Aula, Museos y Colecciones

Desde su nacimiento en 1771 el Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales1 (Madrid, España) ha cooperado activamente en la enseñanza de las Ciencias de la Naturaleza en España. De entre los programas puestos en práctica, este trabajo analiza aquellos que tuvieron como protagonistas colecciones didácticas que servirían como herramienta para la enseñanza de la naturaleza. A través de diversas fuentes documentales se han reunido más de 700 datos sobre las relaciones que muchos establecimientos de enseñanza tuvieron con el Museo, ya sea solicitando el envío de colecciones o proporcionando a éste objetos de historia natural. El estudio ha dado, entre otros resultados, un listado de casi 400 establecimientos repartidos mayormente por España y nos ha llevado a identificar una serie de altos y bajos en el desarrollo de esta actividad, variaciones que se corresponden con diversos eventos de la historia de la institución, avatares del país, y disposiciones oficiales y reglamentos dictados por órganos superiores de la administración. El objetivo final es el análisis y valoración de una tarea llevada a cabo por el Museo durante largo tiempo, y sin embargo tan poco conocida, esperando sirva también de justo reconocimiento de su interés por participar en pro de la enseñanza de las Ciencias de la Naturaleza en España.

Since its birth in 1771 and throughout its long history, the National Museum of Natural Sciences (Madrid, Spain) has actively cooperated in various ways in promoting the teaching of natural sciences in Spain. It delivered lectures, organized courses and workshops in different subjects aiming to contribute to the training of specialists and technicians. In parallel, it developed other educational activities at different levels, delivered to both teachers and students, and also to the general public. Among all the programs implemented by the Museum in relation to education, this role aims to highlight those projects that had specimens and samples of natural history as protagonists, and as an objective, their study and conservation in didactic founds and scientific collections, which serve as a teaching tool of nature. Both objectives are already listed in the Instruction of February of 1776, sent by Charles III to all his domains «... Choose, prepare and send to Madrid all productions of nature found in lands and villages of their districts to be placed in the Royal Museum that this Court has established for benefit and public instruction of the Nation».

Through archival documentary sources and bibliographic data, over 700 contacts data on educational institutions with the Museum have been gathered, as much for applying for collection samples as for providing natural history objects. The study was carried out taking into account the different stages in the history of the museum - its early days under the reign of Carlos III and stage of the leadership of Mariano de la Paz Graells; the decades of the direction of Ignacio Bolivar, and, finally the phase where the museum was split into three different institutes until 1984, with the reunification of these back as Museum. The analysis of the number of contacts made, their distribution time , the type of schools involved, their geographical location, etc., provided, among other results, an extensive relationship with almost 400 establishments located in Spain and other areas of influence, such as north Africa and Latin America (document https:// digital.csic.es/handle/10261/88712). Furthermore, these data led us identify a series of ups and downs in the development of this activity in support of education, changes that correspond to various events in the history of the institution, many of them related to avatars of the country, and official rules and regulations of higher administrative organs.

As a final objective of this study we aim to show the relevance of a task undertaken by the Museum for many years, and yet so little known, hoping to serve also recognition of the work done by this institution in favour of teaching science nature in Spain.