Founded in 1961, the Institute possesses instruments and apparatus used in teaching Physics and the Natural Sciences, recently salvaged thanks to the activity of teachers and students within the sphere of the various editions of the annual Scientific Culture Week. Some of the objects were purchased after the 1970s, while others come from the scientific instrumentation of the old San Michele Female Conservatory, which occupied the premises in which the school is now located.

The physics instruments include various kinds of apparatus, such as a pneumatic machine, a Newton tube, a Magdeburg sphere, and models of a steam engine, an internal-combustion engine and a diesel engine. The naturalist collection contains zoological specimens, anatomical models, fossils of various provenance and rock samples.