PRIMAR Y British Science Week

Page created by Craig Osborne
 
CONTINUE READING
PRIMAR Y British Science Week
A  R Y
PRIM URCE
RESO
P A C K
                               k
        S c i e   n ce Wee
British
   1 8 M a r  ch 2018 week.org
9-
           i t i s h s c i ence
 www.br

        Supported by
PRIMAR Y British Science Week
This resource pack aims to be your ‘one-stop-shop’ for supporting
    you during British Science Week, but can be used at any time.
    Feel free to adapt or extend the activities to suit your students’
    needs and the curriculum you are delivering. In addition to the
    activities in this pack, there are lots of other ways to enthuse and
    engage your students throughout the Week.

    In developing this pack, we have    British Science Week events                 Poster competition
    looked for activities which break
                                        You can create your own club,               Some of the activities in this
    down the stereotypes surrounding
                                        class or school event or search             pack could be followed up
    STEM and promote cross-curricular
                                        for things happening near you               by designing a poster; simply
    learning. We encourage you to
                                        on our website. Last year, there            look out for the paintbrush
    use British Science Week as an
                                        were over 5,000 events reaching             symbol above. The theme for
    opportunity to link STEM to other
                                        more than 1 million people. Help            this year’s competition links with
    curriculum subjects and to your
                                        us make British Science Week                this year’s activity pack theme
    students’ own backgrounds, lives
                                        2018 even bigger and better! Visit          of ‘exploration and discovery’.
    and interests.
                                        www.britishscienceweek.org                  For more information on the
                                                                                    competition and how to enter,
                                        2018 is The Year of Engineering.            read on further in the activity
                                        This is a chance to celebrate               pack or visit
                                        the UK’s engineering heritage,              www.britishscienceweek.org/
                                        invest in skills and inspire young          planyour-activities/poster-
                                        people to consider a career in              competition.
                                        engineering. Get your students to
                                        take a fresh look at engineering
                                        using activities in this pack.

                                        CREST Star Awards
                                                                             k
                                        Many of the activities in this pac
                                                                       Sta r
                                        can count towards a CREST
                                                                         urces
                                        Award. Further CREST Star reso
                                        can be downloaded for free      from
                                                                           r
                                        www.crestawards.org/crest-sta
                                                                             to
                                        You need to do eight challenges
                                                               not  use  Briti sh
                                        get the Award, so why
                                                                  the   Aw  ard
                                        Science Week to launch
                                                                            ad a
                                        in your school? You can downlo
                                                              ST  we  bsit e to
                                        passport from the CRE
                                        keep track of pupil pro gre ss.

                                                                             ards
                                         Get 10% off CREST Discovery Aw
                                                                  this cod e
                                         until 30 April 2018 with
                                         BSWActivity10

1
PRIMAR Y British Science Week
Contents
    The theme for this year’s British Science
    Week is exploration and discovery,
    encouraging young people to think about
    everyday discoveries and how they affect
    their lives by exploring science in the world
    all around us; from their home and schools,
    to their local area and wider environment.
    It is also a chance for young people to
    consider how exploration and discovery
    can have a positive impact on the future.

    ASSEMBLY IDEAS                              3
    EXPLORING THE OUTDOORS
    Poo from the past                           4
    Great grasshoppers                          5
    Augmented reality minibeasts                6
    Brilliant birds                             8
    Bug hotel                                   9

    EXPLORING OUR HOMES
    Plastic milk                               10
    Confusing cans                             11
    Squashed tomatoes                          12

    EXPLORING THE WORLD
    Ocean grabber                              13
    Polar explorer food                        15
    Astro-nappy                                16
    Ocean floor mission                        17
    Escape from the ice                        18
    Run to the Deep                            19
    Building bridges                           21

