The school-work alternation project of the Natural History Museum of the University of Pavia. In 2015 the Natural History Museum of the University of Pavia started a collaboration project with the “Benedetto Cairoli” high school in Vigevano (PV) which involved three classes of the scientific section. The Cairoli high school owns large scientific collections for didactic purposes ranging from physics to chemistry to natural sciences. The natural history collections include sections of zoology, anatomy, botany, mineralogy and palaeontology. The alternative project had the aim to involve students of the three classes in the maintenance of the naturalistical specimen, supported by the museum staff and the institute’s science teachers. Given the high number of scholars participating in the project, the goal was to reorganize all the specimens of science section. The first steps were held at the museum laboratory, where the students had practical lessons about care and conservation of the collections. Then the school’s educational specimens (stuffed animals, botanical models, shells, fossils and minerals) were cleaned in the laboratories of the high school in Vigevano. During the whole process the students were assisted by the staff of the museum who coordinated all the phases of cleaning, restoration and identification of biological samples. This contribution offers the opportunity to present the results of this project and to appreciate the quality of the efforts of the schoolboys
