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!

Review of the Year

Happy New Year to all our friends!
I thought we would share with you a review of the year and some pictures from 2016.

 This year has been one of ups and downs.
The good times - WOW! great events such as BigBang North West and Chem4All with LJMU but also we have missed getting together with old friends because budgets in schools are so tight that they haven't been able to afford us. That is very sad because we know how enjoyable a day with us is and how inspiring it can be for the staff.

our friends at Chestnut Lodge

We have tried hard whenever we have secured funding to share it around and we were thrilled when Mexichem sponsored a day with our friends at Chestnut Lodge. We had so much fun and even though we were saying goodbye and good luck to some of the older pupils we knew we had made an impact.

We had a wonderful if exhausting week at Ellesmere Port Boat museum with local schools at a STEM event organised by IGNITE. Every day we met new pupils and shared our smart materials workshops with them and made bath bombs to take home. We made over 500 during the week and smelled so much of the bubble gum fragrance that we stopped noticing it....our families didn't!

We met new schools this year - some in Cheshire and others in Liverpool where word seemed to get round about us resulting in a flurry of bookings. We also worked with AllAboutSTEM and Techniquest Glyndwr doing shows and workshops

Towards the end of the summer term we got busier and busier as schools used us for an end of year treat. We were happy to be asked back to a primary school by their PTA who decided rather than an end of year disco they would have a science show!

End of June/beginning of July was the culmination of the amazing Chem4All year. This project at LJMU is a long term intervention enthusing staff and pupils in Merseyside schools. We were part of the celebrations - three days of shows and loads of dry ice!

Probably the highlight of the year was BigBang North West which had a new venue - the Liverpool Exhibition Centre right on the waterfront. An amazing venue suitable for an amazing event. It just gets bigger and better each year.
Again we were on the main stage but this time because we were all in the one hall everyone stopped what they were doing to come and watch - 100s of people all fascinated by our science. The publicity pictures are incredible, the Tweets went wild on the day and overnight Helen became the poster girl for the event!!

This Autumn has been much quieter but that has given us time to be creative and we have updated our shows, streamlined our workshops and gathered some great gizmos. We are already getting bookings for British Science Week and our birthday month discount offer so it looks like things will be just as exciting in 2017. Our adventure continues.......

Christmas Jingle Bells at Daresbury

Tuesday 9th December and we were off to Daresbury labs for our final Chemistry at Work Day of this year with MerseySTEM.
It being pretty close to the holidays we decided to make this one a bit special so when it came to making the usual bath bombs as part of our hands on take home make for the session we created Christmas puddings.

Getting the puddings right took quite a bit of experimenting - we usually use liquid food colouring for the bombs but it is very hard to get a proper brown so after some research we eventually coloured the brown base using powdered pigment especially created for cosmetics which we made into solution - it took quite a bit of trial and error to get a good pudding colour that wouldn't stain the bath, the towels and the person!!
We had splotchy brown hands for a few days.

We topped it off with plain white mix and a holly sprig.

Then of course the all important fragrance.......finally after quite a bit of sniff testing we decided the bath bombs would be fragranced with mince pie mix which made the whole room smell spicy and seasonal. At first I thought it was a very seasonal and cheerful smell but after making a few I began to long for the usual bubblegum fragrance. I am not sure it really was mince pies more like mulled wine without the drink! Quite how that will work in a bath I am not sure plus when we demonstrated using our little bath the water was a decided brown - not the best look in a bath.
Fortunately in a real bath the brown will dilute to a peachy tinge!

There were some teachers from schools we had met before and it was good to see some old friends and to make new ones especially as they joined our mailing list for the newsletter.

So we have completed another year of Chemistry at Work days and look forward to being able to join in the fun in 2105.

As I am writing this post I can see we have broken through 6000 hits - thank you to everyone who reads our blog, thank you for your support.

Two shows in Cheshire - Weaverham High School and UCAN

on stage at UCAN

This week we were out and about in Cheshire sharing exciting science shows organised by CheshireSTEM

Our secondary science show is called   "I Wasn't Expecting That!"  because that is what we love about science  - how you are often surprised by results and amazed by materials.
In the morning we were warmly welcomed at Weaverham High school by Janet Kolita the Careers Co-ordinator and shown into the school hall to set up for a show with the whole of their year 7 about 200 pupils. Many thanks to their science technicians and caretaker for helping us set up.