    GET INVOLVED WITH CITIZEN SCIENCE          22
    POSTER COMPETITION                         23

2
PRIMAR Y British Science Week
Assembly ideas
    Why not start British Science   You could reflect on the great          Here are some other ideas to
    week off with a bang, by        discoveries made in the last            include during your assembly:
    holding an assembly to get      century, with a special focus
                                                                               Tell your students about the
    your students excited about     on people from your area
                                                                               plan for British Science Week
    the week ahead.                 Get the students thinking                  and give them a challenge
                                    about how discoveries affect               related to the theme
    Tell the British Science
    Association about your          their day to day lives, e.g.
                                                                               Launch the poster competition
    assembly ideas by tweeting      electricity, fuel or medicines.
                                                                               (see page 22 of this pack)
    or sharing images with the      Don’t let this list limit you – there
                                    have been many amazing                     Launch the citizen science
    hashtag:
                                    discoveries across all sectors of          project
    #BSW18                          science and engineering                    (see page 21 of this pack)
                                    Profile a prominent explorer               Encourage your students to
                                    who made a significant                     invite family to British Science
                                    contribution to our                        Week events at school.
                                    understanding of our planet or
                                    even the solar system
                                    Invite a special guest or
                                    someone from the school
                                    community to come talk about
                                    a related topic. Try out www.
                                    sciencelive.net to connect with
                                    a range of amazing speakers.

3
PRIMAR Y British Science Week
Exploring the outdoors
                                            Poo from
                                            the past
About this                                  Part one                                 Part two

activity                                    1   Mix together the flour, salt and
                                                oil in a big bowl
                                                                                     Congratulations!
                                                                                     You’ve now made your fake
                                                                                     coprolites (fossilised faeces).
    For most people, the idea               2   Add warm water to the stock          Get your friends and family to
    of finding old human poo is                 cubes to make a thick gloopy         excavate them and collect the
    disgusting; and the idea of                 dark brown paste                     dietary evidence. Use lolly sticks
    cutting it up and looking at
                                                                                     or cocktail sticks to make sure you
    it through a microscope is              3   Add the gloopy paste into the
                                                                                     don’t miss anything, as some of
    even worse! But this is exactly             floury mixture. You’ll need to
                                                                                     the evidence is really small.
     what some archaeologists do                get your hands in and squish
     to help us understand what                 it together! If the mixture is too
                                                                                     Use the evidence to work out:
     people ate in the past, and                dry, you can add more water,
                                                                                     who ‘did the poo?’
     how they prepared their food.              or you may wish to add some
                                                brown ready-mixed paint to
    Your challenge is to make                   make the mixture browner and
    your own Aztec poos and                     stickier                             Next steps
    then challenge your friends to                                                   If you haven’t had enough of
    excavate them!                          4   Mix, squish and knead until you
                                                have a solid brown lump and          poo, you could make poos from
                                                then roll out sausage shapes         different periods of history. Use

     Kit list
     ]                                          for your poo!                        Young Archaeologists’ Club ‘Poos
                                                                                     from the past’ information sheet
         2 cups of flour                    5   It’s time to add the dietary         to find out what evidence might
                                                evidence to your poo. For an         have been found in poos from
         1 cup of salt                          Aztec poo, add popping corn          Egyptian, Roman, Viking and
         Tablespoon of vegetable                or maize, pumpkin seeds, and         Tudor times.
         oil (plus a bit extra for oiling       the skin and seeds from plants       www.yac-uk.org/things-to-do
         the finished poos!)                    like tomatoes, chillies and
                                                peppers – these are parts of         Activity by the Young
         Beef stock cubes                       the foods that Aztec people          Archaeologists’ Club which is
         Warm water                             ate, which might not have            part of the Council for British
                                                been fully digested. Make sure       Archaeology.
         Brown poster paint                     you roll your poo to hide the
         (optional)                             evidence inside it!
          Popping corn, pumpkin
          seeds, tomato and
                                            6   Put a bit of oil on your hands
                                                and rub this onto your finished
          pepper skin
                                                poos. This will make them look
          Large mixing bowl                     realistic and even yuckier!
          Tablespoon
          Wooden lolly sticks or
          cocktail sticks
          Paper plates
           Poo excavation sheet
           (download here)
           ‘Poos from the past’
           information sheet
           (see next steps section)
                                                WATCH OUT!
                                                This is not edible (Yuck!)
           Pencil

