Nannerch Posters

Those super pupils at Nannerch VCP school have sent us some mini posters that they made after our visit.
We know they had a great day but it really brings it all home when you see their work.
They have remembered so well!

 Obviously the freaky hand was 

a huge hit!

It seems they liked the flames too 

and of course the dry ice

and elephants toothpaste - we did the very safe version with yeast

the gooey balls which disappeared were a great hit

everyone made lava lamps including the teachers

Thank you for all your lovely artwork guys and check out the boasting book page on our website to see your work online

A day out in North Wales

Helen and I had a wonderful day with a tiny village school in rural Flintshire North Wales.
At just over 70 pupils Nannerch primary school is in the most beautiful village between Mold and Denbigh - a lovely part of Wales.

It was an early start with a very packed car full of exciting science so that we arrived in time to set up for our first session - one of our favourites - Super Science Magic for the very youngest.
So we had  nursery and reception tinies along with the very grown up year 1 and year 2s - all very excited to see what the scientists were going to do.
We took Timmy - our puppet - with us, who helped Helen explore the amazing objects in the basket and see what they were made from. One brave young man put his hand into a container of liquid only to find it full of jelly balls which had been quite invisible! We had huge fun!

Then we did two shows all about changing materials with the Juniors. The dry ice was a huge hit - of course -   ooohs and ahhhhs came from the flame tests and the iron filings sparklers. In such a small school everyone was able to come up and volunteer for something so the shows were very interactive.

After a well earned lunch we did two hands on sessions - getting up close and personal with some of the show demonstrations, making lava lamps and having a go at things to try at home with a take home make - bath bombs with year 3/4 and slime for yr5/6. The tip of the day for the slime session - the more you stir it the thicker it gets..... and it doesn't drip off your elbow!

After a quick slurp of coffee it was the turn of the teachers - we had a great time exploring the experiments from the shows - the teachers had been itching to get their hands on some of the things we had been showing - the jelly balls, the colour changing straws but most of all the dry ice! It is not something you get to play with every day and the staff certainly enjoyed making vast amounts of spooky smoke and Boo Bubbles.

Finally we all had a go at the ever popular Art on a Plate - there were so many ideas of using this in all areas of the curriculum and I think nursery planned to do it the very next day - how's that for an impact!

Thank you to everyone at Nannerch for being such lovely hosts and making us so welcome!

CATCH UP TIME!

Now that the school Easter holiday is here I have time to catch up on what we have been up to over the past few weeks.
We had an amazing day at Ellesmere Port Boat museum as part of  BOOST's STEM event.
Amazingly we didn't drop anything into the water as we made our way across the cobbles and over the lock bridges to the rooms we were using - thank goodness for the trolley but note to self - must buy bungees to stop things slipping!!

Throughout the day we worked with groups of about 30 primary aged pupils, looking at Supermarket Science - our take on "do try this at home" type of science - 5 sessions in all.
We used our latest gizmos to inspire ideas, showing lots of mini experiments to have a go at - and everything can be bought from the supermarket!

The highlight was making their own bath bomb mini muffin to take home although I quite liked my heart shaped versions!

Then it was a very busy day at DaresburySIC with MerseySTEM and secondary school pupils.

Again 5 sessions back to back as Helen and I explained what a Day in the Life of a Science presenter is really like!
Stars of this event were without doubt our amazing jelly marbles which swell to about 30 times their original size and seem to disappear in water.

Colour changing straws which are great but we had to keep in the fridge because the room was so warm!

Bath bombs featured here too and a mass slime making fest!

So now we have two weeks of school holiday to make sure we are ready for the summer term, having done a mini mail drop and following up on possible bookings we should have a good few weeks.
watch this space!

Toys are us!

Having a wondeful time creating a new show for National Science and Engineering Week in March.
The theme this year is MOTION which gives huge scope so to make a show that we can keep running after the event I have come up with something all about forces but using toys to explain.
It isn't a unique thought - there has been a section in most curriculum topics about toys and forces but I am hoping that my take on it will be just that bit different.
I have started where most other teachers would start with Bruegal's wonderful picture of children at play in 16th century.
click to see Bruegal's painting of children in16th century

I used this many years ago with a class of 11 year olds looking at how toys had changed over time. What was really interesting was that the toys had changed but the games hadn't - at least not for my class.
We observed our own school playground and saw a group of girls spinning on the spot, a rough and tumble (nice euphemism there!) some juggling, the modern equivalent of 5 stones ( jacks to me) and of course Chase.

My dad who is quite an accomplished wood worker made me some replica toys especially a cup and ball and a Lenten rattle ( can you imagine the racket that must have made - what fun)

So I am starting there - looking at Tudor toys, how they work - where is that off switch????
Then we will head off through Victorian toys, tin clockwork toys and the emergence of plastic through to today.
I have managed to acquire some wonderful resources on the way and as we look at how batteries changed the way we played with toys but also how alternative energy toys and gizmos are becoming more popular we will be thinking about the forces needed to make the toys work.
I will have to get a volunteer out for the  space hopper and probably the hoola hoop too!
Our first booking for this show is on 5th March - hopefully we will be able to get some images but none of me on a space hopper!!

Off we go.......

So here we go.. Science2U is officially up and running with a web site - OK so most of it is a building site - but at least it is there.Plus after much messing about I finally managed to sort out decent e-mail with re-routing, multiple e-mail boxes and so on. Sue@science2U.co.uk is where you can get me
You just take all this for granted when you work for a company where someone else organises it all.
The business cards have arrived and I have my first proper booking next Wednesday!
I have already been out but really that was a bit of a fraud because I was talking about Catalyst!
Amazingly I have had someone contact me from that conference - he probably wants me to buy something but at least I feel I exist.
So now I am being very creative and putting together a few shows - something about being healthy - a popular primary topic; probably something about motion because that is the theme of this year's national science week; hopefully something about changing materials because that is a favourite of mine plus  a secondary flash bang type show because that is what they want!

All I need are catchy names and lots of contacts....hmmmmm...better get the brain going then and stop procrastinating by doing my blog!