Thankfully this hall has a super high ceiling so we were able to include most of our fire demonstrations and of course our finale whoosh bottle. We had a great time - year 7 were an enthusiastic audience, keen to join in and very interested in how the demos worked.
There were some quite jealous older pupils when they saw what we had all been up to as we were clearing away during break time.

The afternoon school was not very far away so we were able to drop in to Weaver Hall museum for a coffee and freshen up and we managed to meet up for a quick catch up with Tom Hughes who runs the education team.

Then we were off to University of Chester Academy Northwich (UCAN) for a second show again with year 7s.

About 90 pupils were in the hall for another exciting set of demonstrations with lots of volunteers getting involved especially with the handwarmers and colour change straws. We were up on the stage in the main hall which was a great setting for the show. We were even able to make the hall really dark so that the plasma ball, rainbow flames, fire balls and whoosh bottle were really effective.
Everyone had a great time including the staff who were happy to join in and let us try to blow them up!

After a busy day it was back to base to pack up for the next day........

A New Academic Year

Even though September is proving to be a wonderfully warm event it is still the start of the Autumn term for all of us involved in education.
This is a long and busy term - getting to know new pupils and getting up to speed after a long break; working out new plans especially with the new primary science curriculum for teachers in England  and the ever present question about resources.

This month our electronic newsletter concentrates  on what the larger institutions and associations have produced to help.

There are some great links so for those of you who have not signed up to our mailing list, here are just a few from The Science Spot...have fun

You don't have to be a member to access many of the resources on this site. Keep your eye out for the regional conferences which are great for picking up ideas. We usually do a guest spot at the NW conference in March which will be at MMU     http://www.ase.org.uk/

This is a fascinating website full of resources and if you drop on the public engagement tab you will find resources info and details of events and school visits, many of them FREE. You can also get posters, brochures and teaching packs which are beautifully produced. Their A1 posters are so glossy and make super displays.  This link takes you to a great one for primary ( but also good for transition)  which you could download but I would send off for the glossy one.

http://www.stfc.ac.uk/publications/PDF/HoU%20Pack.pdf

 The BA has a vast archive of resources from previous NSEW booklets to videos and lessons plans. If you are into CREST awards this is the place for you.

You will find all the information about NSEW whch has a new name and logo - BRITISH SCIENCE WEEK. dates are announced here and themes or ideas. It is one of our bookmarked site of course!

http://www.britishscienceassociation.org/

 The RSC website has a huge number of resources for primary and secondary - you do sometimes have to hunt around but it is well worth doing!

http://www.rsc.org/resources-tools/education-resources/

http://www.rsc.org/Learn-Chemistry

There is also a dedicated section for teachers TalkChemistry  http://my.rsc.org/talkchemistry

where you will find lesson plans and videos including our own Primary Science clips. You don't need to be an RSC member but you will need to register ( FREE) with the website to access some.

STEMNET is a great organisation and your local contract holder will have details of all the events in your area. 

http://www.stemnet.org.uk/

Check out the national site and have your local site bookmarked.

We work with Cheshire and MerseySTEM ( all run by the same group) and they have so many events including the Chemistry@work days and for the next few years they will be running the BIG BANG at Aintree. They can put you in contact with STEM ambassadors who offer their time for free and also companies who might be able to help you deliver inspiring science linked to industry.   http://www.merseystem.co.uk/

Make use of what is out there - much of it is FREE and will save you lots of time.

Have fun!

Colour Change Technology

As regular readers will know Science2U likes to play with new technology and share gadgets and gizmos that are out there and available for everyone to get hold of.
In our Chemistry@work days at Daresbury lab we often share our colour change straws - thermochromic plastic

 our heat sensitive paper - thermochromic ink

and our colour change shower curtain  - hydrochromic technology.

Our latest purchase is actually a toddler playmat but it uses hydrochromic colour change technology to allow young children to draw using only water.
Remember those magic painting books where you only used water and colour appeared - well think like that but re-useable!
Our mat is in rainbow colours so using a water filled pen you can draw or using a brush you can paint  and even use stamps on a water mat. Water reveals an almost magical rainbow of colour which eventually fades away as the mat dries. You can see the appeal to parents - no mess and the only consumable is water!

