Science in the Senior School and Sixth Form

Learning corridors: what can science school displays offer?

With the lockdown over and schools opening their doors to welcome students, the Summer Term presented itself as an opportunity to reflect on what we can do and offer students whilst they are waiting to enter classrooms, moving between lessons, passing by as they go to lunch, break time or simply towards their form rooms.

As teachers and technicians, we have appreciated more this term seeing students line up with their peers to enter classrooms and watch them exchange stories or worries, laughter, or news. Fostering science learning and captivating student’s imagination, beyond the classroom, became therefore a core goal this term for the Science department.

Science teachers and technicians decided to turn to corridors as ample spaces that could be better used for learning. We all know that good displays naturally invite students and visitors to slow down and look at the information being displayed but in the Science department, we wanted to go one step further. We aimed to create interactive learning resources that allowed knowledge and ideas to be exchanged, tested, rehearsed, and mastered. With creativity and skill, the science technicians have created several displays:

Periodic table of Women in Chemistry

Where will science take you

Interactive displays have also become increasingly prominent, inviting students to stop and test their knowledge, teach themselves or those with whom they travel or converse as they pass by. We have chosen to highlight the building of formulae of ionic compounds as this is the foundation to being able to write chemical equations; reinforce students’ understanding of the reactivity series of metals or review cell biology knowledge (pictured below). These displays have created opportunities for students to interact beyond the classroom and the constraints of lesson time.

In a corridor, students choose whether or not to stop, read and think without any pressure or worries that they might get an answer wrong. Seeing students in small groups or in pairs discussing and testing each other at lunch and/or break time or ahead of a lesson has been extremely encouraging in such a short period of time. As Hywel Roberts says, “A display is to the teacher what the saw is to a carpenter: essential.” Watch the space around the Science hub for more interactive learning in the near future!

As teachers and technicians, we have appreciated more this term seeing students line up with their peers to enter classrooms and watch them exchange stories or worries, laughter, or news.

Dr Alves Martins

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