4
PRIMAR Y British Science Week
Exploring the outdoors
                                         Great
                                         grasshoppers
About this                               Part one                                Part two

activity                                 1   Cut your egg carton
                                             lengthways in half, so that you
                                                                                 Now, glue the hind legs to the
                                                                                 back section of the egg carton:
                                             have three compartments in          one on each side. When the glue
    Have you read ‘James and
                                             a row - this is going to be your    has dried, use a craft stick/pencil
    the Giant Peach’ by Roald
                                             grasshopper’s long body. Paint      to rub along the emery board to
    Dahl? It’s a story about a boy
                                             it green and set it aside to dry.   make a musical noise.
    who travels the world in a
    giant peach and meets some           2   Next, it’s time to make your
     amazing insects! One day he             grasshopper’s large hind legs.      Next steps
     befriends some giant insects            Draw a V on the green cards;
     and travels far and wide,               you want each outer line of         Get creative! If you’re feeling
     across the oceans in a giant            the V to be 10 centimetres          artsy, decorate your grasshopper.
     peach. One of James’ friends,           long and 1.5 centimetres wide.      Have a think about the different
     the Old-Green-Grasshopper,              When you are happy with             habitats where grasshoppers are
     has wonderful musical skills.           your shape, cut it out using        found and how they might be
     In this activity you’re going           scissors. You can then use this     able to camouflage themselves in
      to make your own musical               first hind leg as a template for    grassy fields and sandy dunes.
      grasshopper! Grasshoppers              the second one by drawing
      can make melodies by                   around it on the card. Then cut           Why not take a picture
      rubbing their back legs                the second one. Make sure                 of your grasshopper and
       against their wings, causing          you are careful when using               enter it into the poster
       them to vibrate; a bit like the       scissors, and ask a grown-up to         competition?
       way a bow plays a violin.             help you.

                                         3   Using scissors, carefully cut
                                             the emery board in half and
      Kit list
      ]                                      then take one of your legs

                                                                                                                       Illustrations © Quentin Blake 2018, © RDNL 2018
                                             and turn the V’s upside down.
          1 six-egg carton                   Glue one piece of the emery
                                             board to the right-hand part of
          Scissors
                                             one of the V. Do the same for
          Green poster paint                 the second leg, but glue the
                                             emery board to the left-hand
          Pencil
                                             part of the V.
          Green card
          Emery board
          2 small green pom-poms
          (optional)
                                             WATCH OUT!
          PVA glue
                                             Be careful when using scissors
           2 googly eyes (optional)          and make sure to put down
           Green pipe cleaner                newspaper when painting!

           Craft stick (or you could
           use a pencil, twig or
           chopstick)

5
PRIMAR Y British Science Week
Exploring the outdoors
                                             Augmented
                                             reality minibeasts

About this                                   Part one                               Part three

activity                                     1   Create your AR minibeasts
                                                 profile card.
                                                                                    Go Outside! Minibeasts can be
                                                                                    found everywhere, if you know
                                                                                    where to look…
    Using the power of augmented                 To make your card, choose one
    reality (AR), this activity allows           of the minibeasts shown on the
                                                                                    Draw a table or chart on paper
    you to explore your environment              following page (worksheet 1).
                                                                                    listing different locations or
    to look for and learn about all              Carefully cut out your minibeast
                                                                                    microhabitats such as in the air,
    sorts of different minibeasts.               image along the lines. Stick
                                                 onto one side of the card.         under a stone, in the grass, under
                                                                                    a log or in a tree.
    This activity is powered by® the
    free AR app AugmentifyIt .               2   Take care not to crease the
                                                 image.                             Explore outside. Use a spoon to
                                                                                    scoop up a minibeast and gently
    The app can be downloaded                3   On the reverse of the card,        drop it into a cup.
    for free on the App Store,                   create a profile for your
    Google Play and Amazon App                   minibeast, including its name,     Use a magnifying glass to get a
    Store. The AR requires WiFi to               type (insect or arachnid),         close-up look. Once you have
    work, however this activity                  where it lives, number of body     finished, return your minibeast
     can be used without AR too.                 sections and number of legs.       carefully to its home.
                                             4   Have a think - what is a              How many minibeasts can
     Kit list
     ]                                           minibeast? And what is a
                                                 microhabitat?
                                                                                       you find?
                                                                                       Where did you find the most/
          White card (6cm x 10cm)
                                                                                       the least?
          Glue stick or double-sided
                                             Part two                                  What kind of minibeasts
          sticky tape
                                                 Download the latest version           did you find in the different
          Pen or pencil                                                                locations?
                                                 of the FREE AugmentifyIt® app
          Ruler                                  on your tablet/device. Open        Record your findings in your chart.
                                                 the AugmentifyIt® app and
          Tablet or phone devices for AR
                                                 point the device at the AR
          Paper                                  minibeasts sticker, filling the    Next steps
           Spoon                                 device screen with the image.
                                                                                    To extend the AR minibeast
           Paper cup                             See your minibeast card            learning experience, extra AR
                                                 come to life!                      resources can be found on
           Magnifying glass                                                         www.augmentifyit.com
                                             Pair up with a friend with a
                                             different minibeast. Can you
                                             describe your minibeast to one
                                             another? How many legs does it

