Bringing Curiosity to

An eager desire to know. Wonder, oddity, oddment, peculiarity.

Irving Langmuir, Nobel Prize for Chemistry, inventor of the incandescent light bulb.

Contents

Background

Making Things Happen

A Focused Team

Space to Play

Getting Organised

Short Listing Ideas

Choosing a Style and Material

Four Stages of Creativity

Finding a Solution

Testing Times

Giving Things a Home

Signage

Final Reckoning

Evaluation

Thank You

Foreword

The International Centre for Life was set up

to inspire curiosity in science, to help raise

standards in science education and to

support world class scientific research. We

aim to provide a vibrant and exciting focus

where science is explored and debated

through an imaginative programme of

exhibitions and events.

Our programme has grown to address all

areas of science, and we offer a mix of

formal and informal activities. Our Curiosity

Zone begins our second decade of

operation, building on the lessons learned

here and on the latest learning research. It

incorporates the experience of the

worldwide science centre movement and

marks the next step in the evolution of the

Centre for Life.

I hope you will enjoy your visit to the Centre

can welcome you back again soon.

Linda Conlon

Chief Executive

The idea for the Curiosity Zone first came up in 2007, when it was originally conceived as a

20 years experience developing and running hands on centres, we could see great

potential for a new kind of hands-on exhibition. We wanted to harness the way visitors naturally

behave in a science centre, and recognise that in this environment people take away impressions,

iconic experiences and inspirations, not facts and information. We believed that this would be

key to removing barriers to the enjoyment and appreciation of science, and that such an

exhibition would also provide Life with a space that would engage visitors and be worth visiting

that used and developed core skills that are also used in science, avoiding barriers to

participation, we could help visitors to discover for themselves what they are capable of and

potentially rethink their attitude to and relationship with science and technology.

To develop an exhibition using these ideas we turned to the Constructivist Theory of learning. This

passively absorb knowledge fed to them, and they learn to learn as they learn. People also need

physical activities that engage the mind as well as the hands while learning, they need to talk and

need the time to play with and ponder new ideas. Most importantly we felt that the learning

environment has to be one that makes people want to explore it and learn things.

In taking this route we were inspired by work done at the Exploratorium science centre in San

Francisco. Their APE (Active Prolonged Engagement) project looked deeply into the nature of

on exhibits and produced a series of principles for improving

this. Applying these principles gives users a more engaging experience that increases the time

they spend interacting with each exhibit.

The kinds of exhibits they found do this best are ones where the user discovers through

interaction. Normally hands-on exhibits are based on planned discovery they set up a puzzling

phenomenon and create a situation where visitors can solve the puzzle by interacting with the

phenomenon. APE exhibits change the emphasis from planned to self discovery. Open ended

Background

activities, used by several people at once, with some gentle guidance allow users to decide what

they are going to explore in an exhibit and how. Four kinds of interaction typify APE experiences:

Exploration, Investigation, Observation and Construction. These all involve sustained positive

feedback to users, not delayed gratification.

These findings also chimed in with the Reggio Emilia approach to education, developed in Italy.

This philosophy sees children as the protagonists of their learning, not just passive receptacles, and

believes that learning is best done in a group setting so people can share views and experiences.

They also believe children need to make mistakes in their attempts to solve problems, and discover

how to learn from these mistakes. Learning comes through making connections between things,

concepts and experiences, and by interacting with other people and with the surrounding

environment.

For schools, this Constructivist approach also had clear connections to the English National

Curriculum which emphasises the process of science as well as factual information.

people to learn. Instead we came up with a list of skills and behaviours that we wanted our

exhibits to encourage, which were as follows:

Observation Discussion

Exploration Teamwork

Pattern recognition Creativity

Experimentation Planning

Fine motor control Mental modelling

Hand-eye coordination Hypothesis making

F. Oppenheimer, founder of the Exploratorium

To achieve this there were some key attributes that we knew our exhibits would need to embody

to give users ownership of the experience:

Control what the exhibit does when a visitor uses it should be under their control

Kinaesthetic the exhibit should involve motion and activity on the part of the visitor

Social exhibits should encourage visitors to communicate, interact and share ideas

Self-related they should have an obvious link to visitors and their previous experience

Finally, we wanted the exhibits to be able to communicate what they do by their appearance, so

that they could function without instruction labels. This was partly because many visitors in a

inspiration for what people should do should come from the users themselves, rather than being

telling them what to do.

