Donggaodi Youth Science and Technology Museum

Donggaodi Youth Science and Technology Museum

The Donggaodi Youth Science and Technology Museum serves as a base for science popularization education.

The Donggaodi Youth Science and Technology Museum was established in 1979 and is affiliated with the education system. For over 20 years, all faculty members have upheld the spirit of "unity, dedication, and pioneering progress," striving to organize various activities suitable for the physical and mental health of young people, attracting a large number of students to participate. We offer training courses in Cambridge English, computer science, ship models, vehicle models, airplane models, aerospace models, biology, tissue culture, calligraphy, writing, preschool art, student art and photography, vocal music, electronic keyboard, accordion, dance, chess, abacus mental math, and children's soccer. At the same time, we carry out mass activities featuring aerospace science education, using methods such as visits, demonstrations, lectures, and hands-on projects to stimulate young people’s interest in scientific knowledge. The Donggaodi Youth Science and Technology Museum was established in 1979 and is affiliated with the education system. For over 20 years, all faculty members have upheld the spirit of "unity, dedication, and pioneering progress," striving to organize various activities suitable for the physical and mental health of young people, attracting a large number of students to participate. We offer training courses in Cambridge English, computer science, ship models, vehicle models, airplane models, aerospace models, biology, tissue culture, calligraphy, writing, preschool art, student art and photography, vocal music, electronic keyboard, accordion, dance, chess, abacus mental math, and children's soccer. At the same time, we carry out mass activities featuring aerospace science education, using methods such as visits, demonstrations, lectures, and hands-on projects to stimulate young people’s interest in scientific knowledge.

Introduction

Established in 1979, the Donggaodi Youth Science and Technology Museum is located in China's first aerospace city and is the earliest extracurricular science and technology education institution for young people in Beijing. The museum currently operates two sites under one administration, with a total construction area of 8,220 square meters. Its modern office environment, student activity spaces, and advanced educational facilities are among the best in Beijing. After years of development and accumulation, the museum has built a high-quality, highly educated teaching staff, with 37 faculty and staff members, including 6 senior secondary school teachers, 16 intermediate secondary school teachers, 1 doctoral degree holder, 9 master's degree holders, 4 district-level key teachers, and 5 museum-level key teachers. Over the years, to promote the high-quality and balanced development of regional science and technology education, the museum has sent a number of outstanding science and technology education professionals to other extracurricular education institutions. Today, the museum has become a comprehensive extracurricular education institution led by aerospace science education, with coordinated development in science and art education. It has successively been awarded honors such as National Advanced Unit in Spiritual Civilization Construction, National Advanced Collective in Science Popularization Work, National Advanced Collective in Youth Science and Technology Education, Beijing Golden Peng Group, and Beijing Advanced Collective in Extracurricular Education.

Historical Development

Over its 33-year history, the museum has received strong support from leaders and experts at all levels. In its early days, figures such as Comrade Kang Keqing, then-Chairman of the China Association for Science and Technology Zhou Peiyuan, then-Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission General Zhang Aiping, and bridge expert Mao Yisheng paid close attention to the museum’s development and held high expectations for it. Then-Director of the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense Zhang Qingwei and then-Director of the Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission Yan Aoshuang conducted multiple research and feasibility studies on the museum’s construction. More than 30 scientists, including China’s first chief designer of manned spaceflight Wang Yongzhi, CAS academicians Xie Guangxuan and Yu Menglun, served as long-term advisors to the museum, offering advice and strategies for its development. Aerospace heroes Yang Liwei and Zhai Zhigang also visited the museum to guide youth aerospace science education work. Over the past 33 years, the museum has fully leveraged its geographical advantage of being adjacent to the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology to organize a variety of colorful activities with a focus on aerospace science education. In recent years, with the continuous advancement of urbanization, the full implementation of national curriculum reforms, and discussions on cultivating top-tier innovative talents, societal demand for extracurricular education has grown. Questions such as how to ensure the museum’s sustainable development, how to better leverage the leading and exemplary role of the Golden Peng Group, and how to make extracurricular education institutions more vibrant and dynamic are issues actively considered by every staff member. After more than a year of preliminary research, the museum clarified its working direction: inheriting traditions—maintaining the distinctive focus on aerospace science education; innovating the future—one museum, two sites, where science and the arts can permeate each other while developing relatively independently.

In 2010, upon the completion of the new building of the Donggaodi Youth Science and Technology Museum, to stimulate students' interest in aerospace science, cultivate their scientific literacy and innovative awareness, enhance their practical abilities, pass on the spirit of science, and explore models for cultivating outstanding and top-tier innovative talents under new circumstances, the Qian Xuesen Youth Aerospace Science Academy was jointly established by five parties: the Beijing Municipal Education Commission, the Municipal Science and Technology Commission, the Municipal Association for Science and Technology, the Fengtai District Government, and the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology. The establishment of the Qian Xuesen Youth Aerospace Science Academy has promoted a comprehensive improvement in science education work; the deep integration of in-school and out-of-school education has provided the museum with a broader platform.

Educational Philosophy

Over the years, delegations from countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, South Korea, and Japan, as well as from Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan, have visited the museum multiple times for tours and exchanges, giving high praise to its science and art education. The museum has also organized multiple study trips for faculty and staff to countries such as Russia, Japan, and South Korea to learn advanced educational philosophies.

Based on the present and looking to the future, guided by the strategy of revitalizing the country through science and education, the Donggaodi Youth Science and Technology Museum has defined its future development orientation: leveraging aerospace technology to carry out aerospace science education and cultivate outstanding aerospace reserve talents, and establishing itself as a youth aerospace science education base based in Beijing and serving the whole nation.