Our idea is to ask the school groups to sign in with a graffitti style tag which we will display throughout the session but by the time the next group arrives it will have dried out and faded ready to be used again.

Along with our UV colour change loom band bracelets

link to Youtube UV colour change loom bands

we think we have a winning summer fun session for our last Chem@work day of this acadmic year

Out and About in December

This month is busy for us with lots of secondary schools choosing to boost science by booking a show as a Christmas treat plus we have a festive Chemistry at Work day at Daresbury labs with the wonderful team from MerseySTEM and CheshireSTEM
and a Creative Curriculum Conference for student teachers at Manchester Metropolitan University Didsbury campus.

So I have spent the day sorting out our equipment ready for a tour of Merseyside and Cheshire with our show "I wasn't Expecting That!" which highlights some of the fascinating materials out there plus dusting down some of the old chemistry show favourites such as the whoosh bottle, chemical clock reactions and the milk powder flame ball.

There is always way too much to put into a single show and although the temptation is to include everything, we have learnt from experience that we have to carry all this extra around with us so now everything has to earn a place.
Out goes the colourfully named Traffic Lights demonstration using indigo carmine because it is really not reliable for a full day of shows and we often don't have the time or facilities to make up new solutions, whereas the blue and pink bottle both can be depended on to work all day - these are reactions that use dextrose in colour change reactions

Apologies for the music on this video but it shows the demo well

Also in our show will be the now famous hydrogel balls and this time we have made up a rainbow of colours and I have taken photos of the stages
The first photo shows some of the balls in their dried state - they are about 2mm diam actual size

 this image shows a few of the balls after 10 minutes and you can see they have already started to absorb water

after 30 minutes they now have a fuzzy edge and interestingly some  colours seem to be absorbing water faster than others

 after 45 minutes the central core of the balls is becoming quite indistinct the average size is now 6mm diameter

after 1 hour the balls have grown to about 8 mm diameter and have filled the bowl they are in and used up all the water so I added more

 after 3 hours the balls are almost full size and transparent - most will eventually be about 12mm diameter

These smaller balls are easy to buy either through school science suppliers, science toys or from garden centres where they are used by flower arrangers

The large hydrogel spheres we use in our shows are from Mindsets online. They are about 25mm diameter and of course these are the ones that seem to disappear in water. I think perhaps this is my favourite clip of them

So we are on the road next week and hopefully will be able to collect some good images from our adventures - it is always tricky because schools are wary of us taking photos naturally but we will see what we can do....watch this space

STEM day

So the summer holiday is a vague memory and we are well into the Autumn term.
Our first booking of this school year was a full day of Chemistry at Work funded by the Royal Society of Chemistry and organised by the great team of Cheshire and Mersey STEM.
These days have found a super home at Daresbury labs hosted by Wendy and Alan who make us most welcome.

This time we had 9 schools from around Cheshire, Merseyside, Halton and the Wirral - that's over 100 pupils between year 7 and year 9 but we also had a treat with some year 11s sneaking in.
It was great to see old faces from the Ambassadors at Mexichem but also super to meet new people from TechniquestGlyndwr.
The idea of the day is a carousel of providers who share what they get up to in their various jobs.

Our sessions demonstrate what we do as professional science presenters so we take lots of gadgets and gizmos and this time we took our brilliant new Energy Sticks which we used to invigorate the science teachers who then livened up the pupils!!

We don't have freebies to give away but we do make a give away - our famous mini muffin bath bombs in bubble gum fragrance.
Everyone made one to take home and we only had a couple of disasters......

these were too wet ( probably due to adding too much colour) and the chemical reaction started...by the end of the session these were mushroom shaped and making a bid to escape but after sitting on the windowsill for the day they developed a hard crust so even though they looked a bit weird they should still work.

These were rather bright.....someone didn't stick to the maximum number of drops of colour....I do hope they didn't turn green when they had a bath but the towels might....... ooooops!

Another great day...so next we are off to a special event with our great friends Knowesley Centre for Learning who have a feeder primary day on the theme of flight.....our hands on sessions are entitled To Infinity and Beyond!! watch this space.........

National Science and Engineering Week 2014

So it has finally been announced...the theme for NSEW 2014 will be......there won't be one.
Ha!
Actually there will be a schools focus Explore the Future which is extremely broad and follows on from last year's Invention and Discovery which was such a success for us at Science2U.
One of the brilliant things about running your own company and having that little bit more time is that Helen and I can actually do research and think about what we want to deliver rather than frantically trying to fill a huge programme of events.

