Workshops 2019/2020

G-Force (Approx. 1hr – 2hr). Pupils get on a bike to investigate the sport and exercise science behind life as a professional sports person. Investigating power and energy transfer as well as the nutrition needed to provide the energy for competition.

The Wonders of Nanoscience (Approx. 1hr). Pupils will be introduced to the field of nanoscience. They will learn what nanoparticles are; and appreciate just how small they are. By participating in a circus of hands-on activities, pupils will see that scale changes the properties of materials. This workshop can be extended with ‘Suncream Science’ or ‘Brilliant Buckyballs’ for a double lesson.

Sun cream Science (Approx. 1hr). Pupils will learn the importance of wearing sun cream and understand what SPF and UV ratings mean. They will then assess the effectiveness of different sun creams at protecting against the harmful effects of UV rays using thermochromic UV beads.

Brilliant Buckyballs (Approx. 1hr). Pupils will learn about the structure and history of Buckyballs before building a model in small groups. Through playing a card game, pupils will find out some current and future applications of nanoscience.

Science of Art (Approx. 1hr – 1hr30).  Pupils will learn about the importance of chemistry in art including the manufacture of paints and the analysis of paintings. Pupils will make ancient paints using natural pigments and compare the paints made using different recipes. The use of science in the analysis of paintings for conservation and identification purposes will be discussed.

Stop the spread (Approx. 1hr – 1hr30).  A topical workshop discussing how infectious diseases spread. We discuss how maths can be used to help protect against disease. Pupils will take part in two modelling activities to predict how quickly disease will spread through a population.

Energy, Motion and Forces in Space (Approx. 1hr- 1hr30). Pupils will investigate how energy concepts that they cover in class relate to extra-terrestrial environments. They will have the opportunity to consider how objects in the solar system and the universe move. They will undertake activities that demonstrate the basic concepts of forces and energy through the lens of space science.

Surviving in Space (Approx. 1hr - 1hr30). Pupils will discuss the effect of space travel on the body followed by pupils taking part in a series of physiological tests to mimic those carried out in astronaut training.

Gene-ious (Approx. 1hr – 2hr). Delving into the world of cells, pupils discover chromosomes, genes and DNA. They extract DNA, build their own double helix and think about how the four-letter code leads to different characteristics. We then investigate the use of environmental DNA in conservation and animal health research being carried out in IBERS.

Wonderful Wind turbines (Approx. 1hr – 1hr30). Pupils will learn about different ways in which electricity is generated while discussing the importance of using renewable energy sources. In small teams they will then design wind turbine blades to build the most effective wind turbine, while considering how they can make it fair and as sustainable as possible.