We wanted the overall outcome of applying this philosophy to be an extremely user friendly

gallery that contains a wealth of absorbing, fascinating and satisfying interactive opportunities

that will enable users to create their own science experiences and respond to their own curiosity.

We wanted the gallery experience to be significantly different for each person who uses it, and

to be different for them each time they come. I believe we have achieved this goal, and that the

Curiosity Zone at the Centre for Life is a rich and fascinating experience for our visitors which

stimulates thinking and brings forth the kind of behaviours that underpin scientific discovery.

While many of our visitors may never realize that this is what is happening, I do not believe this

matters. What does matter is that it happens, and opens their minds to ways of exploring the

world that they may not have used before. In doing this I believe Life has truly achieved its goal

of being a place that helps people to think rather than telling them what to think.

Ian Simmons

Science Communications Director

Coming up with the idea for an exhibition is one thing, but making it a reality is quite another. In

2007, as we completed the final phase of our Human Life exhibitions, we had a first attempt at

articulating the philosophy (as discussed) of our next project on paper. What was to become

Curiosity was going to be a step change from our previous interpretive exhibitions and we

would need to be very clear about our plans to make a case to any potential funders.

We are quite a small team at Life but between us we have many collective years of experience,

gained at institutions across the UK. We can also call upon the help and support of friends and

colleagues in the world of informal science learning. Building on all of this prior work we spent

several months formulating the basic idea of the project, matching it to local needs.

The North East compares poorly with England as a whole on a range of educational indicators

at GCSE achievement in science is generally lower than the national picture; participation rates

in full time education for 16/17 year olds are below the national average; the region has the

highest percentage of young people classified as NEET (not in education, employment or

training) and one of the highest levels of people with no qualifications at all (10.7% in

Newcastle). The causes are complex but Life has a role alongside formal education to support the

renewal of the region and a future based on highly-skilled, knowledge-based industries.

as they progress through school. Science is generally viewed more positively in primary school,

primary years. Choices made later around about subjects and careers are very heavily

Making Things Happen

Curiosity needed to provide positive experiences of scientific process that could be shared by

whole families together. Focussing on process over information helps young children to develop

confidence around science, strengthening their science identity, without requiring them to absorb

apparent to their children, and the overall cultural impact would be to make the process of science

a normal, common experience.

Planning

We were going to need people to deliver the project, but exactly who would depend on their

roles. Previous projects at Life have always used external designers and exhibit builders but we

worried that this might stifle the degree of experimentation we wanted. Our nearest exhibit builder

is based 100 miles away, with others even further afield. Building and testing exhibit prototypes

could be very expensive if we had to keep transporting things between the workshop and the

science centre and even regular staff visits could very rapidly get expensive. However Life had

never built its own exhibits so that route would require a new space, tools and new people. On

the other hand, managing external contractors would also need extra project managers and costs

would include a profit margin for every company involved.

A financial comparison exercise produced a very surprising result. For a two year project there

was hardly any difference in cost between managing outside exhibit builders or establishing a

workshop and recruiting skilled people to staff it. As we wanted the flexibility to experiment and

test ideas we decided to set up the workshop and build exhibits ourselves for the very first time.

Recruiting the right people is a difficult task. We needed a Workshop Coordinator who could

establish the workshop and supervise the ongoing work, supported by a team who could work

together from day one. The senior role was recruited first, with adverts circulated (and

applications received from) around the world. We saw candidates from California to Tokyo but

eventually chose a candidate working in North Wales. The Exhibit Builder recruitment was a

UK wide exercise, generating over 100 applications for two roles. The group dynamic was

going to be critical for the project so a shortlist of 12 was invited for an unusual interview day

which included group problem-solving activities to see how people worked together. With two

we had the core team of four people who would go on to create magic.

create. Life is an educational charity and although it has a subsidiary business to support some of

fortunate to be supported by a number of large charitable foundations over our first decade of

operating. For Curiosity both the Garfield Weston Foundation and the Northern Rock Foundation

were inspired by our plans. Both funders trusted our ability to deliver a good project and their

relatively hands off approach to grant funding was vital to the experimentation (with occasional

changes of direction) that this project needed.

