The Science and Industry Museum has hatched a plan to keep families entertained this Easter through an eggs-ploration of its extensive online collection.
Over the Easter weekend, the museum will be sharing its most interesting egg-related objects and asking people at home to hunt through its digital resources to uncover their own. One of the more eggs-traordinary items in the museum’s possession is an original egg from the 1979 science-fiction film, Alien. Fun facts about the object, the movie and the museum’s wider collection can be discovered on the Science and Industry Museum’s blog.
The museum’s Easter activity is the latest eggs-ample of how its collection, and the inspirational stories it tells, remain open to everyone online while its doors are temporarily closed in response to the coronavirus outbreak. As part of the Science Museum Group, the world’s leading group of science museums, it has over 325,000 objects in its extensive online collection that can all be explored from home.
Through its Objects and Stories pages, 250 years of innovations and ideas that began in Manchester and went on to change the world can also be discovered, including the stories of scientists, John Dalton and James Joule, who both had strong links to the city.
Some of the Science and Industry Museum’s best-loved objects and spaces are also continuing to ignite curiosity online. Take a tour of the Textiles Gallery, which houses original working machinery from Manchester’s cotton mills, or get up close to one of the earliest Rolls-Royce motorcars and find out how Britain’s most prestigious motoring brand started life in Manchester. Visitors to the website can also meet Baby, the first computer to store and run a program, which was built at the University of Manchester, or find out about the history of the museum’s iconic Power Hall, one of the most beloved industrial heritage galleries in the country.
As well as exclusive insights into its collection, the Science and Industry Museum’s online resources offer a wealth of learning tools to help whole families get creative from home. In celebration of the 59th anniversary of the first crewed spaceflight on 12 April, it has shared resources on making things fly and creating rocket mice from materials found around the house.
Director of the Science and Industry Museum, Sally Macdonald, said: “We’re working hard to find new ways of igniting curiosity and lifting everyone’s spirits during this challenging time.
“Our museum offers visitors exciting, hands-on experiences, but its collection is far more extensive than just the items on display. Through our collections online, we can give unrivalled access to objects and insights from Manchester’s industrial past, as well as a wealth of other significant items that tell stories of scientific discovery and development. These digital resources mean we can continue build and sustain a curiosity in fields such as science, technology and engineering while our doors are temporarily closed.
“Our online resources are also particularly useful during this period of schools closures, when many parents will be looking for fun and interactive ways of teaching children from home.”
The Science and Industry Museum closed its doors on Tuesday 17 March following Government advice that aims to contain the spread of COVID-19. There is currently no set date for reopening, but it looks forward to welcoming visitors back in the future.