         WATCH OUT!                          have? How does it move? How
                                             are the two mini beasts different?
         Take care when collecting
         minibeasts so you don’t hurt
         them, and ensure you return
         them back to their homes.

         Also watch out, as some
         insects can bite or sting!
         Adults should supervise
         activities outdoors.

         Wash hands after working outside.
6
Exploring the outdoors

Augmented
reality
minibeasts

Worksheet 1

7
Exploring the outdoors
                                             Brilliant birds
About this                                   Part one                               Part two

activity                                     Before you start building your nest,
                                             have a think about the following
                                                                                    Now you’ve got a plan in place,
                                                                                    head outdoors and explore what
                                             important questions:                   natural materials you can find.
    Local birdwatcher Mrs
                                                                                    Perhaps collect some leaves,
    Twitcher is an expert on
                                             1   What materials can you find to     feathers, twigs and some mud!
    birds’ nests. “I think birds
                                                 build your nest?
    are brilliant, but I don’t think
                                                                                    Build your nest, ensuring it can
    people can build nests like              2   Which ones do you think will       comfortably fit a small bird and
    birds do.” Do you think Mrs                  be best?                           their eggs. Make sure it’s strong
     Twitcher is right?
                                                                                    and sturdy.
                                             3   Do you need different materials
    In this activity, have a go at               inside and outside the nest?
    making a birds’ nest using
    materials that you can find              4   How will you keep everything       Next steps
    naturally outside.                           together?
                                                                                       Why not take it further and test
                                             5   You could start with a small          your nest?
     A bird nest is the spot in which            bowl made from modelling
     a bird lays its eggs and raises             clay.
                                                                                       What would happen to your
     its babies. These can be                                                          nest on a windy day? What
     usually found in trees, bushes          6   What other ways can you think         would happen to your nest in
     or a burrow dug into the                    of to build a nest?                   rainy weather?
      ground.                                                                          What worked well and what
                                                                                       could have been improved?

                                                                                    This activity can be put towards
      Kit list
      ]
                                                                                    a CREST Star Award and there
                                                                                    are plenty more online activities
            Materials for nest building                                             you can try for free. For more
            such as twigs, leaves, mud                                              information, follow this link
            and grass                                                               www.crestawards.org/
            Modelling clay (optional)                                               about-crest-awards/

          WATCH OUT!
          If you see nests outside, do not
          disturb the birds or remove the
          nests or eggs.

          When working outside
          make sure an adult knows
          where you are at all times.
          Remember to wash your
          hands after working outdoors.
          Adults should supervise
          activities outside.

