Dr. Laxworthy pointed out that the education of the natural history museum to the public is carried out at different levels. In new york, museums have cooperated extensively with local public schools, arranged for schools to organize student groups to visit museums, and provided training for teachers of these schools.
According to the data provided by the Natural History Museum, more than 400,000 primary and middle school students visit the museum through the school delegation every year and participate in the formal education activities organized by the museum. The museum arranges special lecturers to introduce the collection to students, and also leads students to do experiments to let them know about the environment, dinosaur era, universe, world culture and other topics. In addition to local public schools, the Museum of Natural History also cooperates with publishers of some major science textbooks in the United States. According to Dr. Laxworthy, the museum provides contents and materials for science textbooks for grades one to six. In fact, the educational programs of the Natural History Museum cover a wide range, from kindergarten to doctoral and postdoctoral programs.
Such a group of children can often be seen in the natural history museum. They are called "Little Explorers". These children are usually taken to the museum by their parents to study science when they are three or four years old. After that, these curious children often come to the museum to learn and enrich their scientific knowledge through the introduction of lecturers and their own experiments.
Laxworthy said: "Many children have started studying with us before they receive formal school education."
For middle school students, the Natural History Museum provides free after-school lectures to supplement the knowledge that students can't learn in class. In addition, the museum selects 35 middle school students every year to start long-term scientific research projects with museum scientists. These educational programs have greatly enhanced the public's understanding of science and topics closely related to mankind.
The American Museum of Natural History set up its own graduate school on June 5438+ 10, 2006, enrolled students in 2007, and started formal classes in autumn 2008. And allowed to award students a doctorate in comparative biology. This is the first time in the history of American museums.