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!

All Change at Lunt's Heath

Science2U had a very busy but fun day at Lunt's Heath Primary school in Widnes focusing on Materials and their Properties with our super show All Change.
This show looks at solids, liquids and gases and what happens when we heat, freeze and do other amazing things to them.
Our adventure started the day before when we were eagerly waiting for our delivery of dry ice. This was due to arrive round about lunch time but by mid afternoon there was no sign......DON'T PANIC comes to mind!!
A quick call to the company revealed that our little pack of ice was still at the depot and not winging its way to us. So after organising a courier to arrive first thing the next day at the school and calling the school to alert the caretaker, it was fingers crossed that our parcel arrived on time for the first show at 9.15

This school is very close to our HQ so it wasn't a dreadfully early start and after a warm welcome we began to set up.

Our first show was for KS1 and this was a Science Magic show with some amazing colour change liquids that go blue or pink when you shake them and then go clear again when left alone; invisible balls that magically appear when you tip the water away; spooky smoke that makes a spoon scream and gungy slime.

Everyone had a really great time and there were lots of smiles all round.

After break it was KS2 looking at  changing materials with lots of dry ice and very exciting - setting fire to things! Helen demonstrated with volunteers what happens when you set fire to chemical salts and we made iron filing sparkles.

The finale was our whoosh bottle which really surprised the front row!

In the afternoon we did two hands on sessions with Year 3&4. Lunt's Heath has 3 classes so we did rather large sessions in the hall getting up close to some of the equipment and demonstrations from the shows.

A quick tidy up and we moved to the Year 6 classroom for a staff CPD session. After exploring the dry ice and having a go with our ghostly bubbles gizmo, 

looking at colour change straws, paper and LCD sheeting and looking really closely at how handwarmers work, we all had a go at using milk, food colouring and washing up liquid for Art on a Plate

What a week!

We have been very busy around Merseyside during this last week
Regular readers may remember that during March last year we worked with  BOOST Ellesmere Port at the Boat Museum  as part of their science outreach.
We were asked to work with them again but this time at the Whitby High school as part of their science day 2013.
A large number of groups had been assembled ranging from local companies such as Innospec through to Chester Zoo and Liverpool University.
We were asked to start the day with a bang - literally.
We took our secondary show "I wasn't Expecting That!" which demonstrates a wide range of uses for some of our favourite smart materials along with dry ice, hand warmers and a very visual fire ball from milk powder.
We did the show twice for Year 9 who were a bit reluctant to come out and volunteer but were very keen to have a go after the show.

We had a return visit to Knowsley Park Centre for Learning who were hosting their feeder school year 5s for an International day. We had been asked to be China - the science of fireworks so off we went armed with sparklers, indoor roman candles and flame testing plus our milk powder which amazed everyone including the teachers.
The finale was a huge whoosh bottle followed by everyone having their own little bit of gunpowder in a party popper. Even the secondary school staff came to watch.

Finally we spent the day with St Francis of Assisi Academy in Kensington Liverpool. This was part of a special citizenship week and we were fulfilling the Keeping Healthy strand by exploring why we wash. We have some amazing micrographs of parts of the human body and of course we took along our 5 million skin cells, balloon of wind and tub of snot just to make it a bit more real!

Years 7 and 8 made their own toothpaste and trialled it against a commercial one - ours was just as good if not better - although I am not sure I would want to actually brush my teeth with purple toothpaste.
Year 10 were fascinated by what we excrete every day and just how a bath bomb works.

Everyone made a bath bomb so they could make sure they were really clean.
A busy but very satisfying week.

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.

ASE North West Conference

Saturday March 16th at the Science Learning Centre Didsbury.
This is my third year of speaking at this great CPD opportunity for science teachers in the North West of England. Previously I have spoken with my good friend and colleague Lorelly Wilson but this year Helen was coming with me and we were speaking as Science2U.
We had been asked to deliver two sessions this year one for KS2/3 and a special one for KS1.

The first session was for KS2/3 and using the RSC DVD as a basis we shared simple demonstrations that could be used in a variety of ways within the lesson.

For example a simple handwarmer can be used as a session opener on observation, an introduction to exothermic reactions or even a fun way to start heat of re-crystallisation investigations. Many people have used a handwarmer but few have sat and watched what happens when you set one off!

Our second session was A Little Bit of Science Magic aimed at KS1 showing simple hands on ideas to introduce awe and wonder into the science lesson. From a home made lava lamp lit up from underneath in a darkened room which suddenly becomes rather special to a saucer of milk with food colour drops which creates a work of art when touched lightly with washing up liquid.

Some people came back to our second session - they had so enjoyed the first!!
The feedback comments were immense - we were a hit!
Quite a few of the teachers wanted to pick our brains after the sessions and we almost missed lunch. Lots more names signed up to our newsletter. There will be a special ASE conference one with links to the resources we shared - probably going out just after Easter.