           Wash your hands after
           working outside.
8
Exploring the outdoors
                                       Bug hotel
About this                             Part one                                 Part two

activity                               1   Find a good spot where you’d
                                           like to put your flower pot
                                                                                Peep inside every day to check
                                                                                on your creepy-crawly visitors.
                                           (perhaps near some trees or
    In some gardens it’s hard
                                           bushes) and put a few stones
    for wildlife to discover safe
                                           next to the flower pot to stop it
    hideaways where they can                                                    Next steps
                                           rolling over or blowing away.
    live. So, why not help them                                                 Why not keep a record of all the
     out by building your own bug      2   Fill it with twigs, bark and dried   animals you see in your hotel
     hotel?                                leaves that will make it cosy for    each day? Then you can see who
                                           your guests.                         likes your hotel the most.
    It could help shelter all sorts
    of creatures, from ants to         3   Add a few sugar cubes to
                                                                                If you want to look at them more
    woodlice, ladybirds or even            tempt them in, and maybe add
                                                                                closely, use a magnifying glass.
    toads!                                 a personalised welcome sign at
                                           the front!                           Find more activities here
                                                                                www.okido.co.uk/schools

     Kit list
     ]

          A flower pot
          Stones, twigs, bark, dried
          leaves
          Waterproof marker
          Sugar cubes

                                                                                                            ** * * *
                                                                                                   *

         WATCH OUT!
         Careful as some bugs
         may bite or sting.

         Adults should supervise
         activities outside.

         Wash hands after
         working outside.

9
Exploring our homes

                                       Plastic milk
About this                             Part one                                Part three

activity                               1   Get an adult to heat the milk
                                           in a pan or in the microwave. It
                                                                               You can use the cookie cutter
                                                                               to cut out shapes, or just mould
                                           should be hot but not boiling.      them into any shape like they did
 Have you ever wanted to
                                                                               when making casein plastics. The
 make cheese? Now’s your               2   Pour the milk into a bowl and       mixture should harden in a couple
 chance! It all starts with the            add the vinegar and food dye.       of days.
 ‘coagulation’ of milk. In milk
 there is a protein called             3   Stir for about a minute, then
 casein. Casein is really small            pour the milk and vinegar
 and there are lots of separate            solution through the strainer       Next steps
  pieces (or molecules) of                 into the sink. If you have some
                                                                               Go to www.bbc.co.uk/
  casein in the milk. The acidic           muslin cloth, use it to line your
                                                                               terrificscientific for a video guide
  vinegar changes the casein               strainer, as it’s easier to get
                                                                               and other investigations to try at
  and causes it to all start               your plastic cheese out.
                                                                               home.
  sticking together, which
  causes the large blobs to                                                    Research how cheese is made in
  appear.                              Part two                                factories and how bacteria can
                                       There should be a mass of lumpy         be used to make all the different
     This was also the basis for                                               varieties and flavours we find in
     making plastic out of milk in     blobs left in the strainer.
                                                                               the supermarkets... cheddar, brie,
     the early 20th century; it was                                            stinky cheese etc.
     shaped and left to harden in a    Rinse them with water and
     similar way.                      squeeze them together.

     The earliest evidence of          If you find your milk doesn’t turn
     cheese making dates back          into a solid, the vinegar may be
     7,500 years in what is now        old and has lost its acidity, so
     Poland.                           you’ll need to use fresh vinegar
                                       instead.

      Kit list
      ]
                                           WATCH OUT!
          570ml of full fat milk
                                           The milk only needs to be
          4 teaspoons of white             warm. It can be heated in a
          vinegar                          bowl placed over a pan of
                                           hot water or in a
          Strainer/sieve or a muslin
                                           microwave.
          cloth
          Food dye (e.g. yellow)           We advise you not to
                                           eat the cheese you
          Cookie cutter
                                           have made.
          Spoon
                                           Make sure to wash
           Pan or a bowl
                                           your hands!