We brought in some additional expertise to get the creative process off to a flying start. Planning

workshops with external consultants, including Steve Pizzey of Science Projects and Harry White

of At Bristol, gave the new team an early steer on the development process. They also gave us

a first long-list of potential exhibits. Over the winter of 2010/11, as the workshop space was

Kitted out, these early ideas were developed into a shorter list with nominal budgets. From the

start of 2011 design and construction could begin...

Andy Lloyd

Special Projects Manager

A Focused Team

Lizzie

Philip

Anais Nin, author

That much, at least, we knew about the Curiosity

Zone when putting the Project Team together.

Less certain, was what we would want to build.

So, we cast our net wide, and found a team with

plenty of enthusiasm, skill and experience to

cope with any eventuality.

Philip is the Workshop Coordinator. He brings a

broad range of experience to the project,

having developed learning resources for several

Lindsey is an engineering graduate who can

also bring her experience as a qualified teacher

to bear in her role as Exhibit Builder.

Richard is also an Exhibit Builder. He has many

years of practical experience building museum

exhibitions and producing graphic designs.

Lizzie is our Project Assistant. Her commitment to

the project and administration skills ensures that

we can meet our tight project deadlines.

Richard

Lindsey

It is poking and prying with a

Zora Neale Hurston, author

Space to Play

A place to experiment and test theories was what

we needed in order to develop the Curiosity Zone.

building.

The challenged to make a unique exhibition and

the opportunity to fully explore exhibit concepts

has been the driving force behind our work here.

and the yard stick for measuring success all start

from this flexible approach.

which discipline and order are relieved with some play and

May Sarton, poet and novelist

Getting Organised

At the outset of the project, we decided to

dispense with the normal exhibition

development sequence of design, prototyping,

evaluation then construction of the exhibition as

one entity. Instead, we broke our 24 month

build time into a series of mini projects. Each of

three weeks duration, with an immoveable

deadline.

Consequently, we maintained high workshop

output from Week One, applied lessons learnt

as we went along and delivered the exhibition

comfortably within budget and timescale.

A feature of this way of working is the

breakdown of mini projects into individual tasks

which are written on sticky notes, given an esti-

mated duration and allocated to a member of

the team on the calendar.

1 2

5

4 6

7

Of course, when you break it down, even apparently simple

exhibits, like Build require a large number of tasks and processes

in their making.

was the sheer number of repetitive jobs to be done. (1) cut,

(2) rout, (3) drill, (4) slot, (5) singe, (6) varnish, (7) string. Repeat

599 more times!

3

Short Listing Ideas

At the start of our project, we carried out a brainstorming exercise. The objective was to identify

a list of possible exhibits to explore further. Members of the group included educators, experts in

exhibit development and staff from Life. The resulting list was quite long and vague.

Over the following 24 months the workshop team evolved the list. Some ideas merged, some fell

by the way side. Occasionally, a new idea surfaced.

Late arrival; Music Box

prototype (left) and final

design (right).

Draft

Choosing a Style and Material

Our intention is for the Curiosity Zone to change and develop slowly in subsequent years, so we

Finally, we felt it important to work in a way that is as environmentally sustainable as

practicable. So we set ourselves some guidelines including:

Reduce: The amount of unsustainable materials and electricity required by each exhibit.

Reuse (use): Off the shelf products where available, because why waste time, energy and

Recycle:

recycled.

Harry White

Four Stages of Creativity

The starting point for an exhibit varies. Often we have seen

an exhibit elsewhere and want to make our own, more

building blocks. Sometimes, we simply see something we

think is really interesting and want to make it into an exhibit.

confirm what works and where we need to think again (which marble works best, above).

documentation, above right).

Finding a Solution

At several points during our development of the exhibits, we

needed to come up with a way to assemble components onto

we

wanted users to be able to mix and match the cogs and

pulleys, stacking them up either locked together or rotating

separately on their common axle. The final solution came in

Harry White, exhibit designer and consultant

Testing Times

50% of our time on this project has been dedicated to building and evaluating

commitment necessary to ensure we achieved our aims for this innovative project. Some of the

main advantages of prototyping include:

It gives us a physical item to let our exhibit testing group play with.

We get to try out several ideas before committing to one to build for real.

but good design can multiply the

Harry White

Development of a

working Plucker

instrument for

Music Box

(opposite page).

Giving Things a Home

Building exhibits is just one part of a

well thought out exhibition. Each

exhibit has needs some need to be

kept apart, some need a power

supply, others need darkness, a

couple of ours need special flooring.

