From Nantwich to Oxygen: Public Engagement in Chemistry at a Local History Museum

Abstract

Joseph Priestley, discoverer of oxygen, lived in Nantwich, Cheshire, UK, from 1758 to 1761. In 2019, an exhibition featuring his life and achievements, and also celebrating the International Year of the Periodic Table, was developed by the Nantwich Museum. The historical research of Priestley’s life, development of the exhibition, and rationale behind the public-engagement events and activities are described. The integration of chemistry for all age groups throughout the exhibition and during events is discussed. Instructions for experiments and demonstrations are available as Supporting Information for this paper. The benefits of teamwork involving members with diverse subject expertise and the value of contributions from external organizations are emphasized. The exhibition successfully engaged museum visitors with 18th century local history, the story of Joseph Priestley, and chemistry concepts and experiments. Qualitative feedback from participants is presented along with the planned long-term legacy of the exhibition.

STEAM Project-Based Learning Activities at the Science Museum as an Effective Training for Future Chemistry Teachers

“…They can offer to schools' students a space, generally more equipped with respect to the laboratories of schools, where to learn chemistry in relation-ships with real life and society [21][22][23][24]27,51]. Very often science museums host courses to train pre-service and in-service science teachers [18,22,23,[51][52][53][54] and, in the case of chemistry teachers, the possibility to put innovative practical laboratorial activities into practice represent an added value to their training [37]. Several works have been published about the efficacy of non-formal activities developed in science museums in learning chemical and physical concepts, such as the properties of liquids and solids, the science of colors, lights and pigments, the properties of different kinds of materials, the chemistry of food and fundamental chemical topics related to safety and human health [21][22][23]29,31,52,53].…”

“…Significant efforts in building up innovative exhibits related to chemistry, such as interactive laboratories to explore D.N.A. or the energy associated to chemical reactions, and digital tools to approach the history of chemistry in very interactive ways, have been reported [27,32,49,54] Moreover, the cultural and social roles of museums of chemistry, as well as the historical chemical landmarks [46], are connected with their potentialities as neutral contexts to stimulate critical discussions around chemical issues with relevant ethical, economic and social implications [33,36,55].…”

Considering the Call to Action for Science Education

“…The goal of building regional alliances to improve STEM education represents another area where readers of this Journal have been active over the years. For example, collaborations with museums have been described here − and are noted in the report as part of alliance building. The Call to Action report goes further than identifying a need and indicates specific strategies that should be deployed to best meet the need.…”

Top Tips for Designing and Managing a Public Engagement Laboratory

“…Nonformal science education includes collaborations with museums and zoos. 4 Science can also be brought to historical museums 5 or public libraries. 6 to promote cross-subject linkages and equitable access for members of the public.…”