Fixing Our Broken Planet - gallery activity guide

Our Fixing Our Broken Planet Gallery explores all the ways we can come together to solve the planetary emergency, from community solutions to international projects.

Made in collaboration with Southborough High School Eco-Club, use this activity guide to ensure your students get the most out of the gallery. There are activities to make students think, talk, draw and engage with the different sections, including: health, materials, food and energy.

Target levels:

• Key Stage 3 and above (ages 11+)

Topics:

• Sustainability
• Renewable Energy
• Food and Farms
• Impact of single use items
• Human health
• Climate Change

Resources required: the booklet and a pencil

How to use the gallery activity guide

1. The guide takes between 20–30 minutes to complete.
2. We recommend that students complete the guides in pairs or small groups.
3. Print off your guides before your visit and fold them to make booklets (print them off ‘double-sided, flip on the short edge’).
4. There are four different question types in the guides represented by different symbols:
   Create; Discuss, Find information; Reflect
5. Each page of the guide has questions linked to each of the four different zones in the gallery: The Food we Eat; The Stuff we Use; Our Health; The Energy we Use (the guide tells you which zone each page refers to at the top of the page).
6. You can direct students to the different zones in the gallery by looking for signs like the images below.
7. There are infographics next to the signs, that give you more information about that zone (encourage students to read these).

Preparing students for your visit

1. Explain that the Fixing Our Broken Planet Gallery explores challenges facing the planet with science-backed, hopeful solutions to help us to create a more sustainable world.
2. Discuss with your students what they know and how they feel about the planetary emergency.
3. Show your students the activity guide and explain how to use it in the gallery.
4. In consultation with your students, create a list of agreed appropriate behaviours in the museum, including what to do if they feel anxious or upset by any of the content in the Fixing Our Broken Planet Gallery.

After your visit

When you are back in school reflect on the following questions:

• Which exhibits made you feel hopeful?
• Which scientific solutions do you think will have the greatest impact?
• Did the gallery change how you feel about the planetary emergency?
• Based on what you saw, what will you do differently from now on?
• Is there anything we could be doing at differently at school?

You can also print off this guidance as a PDF (1.2MB)