Online Learning Secondary
Key Stage 3
Observing the Universe: Ideas and Evidence
Science and Islam
Key Stages: KS3 (Science and RE)
Length: 45-50 minutes
Maximum group size: No limit (facilitated online delivery)
Cost: Rates for virtual and in-person learning
This interactive session introduces students to the extraordinary advances made in science and mathematics during the so-called ‘golden age’ of medieval Islam when science was interwoven with religious practice.
Students will encounter beautiful objects from the Museum’s renowned collection of early scientific instruments from the Islamic world, including:
- celestial globes
- astrolabes, and
- the qibla indicator.
You will discover how Muslim scientists used science in the service of religion as well as for practical purposes like time-telling and navigation.
The session includes breakout activities.
"The session was fantastic and the students enjoyed the session throughout the time available. The headteacher ... was impressed."
Science teacher
Teachers' Notes
https://www.hsm.ox.ac.uk/files/teachersnotesks3scienceandislampdf
Astrolabe, by Khafif, Syro-Egyptian, Late 9th Century? Inventory number: 47632
Ingenious Calculators
Key Stages: KS3 (Maths)
Length: 45-50 minutes
Maximum group size: No limit (facilitated online delivery)
Cost: Rates for virtual and in-person learning
This interactive session reveals how:
- number systems have evolved to support calculation
- changes in society have led to the invention of novel calculating devices from the abacus to mechanical calculating machines.
We introduce Charles Babbage who, inspired by the Industrial Revolution, invented the first large-scale calculating machines and collaborated with the mathematician Ada Lovelace in designing the first large-scale mechanical computer.
Students will get involved in breakout activities and discover more about objects from the Museum’s collection.
Teachers' Notes
https://www.hsm.ox.ac.uk/files/teachersnotesks3ingeniouscalculatorspdf
Key Stage 4 and Key Stage 5
Alice in Typhoidland
Key Stage: KS4 (History of Medicine)
Length: 40-50 minutes
Maximum group size: No limit (facilitated online delivery)
Cost: Rates for virtual and in-person learning
This interactive session explores the development of germ theory and management of diseases such as typhoid and cholera in the 19th century.
Students will:
- analyse an epidemiological case study of typhoid in Oxford during the latter half of the 19th century
- learn about novel medical instruments from the Museum’s collection and trace the early history of vaccination and public health initiatives
- explore historical reasons for public resistance to vaccination and compare these with our contemporary experience of the COVID-19 vaccination programme.
Teachers' Notes
https://www.hsm.ox.ac.uk/files/teachersnotesks4aliceintyphoidlandpdf
Frankenstein and Science
Key Stages: KS4 and KS5 (English Literature)
Length: 45-50 minutes
Maximum group size: No limit (facilitated online delivery)
Cost: Rates for virtual and in-person learning
This participative, online workshop will enable students to explore the scientific background and inspiration behind Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein.
Setting the novel in the context of science and the Enlightenment, we will investigate how Shelley harnesses Frankenstein's fascination with old forms of knowledge, like the occult, along with new discoveries in scientific fields such as chemistry and electricity in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
Students will discover more about objects and images from the Museum's collection.
Teachers' Notes
https://www.hsm.ox.ac.uk/files/teachersnotesks4frankensteinandsciencepdf
Oil painting in HSM collection, believed to be of chemist Humphrey Davy (inventor of the Davy Lamp) with his assistant. Dated 1827. Inventory no. 56577