10
Exploring our homes
                                          Confusing cans
About this                                Things to consider                           Part two
                                                                                       4
activity
                                          What’s inside the can will affect how            Explore the unlabelled cans
                                          far it will roll. Normally, the more solid       first. Then roll the labelled cans
                                          the food, the further the can rolls.             to make a comparison. From
 You’ve come home from                                                                     what you have seen, can you
 school excited to eat your               Try shaking the cans to ‘listen’ to              predict which of the cans
 favourite meal of beans on               what’s inside. The ones that you                 contain the beans?
 toast, only to discover your             can ‘hear’ tend not to roll as far as
 younger sibling has taken                the ones you cannot hear.                    5   Talk about the distance each
 all the labels off the cans in                                                            can rolled and what is inside it.
  the house and is rolling them           Roll other labelled cans of food to              Can you see a pattern?
  along the floor. How are you            see if they fit the pattern.
  going to find your beans
                                                                                       6   Try rolling other things to see if
                                                                                           they fit the pattern.
  now?!                                   You can fill bottles with water,
                                          freeze them (without the top), then          7   Have an adult help you open
     You notice that some cans            see if there’s difference in how they            the cans and see if you were
     have rolled further than others.     roll as the water thaws (don’t forget            correct.
     Perhaps how they roll might          to put the top back on). You can
     help you figure out which one        fill containers (large coffee tins or
     contains beans…                      jars with lids are ideal) with different     Next steps
                                          things, e.g. different amounts of
     In this activity you will be using
                                                                                       This activity can be put towards
                                          sand, syrup or cotton wool and see
                                                                                       a CREST Star Award and there
     a fair test experiment to find       what happens.
                                                                                       are plenty more online activities
     out the contents of unlabelled
                                                                                       you could try for free. For more
     cans.
                                                                                       information, follow this link
                                          Part one
                                                                                       www.crestawards.org/about-
                                          1   Talk to a friend about your ideas        crest-awards

      Kit list
      ]                                       of how to figure out what is
                                              inside of the cans.
          A can of tinned tomatoes        2   Discuss how you might make
          A can of soup                       the cans roll. Can you make it
                                              a fair test, e.g. using the same
          A can of baked beans                slope or letting go of the cans
          Cat food for each group             rather than pushing them from
          (with labels removed and            the top?

                                                                                                       ?
          marked with different
          numbers or colours)
                                          3   Build the slope you discussed.

          A set of cans with labels for

                                                                                                                          ?
          comparison
          Boards/trays to make the
          slopes, plus blocks/books
                                              WATCH OUT!

                                                                                                  ?
          to support it
           Metre rulers, tape measures        Be careful not to leave cans
           and other distance markers         lying on the floor for people to
                                              trip over.
           Can opener
                                              Get an adult to help you use
                                              a can opener. Push the can
                                              lid well inside open cans and
                                              recycle them safely after use
                                              as they have sharp edges!
11
Exploring our homes
                                       Squashed
                                       tomatoes
About this                             Your task
                                                                            operation and aim for the greatest
activity                               Build a basket to hold your
                                       tomatoes and design a device to
                                                                            weight moved in two minutes.
                                                                            In both cases, the group that
                                       move the basket safely without       transports the heaviest weight of
 Many farmers in Nepal
                                       squashing the tomatoes.              tomatoes wins.
 grow their crops (including
 tomatoes) on the
                                       The rules                            Next steps
 mountainside. To sell them at
 the local market they need to         The tomatoes need to be              This activity can be used to
 transport them to the bottom          transported a minimum of one         achieve a CREST Discovery
  of the mountain, but it’s a long     metre along the ground starting      Award. For more information
  and hazardous journey which          from desk height.                    follow this link www.crestawards.
  involves a river crossing.                                                org/about-crest-awards
  Tomatoes are quite easily            The tomatoes cannot be touched
  squashed, so they need to be         whilst they are moving, catapulted
                                                                                                         TA
                                                                                                           wards Disc
   transported with care.              or ‘flown’ in any way. They must

                                                                                                                    ov
                                                                                                     S
                                                                                                  CRE

                                                                                                                      ery
                                       be moved in a controlled way,
     In this activity you should       so they don’t just crash into the

                                                                                                    ery

                                                                                                                        CRE
     work with a small group to        ground and get squashed. You

                                                                                                  ov

                                                                                                                           S
                                                                                                         TA
     design and build a model
                                                                                                           wards Disc
                                       can also adapt the challenge
     that can transport as many        by either aiming for the greatest
      cherry tomatoes as possible,     weight of tomatoes transported
      at the same time, and without    in one trip, or go for speed of
      squashing them.

