Our next moment comes from the Manchester School of Art whose Outreach team have been leading the Peppered Moth Project. They tell us about their moment…
“Throughout 2016, Manchester School of Art’s Outreach team have been leading the Peppered Moth Project. Through working alongside colleagues in the Faculty of Science and Engineering and partners across Greater Manchester, we are about to publish a resource book for teachers and educational practitioners all about the Peppered Moth, our project, and the wonderful story which accompanies it.
All of the activity over 2016 is gathering momentum to form the teacher resource book “Whisper to a Shout” which will be launched on Thursday 17th November 2016.
The peppered moth’s story is a Manchester Story. The moth which comes in two distinct shades of black or white has seen it’s populations in each colour grow and shrink in response to the level of pollution in the city. Imagine yourself back in Victorian Manchester with heavy industry belching soot and covering the streets, and you’ll see how the black moth became the better at camouflage. Contrast this to modern times where the pollution levels mean our streets are no longer covered in soot, causing the decline of the darker moth. This story of evolution acts as a way of talking about climate change and mans impact on the environment around us.
To create the resource we are working across arts and science disciplines from Key Stage 1 to 4 with different schools and young people at events across Manchester. So far we’ve made giant wicker moths, which have been suspended from the Art School’s roof, made intricate wire moth animations, caught live moths in with primary school children and paraded moth costumes amongst much more. As well as the workshops our artist in residence Ant Hamlyn is creating a body of work in response to the moth’s story. Ant is sharing this work as part of th European City of Science Festival in July, and Manchester Design in September.
A big thank you to Manchester School of Art for sending us their moment!
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