Show of the month for June

POTIONS

This month's Science Spot newsletter features our POTIONS show so I am sharing it with our blog readers

This show was created as part of one school's Harry Potter themed week and has become a favourite especially for end of term treats.

 With lots of dry ice in Hermione's cauldron and colour changing liquids to reactions that need to be woken up from a deep sleep.

 A set of rainbow coloured test tubes and disappearing gel balls. Eerie lights that appear like magic, amazing human light switches. Lots and lots of oozing slime….

Being true scientists we don't give away our secrets!  So many of our

demonstrations seem like magic so we began to collect amazing transformations, colour changes, disappearing materials and suddenly we really were in Hogwarts!

We invite potential wizards to join in an incredible experiment where they change clear liquid to bright pink and back again before our very eyes!

Dress up in your own costume or wear our wizarding hat to perform the experiment.

From bubbles to smoke to fire clouds this is an amazing show but of course we all know that even though some of the things seem

almost magic - it really is SCIENCE!!

Call us to find out how to book this show.

07972295527

All Change at Chester

We had a super day at Upton Heath Primary School Chester as part of their science week.
The school are having an incredible time with visits from all sorts of scientists including Techniquest, Chester zoo rangers, nurses as well as working with a local High school. They even had a visit from the Prime Minister....not to do science though!!

The day started with two All Change shows - the first for years 4,5,and 6 followed after break by years 2,3,4.
The show is full of exciting materials showing how solids, liquids and gases behave. We raced some gloopy liquids and learnt a new word - VISCOSITY.

We had enormous fun with dry ice creating huge clouds tumbling from the tables.

We had a fire rainbow and iron filings sparklers  and magnesium

and then Helen made a fire ball from custard powder which stunned the audience as you can see from the Twitter comment!

We even tried to blow up one of the teachers........

After lunch we were the guests of year 4 Lime class who gave us their room for the afternoon.
They were able to get up close and personal with some of the equipment from the show and to try out some of our other incredible gadgets and gizmos. Then we all made bubble gum fragranced bath bombs to take home.
We stayed in the classroom as Lime class swapped with their other year 4 class so we could do it all again.
At the very end of the day with just a few minutes before home time Lime class came back to their own room and we made a huge electric circuit with all the pupils and us and our Energy sticks.

Thank you to Ms Preston for organising such a super day.

Exciting times at Chester High School

Yesterday we visited Chester Catholic High school for a day with some of their feeder primary school pupils.

The day started with a delivery of dry ice to the school ready for our shows - we eventually tracked it down...in the boiler room.
We had created a special show for the school, based on our Secondary Tour show "I Wasn't Expecting That!" with a few extras especially for the younger audience.
We started with exploring a simple handwarner - how do you make it work, what is inside it, why does it warm up?

Then we invited two volunteers to shake a bottle of seemingly clear liquid which amazingly changed to either a blue or a bright pink, the colour then gently faded away but was returned by simply shaking again.
Four more volunteers came out to join Sue and Helen in a bit of dramatic poetry - The Experiment.
Four scientists mixing clear liquids which turned bright pink but when they all combined their liquids in Helen's container it all went clear...magic?? No Science!

After some more colour changing demonstrations we got all excited by setting fire to a few things...a rainbow of flame colours, some incredible sparklers and magnesium. Then we showed how much energy there is in milk powder by creating a fire ball...smells really great too

Next it was time to break out the dry ice and share some of our demos -  Helen's cauldron and screaming spoon, ghostly white bubbles and then we tried to blow up a teacher........

We created human light bulbs with our plasma ball

 We investigated smart materials that react to temperature by either changing colour, shape or seeming to disappear.
Then some ideas for things to do at home including the freaky hand

and finally we rounded off an exciting show with our whoosh bottle.

Great fun - thanks for having us and thanks to Debbie Hickling for organising it all.

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.

Tripping the light fantastic

What a wonderful job we have!
On Thursday we travelled to Parochial Primary School Ashton-u-Lyne to deliver our show Inside the Rainbow which is all about light and colour.

We couldn't believe that it is almost a year since we were first there but some of the children remembered us - which was great!
In two sessions the whole school including the nursery were able to experience one of our favourite shows.
Picture the scene - you enter the school hall which is in darkness and at the front you can see so many twinkling, spinning and colour changing lights - it is like a mini Blackpool!

The youngest ones were so excited but incredibly well behaved and sat through the whole show riveted - some were very brave and came out to help us.

Starting in the dark we explored natural and man made lights, looking at shadows on the way and experiencing all the colours of the rainbow with the wonderful rainbow glasses.

We were dressed in black with EL lighting which is very flexible and can be twisted into lots of shapes so we we were wearing it around us.

For the older ones we found out about the vocabulary used in light, we explored chemical colours, bio and chemi-luminescence and Helen showed off her super light sabre

We heard all about Helen's dog Monty who was given a lovely new ball for Christmas but it was red and as dogs don't see red very well we all decided that for his birthday she should buy him a blue and yellow one which he will be able to see really well!
The show finished with Helen illuminating hidden messages on the walls with a UV torch.

A very sensory experience for everyone and a super day for us all.

goody bags and freebies!!

It's been a while since my last posting - so sorry but when you are busy.......
Helen and I have been putting together new ideas and exciting projects for Science2U plus we have been working on our newsletter which we would like to go out monthly but at the moment timing is a moveable feast!!


So what have we been up to?

Readers of the blog and frequenters of our website will be aware that our CPD training sessions are extremely popular with teachers and student teachers. Based on our "have a go" hands on practicals we show how to incorporate simple science into lessons as starters, plenary or even the main event.

We know that many primary schools have not got access to beakers, measuring cylinders and other science equipment so we use everyday containers and easy to get hold of materials. Often our sessions in school come under a "supermarket science" heading because most materials can be bought easily. We collect unusual containers; we think slightly off the wall when watching others doing science or when we go to events such as the Education Show always having in the back of our mind - could we use that idea but adapt it for primary schools on a budget and with little equipment.
Our mantra..... we can do anything with Two balloons and a goldfish.
Our days at Catalyst science discovery centre have made us very inventive.
Actually I think most science presenters are a bit like this. You only have to watch my friend and fellow presenter the amazing Ian Russell ( exploding custard) to see how creative we all are.

So we have come up with an idea to get more teachers having a go and getting to know us in a fun, friendly and relaxed atmosphere  Based around the "party" concept we are inviting schools to host a twilight staff event and invite nearby schools to join in. As a thank you the host will get a free day of shows and every school will take home a goody bag of science stuff to play with.

So we have been on the hunt for interesting but not too expensive bits and bobs for the goody bag - colour changing paper - pastel coloured paper that changes colour with the heat of your hand and then changes back as it cools. I am experimenting at the moment to see if it works after laminating because I think it would make great bookmarks.

Everyone loves our thermo plastic straws so they will have to be in the stash plus a little bit of polymorph I think. In the session we will probably be making bath bombs and perhaps pourable soap - we've not totally decided and will probably ring the changes a bit with the makes. I fancy making bracelets of UV reactive beads too.

It is a great excuse to browse all those wacky websites for gadgets and gizmos at stocking filler prices. All teachers love freebies - you should see us at the Education show! So hopefully this will be a winner and get our name known more widely.... in the meantime I am surfing to find more things for the stash!

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!