2 October 2015
Year 8 visited the Natural History Museum in Oxford for a day of art and science. The morning started off in the lecture theatre learning about classifying animals, it was led by Sarah from the museum. After an exercise exploring different groups of arthropods, those feeling brave enough got to handle some giant hissing cockroaches. A final worksheet took the boys all over the museum answering questions about Darwin, variation and classification.
After lunch, we switched from science to art. Sherrey explained about how the museum building is a real work of art in itself; every pillar has a different carved pedestal featuring plants and animals for instance, and the ceiling echoes the ribs of a dinosaur skeleton. The boys were given the task of sketching some of the museum’s features and architectural embellishments using different drawing materials and techniques such as collage and rubbings. Finally we all went out onto the lawn in front of the building to sketch the building.