Participant Hands-on Activities and Ecomuseum : A Case of Shiwahori Collaborative Museum

In June, 2001, the Shiwahori Collaborative Museum was carried out by the collaboration of Kobo Hayashi, an environmental education office, and Hiroshima Ecomuseum Research Group. The museum is regarded as a satellite of ecomuseum in Higashi-Hiroshima city. Several hands-on activities and a workshop were put into practice in the museum. Making the hand-made exhibitions of the aquatic animals in the people's neighboring freshwater was planned and eleven people of three families and fourteen graduate students tried to observe the aquatic environments of Han-gawa, a stream near the museum, and to catch the aquatic animals alive. The participants in the hands-on activities, especially most of the graduate students, were surprised at the animals being rich in variety. Experiences in the hands-on activities in the museum are necessary for the learning activities in environmental education of awareness level. Process of the hands-on activities is considered to be the same process of learning activities in the "Period for Integrated Study" at school