BIG BANG NW 2016

WOW! WOW! WOW!
What an amazing day we all had at BBNW

This year we were in a new venue - The Exhibition Centre Liverpool which is right on the waterfront and a super space for a STEM event.
Being in one large hall made it easier for teachers to keep an eye on their pupils. It also gave the exhibitors a real buzz because they were with everyone else.

the show hall

In the centre was the show stage - a huge screen to make sure everyone had a close up view and plenty of seats. However the shows were a real draw so it was standing room only for every show all day. Thankfully there was room around the seating for people to gather and get a good view.

the show stage

The perimeter of the hall was where the large activities were - the accelerator, the pendolino train, the riding horse and milking cow.......you had to be there to see that!

Even larger exhibits were outside on the deck - Terry the Viking scientist and his team brought their longboat.

the Vikings

On Monday the set up started - by early afternoon the stage was almost finished and the stands were taking shape. As the evening wore on more and more companies, colleges and universities arrived to set up their stands.

We took all our kit taking advantage of the loading bay for easy access so that on the Tuesday morning we were able to park the car and walk through the main entrance.

We were on first so we set up our show tables in the early morning quiet and as everyone arrived we got our microphones on and after a quick sound check it was time to start.

We shared different bits from a variety of our shows - colour chemistry to start followed by disappearing hydrogel balls and introducing our huge blue polymer balls. We moved on to the freaky hand using bicarbonate and vinegar and then inflated a giant vet glove.

Helen made huge clouds of flame with milk powder

and then we set off a whoosh bottle.

The finale was dry ice - what else!

Lots of clouds of fog, popping lids and a crystal ball bubble to finish.

It went well - even better in the afternoon session - people were sitting in the aisles to try to see.

The audience was very receptive - the other shows went really well too.
Tom Warrender shared his fascinatingly gruesome human guinea pig show - look away if you are squeamish time!!

Stefan Gates the Gastronaut showed us some amazing science based around food even blowing strawberry fragranced smoke rings at us all.

There are so many pictures from the day - Twitter feeds, Twitpics, Facebook pics and professional photos.
Putting BBNW or #BBNW should find some if you search and of course you can go to MerseySTEM and the dedicated Big Bang NW site for plenty of links to write ups, galleries and more.

If you didn't get this year I really would encourage you to sign up for 2017. This is the biggest FREE STEM event in our area and so worth doing. Don't miss it.

many thanks to everyone who shared their images of the day and for the professional images which are © MerseySTEM

http://www.merseystem.co.uk/

Courtesy of Gareth Jones (Photographer)

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.

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

The Big Bang Fair North West Aintree 2014

WOW! WOW! WOW!!

What an amazing day it has been at The Big Bang.
A very early start to arrive at Aintree for about 8.00 to unload and register before setting up our show on the main stage in the Irish Bar in the Princess Royal Stand.

a grey and early start

The stage was in a catwalk style leading into about 100 seats surrounded by other exhibitors and we wondered how we were going to make ourselves heard until we met the lovely guys from the stage crew. We would be wearing head mics - just like you see on TV - and would be able to talk quietly and still be heard.

just about to start - an official picture

We set up our show which we had written for this event - a taster of all the different shows we do but with a definite secondary feel - all linked to the theme I WASN'T EXPECTING THAT!
Once we were set up nerves began to kick in- this was quite a big deal for us...but we sat on the side of the stage and had  quick cup of coffee and ran through the show together and then......everyone started to arrive.
After a quick sound check it was time...we were on.
An opening interactive with two volunteers - the pink and blue colour changing bottles

apparently there is science happening in this bottle

Then a second colour change with our acid and alkali poem The Experiment
A third colour change - the chameleon gave a multi coloured rainbow effect.
Next it was a quick look at some of our smart materials especially the hydrogel balls - there was an overhead camera linked to  a huge screen which gave an incredible view.

over 300"invisible" hydrogel balls are in the tank

We got a whole row of volunteers out to change our thermochromic straws and then we made human circuits with the energy sticks.

Next we got out the dry ice - Helen got a bit carried away and we had foaming cylinders bursting their coloured water all over the tables but it just added to the amazing sight of spooky fog flowing all over the stage - it worked really well.
We made the ice scream with a metal spoon, made huge smoky bubbles and collected some carbon dioxide into a balloon and tried to blow up a teacher,
Our finale was  slime - two lucky volunteers got to make up some snot green gloop and take it home!!

Our show lasted about 25 minutes and then it was a very quick reset before we did it all again......and then again.
Three shows back to back before quickly taking down and handing the stage over to Terry the Viking scientist with his amazing fire show.

We were able to have a quick look around the exhibitions and a wander around the racecourse itself.

One of the fascinating things was just how many people were tweeting  throughout the day.

                                     

                               

Finally the day ended with presentations of awards to STEMclubs  for some incredible projects - there are some very clever young people out there.
Well done to all the team at MerseySTEM who organised this event.
I think a lie down is now in order!

Big Bang @ school in Fazakerley

We had a super day with the team from MerseySTEM, a great gang from Amey and the Big Bang Northwest folk sharing science with year 9 at Fazakerley High School.

Quite an early start for a day themed around our environment sponsored by Amey.
We had been asked to present on Plastics - Superhero OR Supervillain!
So we decide to resurrect an old favourite using Polycaprolactone AKA POLYMORPH which is a thermo moulding biodegradable plastic.
These great little granules transform at about 62C into transparent, chewing gum looking, stretchy, wonderfully tactile strands that can be moulded into a huge range of things for hobbies, electronics, engineering and crafts.

We chose to make keyrings with a bit of added bling in the form of glitter.

We used silicon ice cube moulds and added a small key chain. There were quite a few creative folk who designed their own rather than use a mould - very inventive!

We started with a brief intro and discussion about why plastic has such a bad reputation and how we can help to reduce the energy and waste issue by recycling. So the challenge is to find a material  like plastic but with none of the bad points - well we couldn't quite get rid of all the bad points but certainly the waste issue - a biodegradable plastic really helps.

Throughout the day we had 6 workshops so everyone in year 9 got to experience our presentation.

Once they got their hands on the polymorph and had a good play to discover just how it behaved they then used pre glittered moulds to make their bespoke keyring.

The school made us extremely welcome with a super lunch prepared by the in house catering staff.

We left the science team with a sample and all the little left over bits from the day so they should have good fun and a great introduction to polymers.

thanks for having us FHS