Key Stage 3 (11-14)
We provide an engaging environment for students to experience topics they are exploring in class. Breathe life into hard-to-teach subjects and inspire students to see science and technology in a new light.
Mix and match the experiences below or if you're following a curriculum theme click the links on the left for inspiration. Think about the pace of your visit and combine the activity of the hands-on galleries and the excitement of shows, IMAX and drama with exploring real things in our object rich galleries.
Check out our free homework, science club and classroom resources.
Hands-on galleries
Will your ideas today change the world tomorrow? Discover the importance of energy in this fascinating gallery.
Launchpad - the Science Museum's most popular gallery - has been relocated and reinvented. Explore science and technology first-hand with 50 hands-on exhibits and shows. See yourself on the heat camera or listen to your voice echo down a 30 metre tube.
Object-rich galleries
A continually updated exhibition on science and technology news.
Explore the world of materials, from the leading edge of scientific innovation to new insights into everyday objects. Walk on a glass bridge; see a steel wedding dress or visit the atomic disco with its giant molecular models.
Compare your home computer with Babbage's Difference Engine No. 2 in this gallery on the history of the computer. Watch the video on Babbage's ingenious machine, or learn about the mathematical instruments used before the invention of computers.
The ingenious use of steam to generate power helped Britain become the world’s first industrial nation. The steam engines in this gallery range from the earliest type used to the turbines that still generate power today.
Share the dreams of the flight pioneers: see the development of aviation from its tentative beginnings to the modern era of mass air travel. Displays include Amy Johnson's Gipsy Moth, the first British jet and a unique collection of aero engines.
Find out how it felt to be a doctor or patient at different times in history, or in different cultures. Forty-three scenes ranging from detailed models to full reconstructions show the history of medicine from Neolithic times to the 1980s.
In this game, you can explore how science and technology might affect your life in the future. With other visitors, decide whether new technological developments - such as space tourism to male pregnancy - should or should not go ahead.
This unique, breathtaking gallery chronologically presents 150 of the most significant items from the Science Museum's collections from 1750 to 2000. Nowhere else in the world will you be able to see a display that shows so vividly the development of the modern industrial world.
See the extraordinary range of labour-saving devices in this intriguing technological guide to the development of the modern home. Look at the array of gizmos and gadgets, test your skill at identifying mystery objects and attempt to outwit the burglar alarm.
Trace the story of the space rocket. Learn about the satellites orbiting Earth. Find out how we are probing the rest of the Solar System and beyond. In this gallery you too will be exploring space.
This fascinating exhibition explores the science of you. See how new discoveries in genetics, brain science and psychology are helping us learn more about ourselves. How similar and different are you from other people and from other animals?
Special exhibitions
Explore how astronomy has changed the way we see our universe - and ourselves - through this object-rich exhibition.
An exciting new exhibition exploring the role played by technology in creating post-war Britain.
This December, 192 countries will meet in Copenhagen to agree a global action plan for tackling climate change. Explore the evidence that human activity is behind climate change and decide whether you support a strong, fair deal at Copenhagen.
In our new exhibition, A World of Cracking Ideas, wacky inventors Wallace and Gromit guide you through a world of life-changing inventions.
IMAX 3D Cinema
Dive into this magical 3D underwater adventure and be transported below the ocean surface to swim alongside some of the planet's most unique and colourful creatures.
Prepare to embark on a prehistoric underwater adventure in IMAX 3D!
Enjoy astonishing up-close 3D encounters with a multitude of shark species in this unforgettable giant screen experience.
Showing only upon request for education groups.
See dinosaurs come to life on the only screen big enough to play host to them in Dinosaurs Alive 3D!
Experience first-hand the awesome spectacle of earthquakes, volcanoes and storms on a quest to understand Earth's most destructive forces. Showing only upon request for education groups.
See inside yourself as you explore the human body on our giant screen. Showing only upon request for education groups.
Blast off to space to see the building of the International Space Station in breathtaking 3D.
Events
Book an action-packed Science Show as part of your Launchpad visit.
Our drama characters quite literally bring science and technology to life.
Free workshop in which students create their own science news story.
Feel the impact of a Saturn V rocket launch, take a trip on the lunar rover and discover the smell of space in our motion effects simulation theatre.
Watch a screening of the memorable IMAX film, The Human Body 2D, then experience a fun, informative drama performance about the world's first pregnant man.
This dynamic and gross show looks at food groups, balanced diets and digestion by following the journey of food through the human body. See videos of your insides and find out why your poo is brown.
Experience life with reduced gravity in our stunning IMAX film Space Station 3D then support the learning with our astronaut drama.
This excellent show investigates the science of heat and temperature, melting and boiling points, changes of state and the transfer of energy. Discover what happens to Plasticine Pete when plunged into liquid nitrogen and find out how to use a banana as a hammer.
Our popular Launchpad gallery is reserved for different age groups on different days. Find out when you can request places for your Key Stage 3 group.