BIRTHDAY GIRLS!

WHOOP WHOOP

It's our birthday!  Five years ago this week Science2U was officially registered as a company and Helen and I began trading
It didn't seem real at first - we had a bit of trouble finding a name - we were "science in a van" for quite a few days but then realised we probably hadn't got enough money for a van so after much thought Science2U was born - great idea Rob - thank you!

Creating our website took time but was easy - we wanted a site that reflected us - bright, enthusiastic and friendly. I think we've nailed that one!

Coming up with shows to share was easy - we knew what we enjoyed and the ideas bubbled up. Searching for resources was fun, finding everyday things that we could use in science, buying some "real" science equipment.

a tiny bath used to demonstrate bath bombs

The day we got our first booking was amazing - I didn't expect to have such a surge of joy.
The day we got our first cheque we broke open the champagne!

Bookings were quite sparse at first - mainly freebies to drum up trade but slowly word got round and we started to get a real feel that we were a proper company.

One of the early highlights for us was a two day booking in Oldham. We decided that rather than trail all the way back home after a long day we would stay overnight. A road trip!

forces through toys at Oldham

A trip during Science week up beyond Preston to the Ribble Valley was a real treat - at first we had no idea where we were going but when we arrived at the school in a quaint village we realised that this was something special. Brabins Endowed primary school is very very old

Working with the then MerseySTEM team took us back on the road around Cheshire and the following year around Merseyside delivering secondary shows.

Last year we worked for a whole week with IGNITE at the Ellesmere Port boat museum during Science week. Five workshops every day sharing Smart materials and making bath bombs

Working with Mexichem as a sponsor has brought us great joy because we have been able to share science with some wonderful young people at Chestnut Lodge Special School.

Our days with them have been full of laughter!

Probably one of the highlights has been appearing at BigBangNW science fair.

2014 - total surprise to be on the show stage

The first year we went was a total surprise - we didn't expect to be one of the main acts - so no nerves because we thought we were going to be in a small room doing a little demonstration.

We ended up on the show stage with 100s in the audience

Things have grown every year as has our show.

dry ice finale

Helen became the poster girl in 2015

and the 2016 photos have been seen by 1000s

We have had some amazing times and judging by British Science Week bookings for this March it looks like we many more to come

Thanks for all your support!

The All Change Show

As British Science Week approaches with the theme of Change our regular readers will know we have an amazing 50% discount offer on bookings of the show so I thought it would be a good idea to do a review so that anyone booking will have an idea of what they will be getting.


The KS2 show is based around Materials and their Properties especially thinking about changing materials.
We explore what actually defines a Solid, a Liquid and a Gas using everyday objects and some not so usual!
Can you squash a liquid? How can you change a liquid to a gas or  to a solid?
Are all liquids the same? Try racing them and see!

racing liquids - exploring viscosity

We look at what happens when you warm things up like our colour changing plastic straws

 cool things down - what happens if you freeze fizzy pop?

and set fire to things - did you know powdered milk does this?

Then we get very exciting as we mix materials to make unexpected changes.

instant snow

vinegar and bicarb

We try out an incredible plastic that turns like transparent toffee when warm and you can mould it then goes back to being a strong solid as it cools

Of course it wouldn't be a Science2U show if we didn't have dry ice so we experiment making bubbles that you can catch and clouds of  spooky"fog"

And what about some really weird materials like slime?

This is a great show to get pupils thinking about Change and with plenty of ideas to try out at home hopefully to encourage everyone to have a go themselves.

The offer is for half price on a day consisting of 2 shows and 2 workshops or 3 shows.
The workshops are an opportunity for a class size group to get up close to the gadgets and gizmos from the show - to actually handle some of the materials and we will make a bath bomb to take home - a classic example of mixing materials.

You can find details of our half price show offer here:

http://www.science2u.co.uk/all-change/4582978713

Give us a call but hurry dates are booking up quickly

British Science Week Information

https://www.britishscienceweek.org/

Just in case you haven't heard......
British Science Week 2017 will be held on 10th - 19th March
All over the country people will be engaging with science through schools or their local community or perhaps a science centre or museum,
This year the theme is Change which could be the changing seasons, the environment, the climate, energy or changing materials.
We are very happy with that last one because we have a super set of shows and workshops that fit changing materials exactly!

We are running a brilliant 50% discount offer for booking All Change - you can find details on our website here:
http://www.science2u.co.uk/all-change/4582978713
We have also decided to extend the"week" because so many schools want to take part so our Science Week starts on Monday 6th and will run until Fri 17th.


The BSW website has some brilliant resources to help you get the most out of your science week
although they would be great at anytime. The  Activity packs are now available to download for Early Years, Primary and Secondary. They are full of ideas for hands on activities.


Thursday 16th will be Demo Day when everyone is encouraged to excite pupils with a demonstration. There are ideas on the website for secondary schools but we have lots of ideas for primary.
Some of them can be found on the YouTube Primary Science Clips here:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOljNzlG06Et_64dDD7ryCq09-iVGvkYO

but we are offering to help with ideas on other themes if schools get in touch. Why not pick a demo and use it in assembly or teach it to year 6 and let them share it with the younger ones

One of the easiest ways to get involved is through the citizen science project Penguin Watch which is a very large ongoing project to collect data on penguins. All you have to do is look at a camera image and click on whether you can see an adult or a chick penguin. Sometimes  it is so snowy you can't see anything  and sometimes there is nothing to see but the view!
You'll find the link on the BSW website - the link is at the top of this blog
Have a go and see for yourself!