Celebrating British Science Week
What is British Science Week?
British Science Week is a ten-day celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths, otherwise known as ‘STEM’. These sectors are so much more diverse than the traditional stereotypes and here at KCS we want to show you some fun activities you can get involved with to spark curiosity…
Check out these top ideas using our Science Resources:
Homemade Lava Lamp
What you will need:
- Water
- Oil
- Food Colouring
- Alka-Seltzer Tablet
- Large glass, clear bottle or clear plastic cups
Activity:
Add water to the glass until it is about 2/3 full.
Mix in a splash of oil and a few drops of your favourite colour of food colouring
Add the Alka-Seltzer tablet.
Ta-dah – you now have your very own mini lava lamp, but be sure not to spill it!
The Great Outdoors
What you will need:
- Magnifying Glass
- Notebook
- Pen
Activity:
Take your class/child to an outdoor space (and make sure to dress appropriately!)
See what wildlife you can find, from plants and trees to minibeasts.
Note down everything you find, then later on in the year, repeat the same activity and see what changes there have been!
Building Bridges
What you will need:
- Paper
- Card
- 2x cups of the same height (disposable to avoid breakages!)
Activity:
Using the cups as either end, and the paper as the bridge, try different strengths of paper/card to create your bridges. You can then test the strength of the bridge by using a small weight (such as coins) in the centre to see how strong your bridge is.
You could also then try adding another material such as sellotape or blu-tack to see how best to strengthen the structure.
Shop our great range of paper and card, here!
Plant a Seed
What you will need:
- Small plastic pot (this could be a plant pot or small yoghurt pot that has been cleaned out, with a few holes poked in the bottom by an adult)
- Seed Compost
- Seed of your choice (our favourite are sunflowers!)
Activity:
Add compost into your plastic pot until the compost is almost level with the top.
Press the compost down, to make it slightly more compact, but not too hard.
Make a little hole in the centre of the compost and add your chosen seed.
Water and leave in a sunny windowsill on a small dish (to avoid any leaks when you next water)
Check daily to see when you can see leaves poking through, and then transfer into a larger pot/outdoors when appropriate.
*Top tip* To encourage growth, you could use a plastic lid to cover the pot to create a better environment for the seed to grow in. You could even try one with a lid and one without and see which grows the best!
For further information, why not also head over to https://www.britishscienceweek.org/ for inspiring events and ideas.
A post we love is https://www.britishscienceweek.org/plan-your-activities/smashing-stereotypes/ - why not take a read?
Don’t forget to tag us @kcsearlyyears if you post online too!