Additionally, because each exhibit is

intended to be enjoyed by users for

a prolonged period of time, we

be undisturbed or distracted by other

happenings in the gallery. So, we

designed dividing walls.

Planning exhibit layout with

models (left) Installation begins

for real (above).

Signage

The big innovation of the Curiosity Zone is that we avoid the usual museum style of explaining

scientific principles. Instead we focus on collaborative exhibits, visitor led enquiry and fostering

of extended engagement. This approach was inspired by research into engaging visitors more

deeply in science centre interactives, pioneered by the Exploratorium in San Francisco, as

mentioned previously.

One of our most ambitious moves is to minimise the use of traditional, wordy signage on our

surprising however, is that many of the videos, tweets and conversations about the exhibits are

coming from visitors themselves, either through our dedicated social media feeds, from

interactions with our staff and their tablet PCs or in spontaneous discussion between previously

unacquainted exhibit users who find themselves enjoying co operative play.

Harry White

Richard Whately, logician, economist and theologian.

Final Reckoning

used to make our exhibits look like in a word cloud (larger words means we have used more).

Evaluation

innate enquiry skills and confidence about exploring

new phenomena and experiences which are difficult

outcomes to measure. We spent a lot of time

observing visitors in the search for behaviour we can

link to this kind of skills development, including:

Active, prolonged engagement with exhibits,

Self directed playing and creativity,

Physical and mental problem solving,

Talking and collaboration between strangers.

William Yeats, poet and playwright

Thank You

The Curiosity Zone was devised and produced by the Centre for Life Projects Team assisted by

grants from the Northern Rock Foundation and the Garfield Weston Foundation.

The project was delivered with help from the following:

- Environmental design by Paula Atkinson Design, York.

- Scenic construction by Workhaus Projects Limited, Sherburn in Elmet.

- Electrical installation by Stuart Watson, Electrical and Data Services, Stanley.

- Creative photography by Caleb Charland, Brewer, Maine.

- Tesla coil provided by Dr Karim Ladha, Brightarcs, Newcastle upon Tyne.

- Reactable provided by Reactable Systems, Barcelona.

-

- Recursive Worlds animations by Andy Love, Nottingham Trent University.

- Freqtric Drums provided by Dr Tetsuaki Baba, Tokyo Metropolitan University.

- Magic Wall supported by the EPSRC Holmes Hines Memorial Fund.

- QRator courtesy of UCL Centre for Digital Humanities, Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis and UCL Museums.

- Tales of Things by Brunel University, Edinburgh College of Art, UCL, University of Dundee and University of Salford.

- QRiosity links courtesy of the many friendly people online who have agreed to share their work.

- Planning, design, development and installation supported by everyone at the Centre for Life.

We would also like to thank the following for their advice and practical support:

- Our Curiosity Advisors (pictured).

- Dan Bird, At-Bristol.

- Camille Cocaud, Stendhal University, Grenoble.

- Ben Craven.

- Dr Jen DeWitt, Kings College London.

- Alex Ellikhuijzen, Free University of Amsterdam.

- Dr David Gurden-Williams, 3M United Kingdom Plc, Aycliffe.

- Robin Hoyle, Glasgow Science Centre.

- Will Jackson, Engineered Arts Limited, Penryn.

- Colin Johnson.

- Dr Rachel Kendal, Department of Anthropology, Durham University.

- Bridget McKenzie, Flow Associates, London.

- Stephen Pizzey, Science Projects, London.

- Dr Jenny Read, Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University.

- Lauren Reid, Department of Anthropology, Durham University.

- Anthony Richards, Science Museum, London.

- Harry White, At-Bristol.

- Photographs courtesy of ICFL.

- Eloquent design process description by Miles Bullough, Aardman Animations Ltd

Written and designed by Philip Wilkinson. First Published by ICFL Trust in 2012

Scan this QR code

on your phone

to be taken to the

Curiosity website.

© International Centre for Life Trust

Times Square

Newcastle upon Tyne

Tyne and Wear

NE1 4EP

Telephone: +44(0)1912438200

E-mail: general@life.org.uk

www.life.org.uk/curiosity

Registered charity No. 1059607

ISBN and BARCODE

gallery of interactive exhibits. The big innovation is that

collaborative exhibits, visitor led enquiry and fostering

of extended engagement.

What visitors to our exhibition say:

-scientist, I felt I was working parts of my brain that had