourage microbe growth in an easier way.

8．Daniel Burd exposed one plastic sample to dead bacteria to       .     

   A. make the live bacteria work better.    B. know which bacteria worked faster.

   C. test how effective his method was.    D. control the temperature in the process.

9.  Maintaining the required temperature takes little energy because       .      

    A. plastics can get hot easily.              B. microbes can produce heat themselves.

    C. much carbon dioxide is produced.        D. the temperature can be controlled.

10. Daniel Burd got his idea from       .   

    A. his school textbook.           B. the failure of researchers.

C. his everyday work.            D. the practice of other people.

Why is setting goals important? ___11___ Instead of just letting life happen to you, goals allow you to make your life happen. Successful people imagine how their life should be and set lots of goals.

By setting goals you are taking control of your life. It's like having a map to show you where you want to go. Think of it this way. There are two drivers. One has a destination in mind which can be found on a map. She can drive straight there surely without any wasted time of wrong turns. ___12___ She starts off at the same time from the same place as the first driver, but she drives aimlessly around, never getting anywhere, just using up gas. Which driver do you want to be?   

Winners in life set goals and follow them through. They decide what they want in life and then get there by making plans and setting goals. ___13___ Goals aren't difficult to set and they aren't difficult to reach.

___14___ You are the one who must decide what to achieve and in what direction to aim your life.

Research tells us that when we write a goal down we are more likely to achieve it.___15___. Like a contract(合同) with yourself, they are harder to neglect or forget. Also when you write your goals in a particular way, you are able to make yourself continuously aware of situations that will bring you nearer to your goal. 

A．Because everybody should have a goal in his mind  

B．Unsuccessful people usually just let life happen by accident.

C．The other driver has no goal, or destination or map.

D．It's difficult for a driver to reach his destination without a map.

E．It's up to you to find out what your goals really are. 

F．Because goals can help you do, be, and experience everything you want in life.

G . Written goals can be reviewed regularly, and have more power

W:  Hello! May I speak to Mr. White, please?

M:  Mike White speaking.

W:  Hello.36_____ is Alice Green, Tom’s neighbor.

M:  Hello.37 _____ can I do for you?

W:  Well, Tom said he’s been taking piano lessons from you for two years, and I wonder if I can learn from you,38_____.

M:  I don’t think that’s a problem. Have you had any musical 39 ______ (experience) before?

W:  Well, when I was a college student, I spent about half a year 40 _____ (learn) to play the guitar. But that was almost ten years ago.

M:  Good. 41_____ that case we don’t have to start from the very 42_____ (begin).

W:  Then can I go with Tom to your nest class?

M:  I don’t think 43_____ . All the people in that class 44_________ (study) with us for about two years, and they come on Sunday mornings. But you can come to another class, on Saturday evening 45_____ Sunday afternoon.

W:  Saturday evening is better for me. See you then.