As soon as the sun comes out every school pupil wishes they could learn their lessons outdoors.

Today  (Friday 7 June), that wish will come true as some of Newcastle and Gateshead’s most iconic locations are turned into a giant outdoor classroom.

Subjects including English, maths, history, music and science will be taught at the BALTIC Mill and along the Quayside at a special outdoor learning event.

The day has been designed by Newcastle University’s very own Dr Maths Steve Humble, and trainee teachers studying at the University.

The seven to 10-year-olds, from schools around Newcastle , will be asked to write a detective story Death on the Tyne. They will have to collect the information they need from their trip along the banks of the Tyne and to the iconic art gallery.  They will be given clues to the crime along the way and will write up their short story, comic strip or poem when they return to school next week. The authors of the six best tales will win a £10 voucher.

Steve, a teaching fellow in the School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences, said: “We are so lucky to have the BALTIC and the Quayside on our doorstep and I wanted to find a way to use them to help schoolchildren learn.

“I’ve been working with trainee secondary school teachers to come up with a way to use these amazing locations as a way to encourage children to learn. We thought that by asking them to write a detective story they could cover all the major subjects. There’ll be clues along the way so they’ll have to do a bit of sleuthing themselves.”

Earlier this year, Steve turned the Metrocentre, the largest shopping centre in Europe, into a giant maths exercise.
 
This won’t be the first time Steve has worked with the Baltic. He discovered a new maths puzzle, Triangle Mysteries, after hosting a family event at the gallery last year.

published on: 6 June 2013