Visit and classroom activities

Visit activities

Front Page News  – students adopt the role of a newspaper reporter and collect information in the exhibition to create a front-page story about the invention of the amazing new material Bakelite. (Individual activity)..

Bakelite Galore  – students consider the impact of the new plastics by creating an advert for one of the Bakelite products displayed in the exhibition. (Small group activity)

Designer Choices, Plastic Properties  – students consider the properties of plastics used to make particular items in the exhibition. (Small group activity)

A Plastic Future  – students collect information in the exhibition for a post-visit debate about the implications of how we use plastics and the impact on our environment. (Small group activity)

In the spirit of this exhibition please recycle any paper copies of resources that you print.

Napkin rings, late 1930s.

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Classroom activities

Try these simple short activities in the classroom either before or after a visit to the exhibition. They can also be used standalone as part of your teaching about materials.

Quirky Uses of Plastics  – students think about the materials they would choose to make a coffin and/or a chandelier and compare their choices with items from the exhibition.

My Plastic World  – asks students to depict what plastics mean to them and how their world would be different without them by creating a photomontage.