Special classroom is an extracurricular activity for schools. Students will learn biology, natural history and other related subjects through hand-on activities at the museum. They will learn how to use scientific Instructions to solve problems and practice analytical thinking. More importantly, these activities are joyful, hence students will happily learn and gain good attitude toward science. The classroom can be divided into several stations so students will rotate to learn different topics. The activities are designed for different groups of age as shown in the table below:
Table shows suitable age groups for each activity
P1 | P2 | P3 | P4 | P5 | P6 | M1 | M2 | M3 | M4 | M5 | M6 |
A | |||||||||||
B | E | ||||||||||
C | D | F | G |
A | P1 – M6 | E | M1 – M6 |
B | P1 – P6 | F | M1 – M3 |
C | P1 – P3 | G | M4 – M6 |
D | P4 – P6 | ||
Activity A01 Food Web Activity B01 Animal Sketching Activity B02 Flying Seeds Activity E01 Oxygen Producer Activity E02 Bank of Water Activity E03 Habituation Activity E04 Mimicry Activity G01 Dichotomous Key Activity G02 Natural Selection and Speciation Activity G03 Jumping Gene |
Preferred Class |
P1–M6 |
Preferred Number of Students |
30 |
Duration |
30 min |
Food web is a process of energy transfer through foraging activities in ecosystems. It consists of several food chains. In an ecosystem, there are primary producer and several levels of consumer. If one component is missing, there will be imbalance. |
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Instruction
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Preferred Class |
P1 – P6 |
Preferred Number of Students |
30 |
Duration |
30 min |
Sketching is a way to collect information quickly. To sketch an animal, students need to observe and try to understand nature and characteristics of that animal. At the same time, sketchers are required to have basic principle skill of sketching before so they can produce beautiful and accurate works. The comprehensive sketches will be useful to induce or inspire other people to study nature. This activity is an integration of arts and science which promotes science learning. |
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Instruction
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Preferred Class |
P1 – P6 |
Preferred Number of Students |
30 |
Duration |
30 min |
Plants have strategies to disperse their seeds. In some groups of plant, their fruits or seeds have wing-like appendages to help them disperse by wind. This is a result from evolution. |
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Instruction
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Preferred Class |
M1 – M6 |
Preferred Number of Students |
30 |
Duration |
45 - 60 min |
หมายเหตุ |
Outdoor Activity |
In the food producing process of plants, they convert carbon dioxide to oxygen. In a day, human need 850 g of oxygen to breathe which can be produce by a tree with 850 cm circumference. Therefore, students will learn how to calculate the amount of oxygen produced by a certain area of forest or other green area with trees. |
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Instruction
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Preferred Class |
M1–M6 |
Preferred Number of Students |
30 |
Duration |
30 min |
Animals have obvious behaviors to respond to environmental factors. Different stimulations give different feedbacks. Habituation is a type of behavior found both in invertebrates and vertebrates. This behavior shows less response to unharmed stimulus overtime to reduce energy used. |
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Instruction
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Preferred Class |
M1–M6 |
Preferred Number of Students |
5 (Several groups can do at the same time) |
Duration |
30 min |
Some animals have evolved morphologically to be similar to other animals in order to prevent predation or to forage. This nature is called mimicry. Animals that mimic other venomous animals can be safe from predators without spending energy to produce venom. |
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Instruction
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Preferred Class |
M4 –M6 |
Preferred Number of Students |
30 |
Duration |
30 min |
This activity teaches students to classify different living things systematically. Dichotomous key is a widely accepted Instruction of classification. Apart from just classification, dichotomous key also enhance students’ understanding about evolution. |
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Instruction
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Preferred Class |
M4–M6 |
Preferred Number of Students |
30 |
Duration |
30 min |
Natural selection is an important process of evolution. In the process, characteristics that favor survival will be transfer to next generation while disfavored characteristics will be eliminated. Therefore, the same organisms might become different after being separated to different habitats for long time. When natural selections occur again and again, the organisms might have a chance to evolve into different species. |
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Instruction
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Preferred Class |
M4–M6 |
Preferred Number of Students |
30 |
Duration |
30 - 60 min |
Genes are parts of DNA which normally have a role to control genetic expressions. In the past, we believed that genes have permanent locations in chromosomes. However, we currently know that there is a group of genes that can move in between DNA, called jumping genes. This translocation can cause genetic variations or mutations; in some cases, it can cause syndromes. By learning about this topic, students will understand the roles of genes better. |
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Instruction
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