We spend time researching modern materials, playing with some of the amazing gadgets and gizmos that are out there and wondering if we can justify buying something that we really like but can't quite see where we can fit it into our programme!

So I think Explore the Future could be a very liberating theme for us.

We have already started gathering new resources for the next academic year. This is our latest

It is called the Energy Stick and we have trialled it at a Chemistry at work day at Daresbry labs where we had a whole class of year 9s all connected in a circuit making their teachers light up!
Huge fun!
So this blog will probably be fairly quiet for the summer with just an occasional post letting you know what we have discovered on our travels. We intend to visit Chester Zoo - they have a major exhibit on BUGS  and we are seriously wondering about creating a show and workshops around habitats and minibeasts definitely fits into that.
Enjoy your summer and if you are a teacher recharge the batteries!

The Summer Term

WOW! Doesn't time fly by??
Here we are at the May Bank Holiday and I do apologise for not posting for a while.
So what have we been up to and what is in the pipeline?

As some of you may know Science2U works closely with our local STEMNET provider - MerseySTEM and CheshireSTEM.

The ever energetic Michelle Dow and her team organise regular Chemistry at Work days and this year they have a home at Daresbury Laboratories. We have become a feature if these days which bring together scientists from industry and local secondary schools.
For us of course we don't have a "job" to share so our presentation is A Day in the Life of  a Science Presenter. We share lots of the amazing gadgets and gizmos that we use in our shows.
The teachers are always eager to find out where we get our resources especially the hydrogel balls, colour change straws and the heat sensitive paper.

We often take our large tank with us to demonstrate "Heavy Sugar" which is a very graphic visualisation of just how much sugar there is in a fizzy drink.
Our good friend and colleague Lorelly Wilson demonstrates it wonderfully on the RSC Primary Science DVD

Of course if we have a tank full of water it would be remiss of us not to tip in a bucket full of hydrogel balls which apparently disappear!

It wouldn't be a Science2U event if we didn't make bath bombs so usually everyone gets to take home a bubble gum scented fizzing chemistry muffin to pop in their bath.

The Cheshire Tour

WOW! We have had an amazing couple of weeks touring Cheshire and Merseyside delivering Christmas Science shows.

A frosty Tuesday morning bright and early we headed over to Sefton for a Chemistry at Work evet sponsored by the Royal Society of Chemistry and organised by MerseySTEM.

Numerous companies - STEM ambassadors - shared their work, science and for us gadgets and gizmos with groups of 14 and 15 year olds. We explained the role of science presenters and how we design our shows and share science concepts. But probably the favourite bit of our session - no freebies here - you make your own BATHBOMBS to take home!

The next day - a very foggy and extremely cold morning - at about 6.00 - we were off to Macclesfield  As the sun rose over the countryside we had an incredible view of frost covered trees and fields. When we arrived at the school it was so cold the gate locks were frozen! The hall hadn't really warmed up and the poor students were so cold from their journey to school that the volunteers couldn't change the colour of the thermochromic plastic straws! Still, we soon warmed them up and even the reluctant year 10 students soon joined in and began to volunteer. I think it was the dry ice bubbles and Helen's persuasiveness that did it.

Next stop - Crewe - Ruskin school with it's amazing Victorian school hall decorated for Christmas and looking like something from a Dickens tale. Unfortunately we were in the sport hall - we needed the fire alarms off - but we had a great audience all ready to join in, including the teachers!

Next day - is it Thursday? Up early again - we are off to Sandbach girls school - and what a welcome we received there. This time we were in the main hall up on the stage with over 200 girls all eager to enjoy themselves so certainly no reluctance to volunteer this time. The girls were great - they knew their science and we wowed them with our demonstrations especially the WHOOSH bottle which really did whoosh in the warm hall - almost destroying the Christmas decorations!! OOOPS!

After a quick coffee and mince pie - thank you very much - we were off again this time to Warrington Lysander school and a drama theatre with silver glitter backdrop and spotlights - we've always been a bit dramatic! The audience was younger this time - year 7 - so lots of the science was new to them and for some almost like magic.

All too quickly we were at the end of the day and making our way home.
Tomorrow would be totally different - a full day in a primary school... watch this space.........