Engineering Change - Environmental warriors in the making
How can children become aware of environmental issues through exploring the history of heritage buses and trains? How can they be inspired to amplify their voices through learning about old Underground posters? The children of Wembley Primary School have a lot to say about it, and we should be listening.
London Transport Museum has partnered up with Artsmark to create the programme for our Engineering Change themed week (8-12 November 2021), where children from Wembley Primary School will have the opportunity to voice their own opinions about climate change and sustainability. This exciting journey kicked off with a school visit to the Museum Depot in Acton, where pupils were introduced to our poster collection. During this trip, Year 5 learnt all about how these artefacts can inspire, engage, and encourage people to make change.
Upon arrival, pupils were given an exciting tour of the Depot where they learnt about the history of vehicles and how they have changed over the years. Focusing on green stories, pupils were able to see iconic pieces of the collection, from horse-drawn carriages to the famous Routemaster bus, using these objects to think about environmental issues of today.
After the tour, the class was keen to get hands on with the next activity, which allowed them to explore their own ideas about the Museum’s incredible poster collection. After a look around the art and poster store, pupils got into groups and put their researcher hats on, creating colourful brainstorming sheets about how posters can be used to inspire, engage, and make a difference. For this project, it is important that the students are encouraged to amplify their own voices and understand that they have the potential to make change.
Already, the pupils are starting to form their own opinions about what needs to change to ensure the future of our planet. Inspired and brimming with ideas, the children will now be planning how to put their actions into creative poster designs to help encourage others to make small actions to make a big difference.
Here’s some of what they had to say:
We have to look after our planet otherwise it will melt
We should have the (electric) trams now
The Engineering Change project, in partnership with Artsmark and funded by Arts Council England, encourages pupils to explore the Museum’s collection, reflecting on past actions that have contributed to environmental issues and thinking about the individual changes we can make to build a greener future. Key areas that students will focus on throughout the project include transport, energy, biodiversity, and sustainability.
Find out more information about the project and the Engineering Change themed week.
