ASE Primary Science Teachmeet at Ness Gardens

I went to an ASE primary science teachmeet at Ness Gardens a couple of weeks ago organised by Anne Buckley and Kim Harvey where we were given a tour of the gardens including some behind the scenes places and the education rooms.

We were able to see the way Ness can be used to teach Living Things and their Habitats, Evolution and Inheritance and more.

Rose Froud ( rfroud@liverpool.ac.uk) runs the education team in her enthusiastic and inspiring style. She talked about what Ness has to offer schools—from the youngest right through secondary and not just pond dipping!    We were able to see where  classes are held and the potting shed where meals can be eaten if the weather is poor.

I was fascinated to see how they are using the gardens to create a prehistoric trail using ancient plants and trees to guide you through the evolution of plants and grasses. They even plan to have dino footprints to mark the trail.

There is an emphasis on sustainability especially in the vegetable garden where a variety of goodies were growing well.

No two days are the same at Ness with sessions often being tailor made or tweaked to suit what the school is studying.   The pond was definitely were all the action was with so many Minibeasts clearly to be seen and it was good to hear how well thought through safety is.

After a morning with one of the education team teachers have the afternoon to do whatever they choose—perhaps one of the seasonal trails or something designed at school that you have brought to do.

At £95 per class it is a great day out and will help you to tick  those 

curriculum boxes in a totally creative and enriching way.

https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/ness-gardens/learn-at-ness/school,visits/

If you are not a member of the ASE you might not know about their super Primary Science magazine which is free to members. Your school can join or you can be an individual member.

There are national events—the conference every January is quite sensational as far as CPD goes but there are also local events like the teachmeet and also regional conferences—we have been at the Manchester one a few time as speakers. You can find out more here https://www.ase.org.uk/

British Science Week

Here it is!
British Science Week is probably the busiest time of the year for science presenters.
This is when some lucky schools decide to have a whole week off timetable to devote to science....some create assemblies and each class shares some science every day........some schools buy in special speakers - like us!

The week is organised by the British Science Association (BA) and this year with a new name and dedicated website it looks to be bigger than ever.

The BA produces lost of materials  publicity goodies and activity booklets to helps schools and communities put on events.
Some years there is a theme, other years is it more general.

This year we have created a new show to go with one of the new activity packs which isi all about colour.
So our new show is called KALEIDOSCOPE and explores the science of colour, how we see, optical illusions, colour blindness, colour chemisty and colour in physics.
We use colour chemistry to WOW the audience including finding out how our eyes work and why some animals can see lots of colours and others - like dogs - can only see a few.

As part of the "imagine a world in greyscale" theme I have been busy making food.....
I used a polymer clay in black and white which I mixed to get a good grey using what looks like a pasta machine....which it is but only used for clay work...thank goodness!

Then I used an extruder to make strands of "spaghetti" and made some textured balls.

Once on the plate I baked it in the over for about 20 mins to set the clay.
What do you think?? Fancy it for tea? I love making props for our shows

We will be sharing some of our favourite colour chemistry demonstrations including the amazing EXPERIMENT where four volunteers and Helen turn clear liquids bright pink and then clear again - it seems to be magic but it is certainly science!

look carefully and you can see the pink liquid turning clear as it enters Helen's vessel

We will be using some of our gadgets and gizmos from the light show such as the plasma ball and lighting up fluorescent tubes

and of course we will be using our wonderful rainbow glasses so that everyone can catch a glimpse of the visible spectrum.

We are taking part in a day of science fun at Ness Gardens Cheshire on Saturday 14th March so we will be trying out a mini version of the new show back to back throughout the day. It's free so why not come along and see us!