A New School Year

Ah well - the school holidays are over and I have just been into my first school this term. I must say I have really enjoyed actually having a summer break - that didn't happen at Catalyst. I have loved watching all the sport - especially the paralympics - and been busy around the house decorating. But now it  is back to the real work.
Today Science2U is launching an e-newsletter full of tips, resource ideas and links to sites we like. I expect this will be a monthly affair, it will certainly cater for all and hopefully be of interest to anyone keen on science.

Any home educators out there may enjoy the try at home ideas, which would also be useful for science clubs, school projects and science fairs.

The first issue features making rock candy crystals - a slow but rewarding experiment which you can eat -always good.
We have also discovered liquid polymorph - at room temperature it is liquid but solidifies at about 2C. Not really sure yet how we could use this but it makes an interesting addition to the now quite popular granular polymorph which transforms at about 65C in a transparent toffee like consistency. We use it in our All Change show to demonstrate a changing material and because it is good fun to play with of course!

Bookings for National Science and Engineering Week next March are beginning to come in - some people are well organised. The theme this year is inventions and discoveries and I will be finding out more at a meeting of the North West Science Alliance this week. I will post what I find out.
So for anyone wanting to receive our newsletter - visit the website and join our mailing list but don't stop following the blog!

It's All About You!

Our latest show explores the Healthy Humans theme with a starring role for the third member of our team Timmy.

This is Timmy

As regular readers will know we don't have totally different shows for different ages across the primary school - that would mean us needing so many more resources and overload my lab/garage.
We take a main theme - usually from the National Curriculum or something we know most schools teach and then we tweak it for all ages. Our presentation and delivery reflect the age, plus of course some of the content has to be differentiated for age and ability.
So this theme looks at what we need to be a fit and healthy human - exercise, diet, keeping clean, colds and germs and lots more.
With the youngest groups we bring in Timmy to help us choose what to pack in our school lunch box - many schools follow a healthy eating menu and discourage sweets, crisps and chocolate from the lunchbox. One of my daughters spent most of her primary school time eating cream cheese triangles and raisins - not sure how schools would manage that one!
We have collected a range of play foods, empty cartons plus some very convincing fruit props. The children help Timmy to pack a lunch that they will eat and that is healthy.
We have managed to get hold of a giant mouth

this lets us look at teeth, the different types and what they are used for plus how we should clean them. 

Of course we couldn't let that one go without seeing just how good commercial toothpaste really is so we make up our own using bicarbonate of soda and a few other ingredients and we test it against shop bought toothpaste. Actually the home made is very good at the job - even if the children like to make purple and bright yellow toothpaste!

We explore exercise and how it affects heart rate using a huge heart which acts as a stethoscope - it is quite weird hearing your own heartbeat and then a disembodied voice telling your heart rate.

Probably one of the most popular demonstrations shows how germs spread. This is often done in secondary schools but there is no reason why primary can't have a go. Usually you use a special gel which will glow under UV light but in a show situation this slows down the pace and limits how many can see the results so we use glitter gel and it is very surprising just how far a speck of glitter will travel.

We also have a rather cute rhinovirus - we will have to give him a name - any suggestions?

he is over 15 inches tall and apparently lives in your nose!

Of course it wouldn't be Science2U is we didn't use our expertise in personal hygiene products so we make bath bombs and pouring soap with volunteers.

This show works well with all ages and fits with some of our best hands on sessions in the classroom. We have also created some great follow up material. So all in all we are pretty pleased with this one.

We even have some monsters - if the school has a screen we can reveal.....

just what a sweat gland looks like......

and just how much mucous you produce when you have a cold

I love my job!

Chemistry at Work event

Helen and I had a busy day at Manchester University's Chemistry at Work event sponsored by the RSC.
Approx 120 year 8 and 9 pupils attended from quite a wide geographical area.
This type of event is designed to introduce school pupils to scientists from industry, especially chemists, to give the young people a feel for what careers there are using chemistry.

This isn't the first event of this kind we have done and originally we wondered just what we could contribute - after all we still work in schools. We decided to create a presentation about a day in the life of a science presenter and show how we use our science knowledge to make science accessible to others.
The presentation is a behind the scenes look at how we research materials, test resources and create shows. We share how we approach explaining difficult concepts to different ages and of course we have lots of gadgets, gizmos and props to have a go with.

We have discovered that our giant hyrogel balls are an enormous success with pupils and teachers, especially this time when one of the staff had a great camera and was taking some wonderful close up shots!

Colour changing straws, our now famous thermochromic mug and some of Helen's great demos such as the Freaky hand went down well.

And then a make and take muffin bath bomb with bubble gum fragrance.

It was really great to meet up with Trinity School Manchester - we know them from our Catalyst days - a great group of youngsters!
At the start of the day Emma Lewis our host from the University side asked the schools about their views of science - we had quite a mixed bunch - not everyone was thrilled to be there! I asked some of them what they had got out of the day and was very pleasantly surprised when lots of them said how much they had enjoyed our session and were genuinely interested in how we got into our line of work.
Many thanks to Emma Lewis from the university and Kat Presland from the RSC for asking us to be part of a great day.

We have a similar event in July at Jaguar in Speke organised by MerseySTEM - so I will be keeping my eyes open for some cool resources! What a great job!