We're thinking back to the virtual school trip presentation, which went excellently and we're all very proud of! It was great to see the kids so enthusiastic to learn about the coal and power industries, and to answer lots of their questions! Being from London, the kids already knew about the buildings of these industries, so it was great to get to teach them what happens behind closed doors. It was amazing to see just how much the kids already knew, especially on topics such as recycling and gender equality! We're looking forward to launching the website tomorrow, to be used by lots more schools in the future!

Day 10 and we've realised how much we’ve learnt over the last two weeks! The sharing of expertise has helped us to use Illustrator and In-design confidently, and even model making programmes like Revit don’t seem so intimidating. For us first years, just seeing what’s possible with computer software has been inspiring! Next year I’ll have lots of new skills that range from simplistic, such as drop-shadows, to more advanced, like image tracing, and even making a 3D axonometric model from the digimap resource. But for now I have so many notes on file types, shortcuts and other computer related terms I’d never heard of that I’m starting to feel like a real expert. I just hope my memory of these skills survives the summer.

Our virtual school trip prompted lots of interesting and unique questions from the school children! We're hoping that in the future the website can continue to be used to help children think about the value of our industrial heritage.

We’ve all been putting together lots of child-friendly graphics over the last couple of weeks for our website and Wednesday’s virtual trip. Here’s a small guide covering everything we’ve learnt to create engaging content for primary school children!

After looking through examples of graphics aimed at 5-6 year olds, we have learnt:

1. Using a variety of bright colours creates an appealing image to capture the kids' attention.

2. Using nature themes throughout creates a sense of familiarity that is appealing to children.

3. Using friendly, cute characters voiced by ourselves can help give children a focal point to concentrate on when they are hearing a lot of information.

The children reacted very well to our graphics, so it's safe to say it's been a success!

How we perceive mining communities, and their landscapes, is often dominated by the idea of towering cooling towers and economic turmoil. As we look towards alternative futures, both through energy production and changing landscapes, we question; what will we do with these past relics?

The idea of amenity struck a chord with the young children who completed the virtual school trip to the power station. They were interested in the activities and amenities these industries offered; it is important to remind ourselves that industrial heritage was not only a thing of pollution, but often a social centre for its community. Industrial heritage is something that requires a bit more effort to appreciate and respect than other types of heritage, but it is something that is crucially important to preserve for future generations as evidence of the world-changing process of industrialisation.

So much fun! Ellie Electricity slides in with confidence to help little visitors explore the “Coal to Kettle” storyboard on our Power-Trip website. The best part is, Colin Coal and Kelly Kettle hop on board the party train as well, each narrating bits about how coal is made, how power stations work, and how the Gale Common hill is not actually natural!

Visit the Power Trip website at:

https://power-trip.wixsite.com/msalive

Our Resources page features lots of activities for kids, from downloadable paper nets and colouring sheets to interactive illustrations and bonus quizzes! Going down from the Yorkshire accents audio and the diagram of underground Big Bens, you can even join a tea party with Ellie Electricity and Colin Coal at Drax power station!

Visit the Power Trip website at:

https://power-trip.wixsite.com/msalive

Power Trip is officially on the Web! The site looks stunning, and all thanks to our hard-working team! Molly designed the beautiful web pages, Matt and Evie did recordings and added sounds that can be heard with the push of a button, and everyone else chipped in with great pieces that make the website whole – be it designing the characters, drawing up diagrams or coming up with graphic design strategies for a kid-friendly experience!

Visit the Power Trip website at:

https://power-trip.wixsite.com/msalive

Now that the Power Trip website is live, check it out at:

https://power-trip.wixsite.com/msalive

For the love of Architecture! The power station case studies can be accessed from the interactive Maps webpage, where you can also follow the prompts and read about their Architecture, Landscape and Amenities. All in favor of learning about the case studies – from architectural design decisions, landscape design, eco-systems and the social aspects of the schemes-, say aye!

Check them out here:

https://power-trip.wixsite.com/msalive/architecture-1