Energy, The Livesey Museum for children, London
The environment is a hot topic right now so the Livesey Museum for Children's interactive exhibition Energy could not be more timely.
Designed to complement the national curriculum and with an intended audience of under 12s (and their families), it explores the role energy plays in daily life.
Beginning on the ground floor with a section on the natural world, the exhibition then moves upstairs to look at different forms of power - from an early steam engine to nuclear power stations. It finishes with a cafe and a gym to examine how human beings obtain and use their own energy.
Objects as such are few and far between with the emphasis on activities and interactives intended to help the children learn as they wander around.
The exhibition opens with a recycled house made from, among other things, plastic bottles and tin cans. The label makes the point that these items would otherwise have ended up in landfill sites. True, but a recycled house is untenable for most.
Why not mention that we can all make a difference by simply taking these items to be recycled?
A re-creation of a coal mine, complete with rickety beams and filled with rocks and minerals will delight young children. But there is a glaring inaccuracy on the label, which informs us that 100 years ago children as young as eight used to work in the mines.
A quick check of the history books would have shown that the 1842 Mines Act prohibited employment underground for all females, and males under ten.
Moving up the stairs we are confronted with a rather splendid retro-looking nuclear power station. A nice touch shows the coal coming up from the mine to power the station.
Natural fuel such as coal is a finite resource but there are alternatives such as uranium, a lump of which provides 2 million times more energy than a lump of coal the same size.
An interesting fact, but I feel there was a missed opportunity to discuss how our excessive energy consumption has resulted in the depletion of our natural resources.
The potential dangers of nuclear power are emphasised on a monitor explaining how it is created.
Children are invited to place rods in a model reactor but warned to be careful in order not to create an explosion - but I could not help feeling that many children raised on computer games might be disappointed that they are unable to create a big bang.
Further along we are presented with a dynamo - an early electric generator and one of the few historic objects on display.
There is also a rather lovely steam engine, which makes a satisfying whirring and clicking sound as it powers a series of hand-painted models, among them a helicopter, a nodding dog and a weightlifter with a ring through his nose.
This is just one of the many examples of the creativity of the museum team, who built the whole exhibit from scratch over the summer. Another is the beautiful glowing sun that hangs above the exhibition, reminding us all of the ultimate energy source.
I must admit that the point of the model theatre and the film within it was lost on me, but two little girls seemed content to dance around the light given off by a glitter ball hanging from
its ceiling.
The cafe and gym, which end the exhibition, are clearly designed to show how we obtain and use our own energy. Menus highlighting healthy and unhealthy food options are well intentioned, but if you offer most children a burger and chips or a chicken salad, a full
English breakfast or toast and jam, it's pretty obvious what they are going to go for. Facts such as: 'It takes five minutes to run off the energy from a carrot but three hours to run off the energy of a burger and chips,' are more likely to horrify
the parents.
A comic designed to accompany the exhibition is filled with stories on the theme of energy. Facts are subtly interspersed throughout but I can't be the only one who wonders if: 'There's as much carbon in a Peach Archers as in two Bic lighters,' is appropriate for the intended audience.
Despite some reservations, this is a well-designed and laid out exhibition, which can hopefully be used to stimulate discussion back in the classroom.
Catherine Pound is the museum administrator at the Central Saint Martins Museum and Study Collection
The environment is a hot topic right now so the Livesey Museum for Children's interactive exhibition Energy could not be more timely.
Designed to complement the national curriculum and with an intended audience of under 12s (and their families), it explores the role energy plays in daily life.
Beginning on the ground floor with a section on the natural world, the exhibition then moves upstairs to look at different forms of power - from an early steam engine to nuclear power stations. It finishes with a cafe and a gym to examine how human beings obtain and use their own energy.
Objects as such are few and far between with the emphasis on activities and interactives intended to help the children learn as they wander around.
The exhibition opens with a recycled house made from, among other things, plastic bottles and tin cans. The label makes the point that these items would otherwise have ended up in landfill sites. True, but a recycled house is untenable for most.
Why not mention that we can all make a difference by simply taking these items to be recycled?
A re-creation of a coal mine, complete with rickety beams and filled with rocks and minerals will delight young children. But there is a glaring inaccuracy on the label, which informs us that 100 years ago children as young as eight used to work in the mines.
A quick check of the history books would have shown that the 1842 Mines Act prohibited employment underground for all females, and males under ten.
Moving up the stairs we are confronted with a rather splendid retro-looking nuclear power station. A nice touch shows the coal coming up from the mine to power the station.
Natural fuel such as coal is a finite resource but there are alternatives such as uranium, a lump of which provides 2 million times more energy than a lump of coal the same size.
An interesting fact, but I feel there was a missed opportunity to discuss how our excessive energy consumption has resulted in the depletion of our natural resources.
The potential dangers of nuclear power are emphasised on a monitor explaining how it is created.
Children are invited to place rods in a model reactor but warned to be careful in order not to create an explosion - but I could not help feeling that many children raised on computer games might be disappointed that they are unable to create a big bang.
Further along we are presented with a dynamo - an early electric generator and one of the few historic objects on display.
There is also a rather lovely steam engine, which makes a satisfying whirring and clicking sound as it powers a series of hand-painted models, among them a helicopter, a nodding dog and a weightlifter with a ring through his nose.
This is just one of the many examples of the creativity of the museum team, who built the whole exhibit from scratch over the summer. Another is the beautiful glowing sun that hangs above the exhibition, reminding us all of the ultimate energy source.
I must admit that the point of the model theatre and the film within it was lost on me, but two little girls seemed content to dance around the light given off by a glitter ball hanging from
its ceiling.
The cafe and gym, which end the exhibition, are clearly designed to show how we obtain and use our own energy. Menus highlighting healthy and unhealthy food options are well intentioned, but if you offer most children a burger and chips or a chicken salad, a full
English breakfast or toast and jam, it's pretty obvious what they are going to go for. Facts such as: 'It takes five minutes to run off the energy from a carrot but three hours to run off the energy of a burger and chips,' are more likely to horrify
the parents.
A comic designed to accompany the exhibition is filled with stories on the theme of energy. Facts are subtly interspersed throughout but I can't be the only one who wonders if: 'There's as much carbon in a Peach Archers as in two Bic lighters,' is appropriate for the intended audience.
Despite some reservations, this is a well-designed and laid out exhibition, which can hopefully be used to stimulate discussion back in the classroom.
Catherine Pound is the museum administrator at the Central Saint Martins Museum and Study Collection
Project data
Cost: £12,000 Funders: London Borough of Southwark, Southwark Alliance Neighbourhood Renewal
Exhibition design: Livesey Museum staff/Leslie Gay/Arthur and Marcus De Mowbray
Cost: £12,000 Funders: London Borough of Southwark, Southwark Alliance Neighbourhood Renewal
Exhibition design: Livesey Museum staff/Leslie Gay/Arthur and Marcus De Mowbray
