The Natural History Museum's new Darwin Centre fulfils three main roles. It is a state-of-the-art scientific research and collections facility, but it is also an awe-inspiring new public space that allows visitors to explore the natural world in an exciting and innovative way. With its opening, students can experience the relevance of the science they are doing in the classroom; for the first time, museum science has broken through from behind the scenes to support the teaching of how science works. The Museum's School Team has worked in collaboration with teachers and scientists to produce a range of activities, which are free for schools to book. The Natural History Museum makes it easy for large year groups to get a window into the science behind the scenes, and provides risk assessments, timetables, lunch facilities, cloakrooms, and the opportunity for students to personalise their learning in cyberspace by capturing the topics that interest them to pursue in school. Five brand new science shows will be available for schools in The Attenborough Studio, a hi-tech multimedia studio housed within the Museum's Darwin Centre: (1) "Animal Vision" (Years 5-8, age 10-13) brings students face-to-face with live snakes, an iguana and a praying mantis, amongst other animals; (2) "Scenario Science: Disease Outbreak" (Key Stage 4, age 14-16) places students in a scenario in which a mystery fatal disease has broken out and threatens to spread; (3) "The Variety Show" (Key Stage 3, age 11-14) gives the audience the chance to grapple with a giant squid; (4) "Meet the Scientist: Research and Curation" (post-16) is an opportunity for students to interact with museum scientists in a facilitated discussion; and (5) "Cocoon" is a brand new gallery, where students can take an interactive journey into the heart of the collections.