     Kit list
     ]

         Building materials such as
         K-Nex, Meccano, Lego,
         paper straws, pulleys,
         split pins, paper-clips,
         Sellotape, newspaper,
         nets, dowelling, card,
         paper cups, boxes, dried
          spaghetti, string, thread,
          cardboard tubes
         Rules
         Ramps with various
         surfaces
                                         WATCH OUT!
          Cherry tomatoes                Make sure your model is
                                         safely set up in an area clear
                                         of obstacles, and not close to
                                         where anyone may trip over it.

                                         Make sure you lay down some
                                         newspaper for the squashed
                                         tomatoes.

                                          Do not eat the tomatoes.

12
Exploring the world
                                            Ocean
                                            grabber
About this                                  Part one
                                            1                                          3   Wrap string around the top two
activity
                                                 Cut out the template on the
                                                 following page (worksheet 2)              split pins and tie them off. Pass
                                                 and copy onto corflute or                 it through the bulldog clips,
 Only 5% of the deep ocean                       strong card.                              finally winding loosely around
 has been explored, meaning                                                                the bottom split pin.
 we know less about the ocean               2    Ask an adult to use a craft
 floor and the creatures that live               knife or a strong pair of scissors    4   When the string is pulled the
 there than we do about the                      to cut out the ‘T’ shape and              jaws should open. When the
 surface of Mars, Venus and the                  two triangles.                            string is released the jaws
 Moon. The only way to explore                                                             should close.
  these depths is by using remotely         3    Copy the position of split pins
                                                                                       5   You can now test your grabber
  operated vehicles (ROV) that are               onto the corflute.
                                                                                           by placing the assorted items
  specially designed to withstand           4    Using a ball of plasticine                in the sand tray, and seeing if
  the huge pressures. These are                  behind the corflute, pierce               you can grab them.
   controlled from ships by a ROV                holes in the corflute to position
   pilot, whose job it is to direct the          the split pins (a nail works well
   ROV into position and perform                 to make a large enough hole.)         Part three
   required tasks such as gathering
   water samples, collecting                                                           Have a think about how well your
   rock and animal samples or                                                          grabber worked. What can you
                                            Part two
   observing life in the dark.                                                         do to improve it?
                                            1    Assemble the main body of
     The challenge: create your                  arm together with split pins.
     own ROV grabber to explore                                                        Next steps
     the deep.                              2    Wind the elastic band around
                                                                                       You can find another British
                                                 the top two split pins. It should
                                                                                       Antarctic Survey activity here
                                                 hold the grip closed but not so
                                                                                       www.stem.org.uk/resources/
                                                 tight that the teeth overlap.
     Kit list
     ]                                                                                 elibrary/resource/411615/
                                                                                       planning-antarctic-expedition
         Water/sand tray
                                                     S E M B LY
         Sand                                      AS PLE
         Selection of objects of
         different shapes, sizes and
                                                   EXAM        Control string
                                                                                                               Elastic band
         textures, e.g. marbles, eggs,
         prepared jelly in bowl,
         rice, slices of bread, fruit,
         vegetables, balloon (filled
          with air), balloon (filled with
          water), empty balloon
                                                Shape cut
         Very strong card or corflute           from card
                                                                                      Moving pivot
         Strong scissors or craft knife
          Cutting boards
          Rulers
          Split pins
          String                                 WATCH OUT!
          Elastic bands                             Have an adult help you
          Plasticine/Blu-tack                       if you need to use a craft
                                                    knife or strong scissors.
          Small bulldog clips
13
Exploring the outdoors

Ocean
grabber
Worksheet 2

14
Exploring the world
                                          Polar
                                          explorer food
About this                                Part one                               Think about what foods would
                                                                                 be good to take with you. What
activity                                  1
                                          2
                                              Look at the selection of foods.

