One Year On

I can't believe that it is a whole year since Helen and I left Catalyst to start our company Science2U.
It was another huge leap off the cliff  but WOW we have had a great year.
The anniversary of the formation of the company is in a few weeks so this blog is not a celebration yet but I have just updated the website with a slideshow of images from our pre-Christmas tour plus highlights of our year.
Visit the website for a peep www.science2u.co.uk

I really enjoyed the RI Christmas lectures over the holidays and was thrilled to see them using some of our demonstrations including using handwarmers to demonstrate changing state. I just wish we could have a handwarmer for everyone in the audience like they did!! Mind you we had over 200 watching at Sandbach which could create a problem when you want to recharge the handwarmers which we do by boiling them!!

The state of the month is also the time for publication of the newsletter. So again if you want a copy visit the website and either download from there or if you want to be on the mailing list leave an electronic contact address and we will make sure you always get a copy.

This month the theme is winter science which includes snow, ice and salt obviously but also catching a cold id de dose.....so to speak. I do hope you said that in character!!

We are off to Manchester Met. next week for a day of creative science with some super primary student teachers. They are about to go on teaching placement so we will be giving them lots of ideas to take with them. Hopefully we will have pictures to share too.

Christmas Science Extravaganza

The final leg of our Christmas science tour

So there we were on Friday of a super week of science. So far we had been in secondary schools but today we were off to St Thomas primary in Maghull.
For the Autumn term they had been studying electricity and light so as a final flourish to their term they had booked us for one of our  favourite shows Inside the Rainbow. The show explores light, how we power lights, colour and how we see so of course being so close to Christmas we took all our lights, lamps and even wore our fairy hairbands.

The school were in the middle of nativity performances so the hall was all set up for an audience and blacked out. We set up just in front of the stable and baby Jesus with angels in the background - not often you get to do that!
The first group to come to the hall was year 5 & 6 - so some serious science words in this show! We even discovered that dogs only see in blue and yellow so no use buying Monty that red ball, Helen!

During a short break we gathered the very youngest from reception to come for a special short session just for them - this was incredibly exciting and almost magical. One little girl was convinced we were fairies!

Then we had year 3 & 4 whose science knowledge was really great and their vocabulary brilliant

After lunch we had year 1 & 2 who thought the whole thing wonderful - one young man really wanted to get hold of some of the gadgets we had - and wondered if we had bought them from Blackpool!

We had about an hour left so spent a session doing hands on with year 5 who really loved being able to get up close to lots of our props and had a taster of next terms subject - materials.

The Cheshire Tour

WOW! We have had an amazing couple of weeks touring Cheshire and Merseyside delivering Christmas Science shows.

A frosty Tuesday morning bright and early we headed over to Sefton for a Chemistry at Work evet sponsored by the Royal Society of Chemistry and organised by MerseySTEM.

Numerous companies - STEM ambassadors - shared their work, science and for us gadgets and gizmos with groups of 14 and 15 year olds. We explained the role of science presenters and how we design our shows and share science concepts. But probably the favourite bit of our session - no freebies here - you make your own BATHBOMBS to take home!

The next day - a very foggy and extremely cold morning - at about 6.00 - we were off to Macclesfield  As the sun rose over the countryside we had an incredible view of frost covered trees and fields. When we arrived at the school it was so cold the gate locks were frozen! The hall hadn't really warmed up and the poor students were so cold from their journey to school that the volunteers couldn't change the colour of the thermochromic plastic straws! Still, we soon warmed them up and even the reluctant year 10 students soon joined in and began to volunteer. I think it was the dry ice bubbles and Helen's persuasiveness that did it.

Next stop - Crewe - Ruskin school with it's amazing Victorian school hall decorated for Christmas and looking like something from a Dickens tale. Unfortunately we were in the sport hall - we needed the fire alarms off - but we had a great audience all ready to join in, including the teachers!

Next day - is it Thursday? Up early again - we are off to Sandbach girls school - and what a welcome we received there. This time we were in the main hall up on the stage with over 200 girls all eager to enjoy themselves so certainly no reluctance to volunteer this time. The girls were great - they knew their science and we wowed them with our demonstrations especially the WHOOSH bottle which really did whoosh in the warm hall - almost destroying the Christmas decorations!! OOOPS!

After a quick coffee and mince pie - thank you very much - we were off again this time to Warrington Lysander school and a drama theatre with silver glitter backdrop and spotlights - we've always been a bit dramatic! The audience was younger this time - year 7 - so lots of the science was new to them and for some almost like magic.

All too quickly we were at the end of the day and making our way home.
Tomorrow would be totally different - a full day in a primary school... watch this space.........

Christmas Rush

Well what a surprise! There we were gearing down for the holidays so to speak - with 2 more bookings to do - when suddenly out of the blue we have 5 schools in the next week!

We are off on a grand tour of Cheshire next week - Macclesfield,  Crewe, Warrington and Sandbach. Topped and tailed by a day in Sefton and one in Maghull.

So I have just put the finishing touches to a seasonal secondary show based around chemical reactions. This is funded by the RSC so I have used our usual secondary show - I Wasn't Expecting That - dropped most of the biology and physics and boosted the chemistry plus added a few seasonal demonstrations and changed around colours to add a more Christmas feel - plus lots of instant snow!

The day in Maghull is at a primary school and will be more hands on in the classrooms so we will need to create some practicals for the really young ones - the older ones can make slime and bath bombs but I need to have a good think about what we do with reception - all good work towards our new session at the NW ASE conference next March!

We will also be going to MMU at Didsbury just after the Christmas holidays to work with student teachers on being creative with the science curriculum.

It's all go!!

So hopefully there will be pictures galore and a write up of our adventures -  watch this space.....

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!

Keeping in the Loop

I promised last time that I would report from the meeting of the NWSA all about National Science and Engineering week next March. Unfortunately the speaker couldn't come - so I still haven't got much beyond the theme. However as soon as I find out more I will let you all know what Science2U intends to do. Probably we will use our session on smart materials and tweak it to fit rather than create a brand new session.

Have you heard of the Association for Science Education - ASE?
It is a great group for anyone who teaches science at whatever level. They have regional groups that meet and organise events plus an amazing Annual conference.
But I think one of the best things they do is run a Twitter chat session on Monday evenings at 8.00
Simply by using #asechat you can join in, follow the chat and make good contacts with like minded folk.
I am posting this because last Monday we had a super session aimed at primary teachers and it was so fast and furious that we all had trouble keeping up.
Indeed there was so much to say on "excellence in primary science" that we decided we needed to narrow down the focus next time - and there will be a next time - the demand was very high.
You can help choose the topic for the week by visiting the ASE website and voting for one of usually 4 choices.
We chat about a really wide range of subjects again at all levels.
The chat is a great source of information and ideas, queries and advice. You make contact with people from all over the world - although due to time difference mostly UK.
Many of the chatters have their own blog so you can follow up chat with in depth reading plus often there are links to a teacher's class blog. So many schools encourage the pupils to blog and I must say the primary blogs are very inspiring.
You don't have to be an ASE member to join in and you don't really have to be a teacher - some of us are science consultants/presenters/advisors etc and we are made very welcome.
I do encourage you to drop in even if you only lurk for a while - you would be most welcome.

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!