Children-Created Natural Science Museum Opens in Rome School Where Legendary Teacher Manzi Taught

Musiba, the Museo di Scienze Naturali dei bambini (Children's Natural Science Museum), has opened in Rome's Fratelli Bandiera school in the Nomentano district. The museum is entirely created by students, evolving from a school laboratory initiated by teacher Titti, inspired by Alberto Manzi, Italy's most famous educator. Manzi began his elementary teaching career at Fratelli Bandiera in 1950 and taught there until retirement, gaining national fame from 1960 for hosting the RAI program "Non è mai troppo tardi" to combat illiteracy. The museum displays a collection of didactic objects and tools for science teaching, made by Manzi's former students and current ones. Collaborating with Sapienza University, which coordinated the curatorial project proposed by the II Municipio, the museum also features naturalistic specimens and installations. The collection includes 100-million-year-old tree trunks, stuffed insects, a mammoth tusk, a solar system model made of Play-Doh, and a papier-mâché Earth model. Five interactive rooms cover astronomy, paleontology, geology, biological evolution, and paleoanthropology. An introductory gallery recounts Manzi's life and pedagogical method. The museum is open to the public by appointment, continuing Manzi's legacy of participatory education.