Techniquest

Yesterday my friend and I went for a day out in Cardiff Bay to visit Techniquest, an educational exhibit targeting children as young as those in Foundation Phase to post 16 college pupils. Professor John Beetlestone and colleagues founded Techniquest in 1985. Since then, it has moved to a larger facility where it is situated today, which is in the center of Cardiff Bay. It is largely funded by the Welsh Government particularly to support schools, and their educational programmes (Techniquest, 2014). The unique experience provided by Techniquest emphasizes a child-centerd learning, through hands on investigation.  Every activity had both clear Welsh and English instructions, which I believe is crucial in an educational exhibition situated in a bilingual country. The English was written in red and the Welsh was written in green. It gives the opportunity for both Welsh and English medium schools to enjoy the educational experience provided in Techniquest.

Here is a picture of one of my favorite hands on educational activities in Techniquest named ‘Light work`. The aim is to turn the silver handle and press the green button, in order to create enough power to light the left, power saving bulb. I preferred this activity as it was hands on and it showed how electricity is created. Electricity is used to power nearly everything in the 21^st century, therefore, in my opinion, teaching children how electricity works and where it comes from is crucial. The bulb on the right is not a power saving bulb. Personally I couldn’t light it, this showed how much energy it takes to light. It stated on the activity that the bulb on the right produces a lot more heat than it does light. This teaches children that it is better for the environment to use a low wattage, energy saving, bulb than the filament bulb.

This was not my first visit to Techniquest. I have been countless times over the years with school and on family outings. The treasure chest was one of my favorite activities in the whole of Techniquest. The aim is to open the chest and discover the treasure that lies within. Until yesterday, I had not been to Techniquest in at least 9 years. Once I saw this activity, I remembered how frustrated I used to become when I was younger, not being able to open it.  I had no trouble this time in remembering exactly how to access it, which shows me that you do tend to remember memorable, hands on educational experiences, which are provided at Techniquest.

Re-visiting Techniquest at this age has opened my eyes to how much these experiences affect a child and the importance of hands on experiences and learning outside the classroom. Personally, the treasure chest activity above, was my most memorable memory of Techniquest, and it shows that conquering the challenge of opening the chest when I was younger has very much influenced my determination to never give up.

References 

Techniquest (2014) Retrieved 10^th of May from http://www.techniquest.org/20120315131/about-us/about-techniquest.html