                                              Weigh the different foods
                                                                                 will the groups do to ensure they
                                                                                 have water to drink? It is essential
 In this activity, you will be                to discover which would be         for survival, but do they need to
 planning what food to take                   lighter and most suitable to       take lots of bottles with them?
 on an overnight field research               take.
 trip in the Antarctic. In the                                                   Fruit and vegetables are good for
  extreme cold, people get very           3   Record your results for later      our health, but do you think they
  hungry and hard work uses                   reference.                         are a good food to pack for the
  lots more energy than usual.                                                   field research trip? Why?

 Challenge: You are travelling            Part two
 by skidoo, so you need to
                                          Plan the food you will take on the     Next steps
 ensure that each member
 of the team will get 3,350               overnight field research trip using    Present your findings in a creative
 calories over the 24 hours.              the food list you downloaded.          way - perhaps a presentation
                                          Remember, you need three meals         or poster (which you
     You have a budget of £60.            a day, which must have the right       could enter in the poster
                                          number of calories and be within       competition!)
                                          the budget.
                                                                                 For more activities about polar
     Kit list
     ]                                    Your groups will need to carry their
                                          food on sledges or in a backpack,
                                                                                 explorers, head to
                                                                                 www.stem.org.uk/polar-explorer-
          Food list with calorie          so it should be light and take up      educational-resources
          information                     as little room as possible.
          www.stem.org.uk/rxekyz
          A selection of foods from
          the list to weigh
          Weighing scales
          Pen
           Paper

         WATCH OUT!
         Be aware of any food allergies
         when handling foods.

         Do not eat the food.

15
Exploring the world
                                           Astro-nappy
About this                                 Part one                              Part three

activity                                   1   Place the first material on
                                               a piece of tissue paper or
                                                                                 What other materials would your
                                                                                 astro-nappy need? Does it need
                                               kitchen towel. Fill the pipette   to be water-proof on the outside?
 When astronauts are doing a
                                               with 5ml of water, and slowly     Does it need to keep you warm
 spacewalk, for example, to
                                               add water, one drop at a time     from the cold of space?
 fix or add something to the
                                               to the material.
 outside of the International
 Space Station (ISS), they can’t           2   Record the number of drops
 just nip to the toilet when                   it takes before the tissue        Next steps
  they need to. Usually they                   becomes wet.                      Find other great resources at
  are outside the ISS for seven                                                  www.ogdentrust.com/schools-
  hours, so they need to wear                                                    partnerships/resources1
  a specially designed ‘astro-             Part two
   nappy’. In this activity, you will
   find out which materials are            3   Draw up your results in a table
   best at absorbing liquids.                  to measure how many drops
                                               of water each material can
                                               withstand.

     Kit list
     ]                                         What are your conclusions?
                                               Which material would best be
          Pipette                              suited for an astro-nappy?
          Various absorbent/
          non-absorbent materials,
          e.g. cotton wool, felt,
          cotton, tissue, PVC
          Measuring cylinders (50ml)

         WATCH OUT!
         Take care with water spillages,
         ensure they get mopped
         up quickly!

16
Exploring the world
                                       Ocean floor
                                       mission
About this                             Part one                               Part three

activity                               1   Using the internet, do
                                           some research about the
                                                                              5   Now open the project scratch.
                                                                                  mit.edu/projects/166843083/
                                           Autosub6000. This will give you        and click the button ‘See
 Autosub6000 is a type of
                                           some background information            inside’.
 autonomous underwater
                                           and an understanding of what
 vehicle (AUV). It is used to                                                 You are going to debug the
                                           it is used for.
 explore the world’s oceans                                                   program as it has missing blocks
 without a pilot or any tether,        2   Go to this link scratch.mit.edu/   – you may want to run the
 including the polar regions, as           projects/161272628                 programme and look for any
 it can work under ice. Before                                                unexpected behaviour.
 the submersible is launched,          3   Have a go at the activity. Now
  it is programmed with                    click the ‘See inside’ button to   Think about the Autosub6000
  instructions about where to              look at the programme and          sprite from part two and create
  go, how deep to go and what              get an understanding of how        the same algorithms you wrote
   to measure.                             it works.                          down, adding in the missing
                                                                              blocks and testing your work as
     Your challenge is to use                                                 you go.
     Scratch to debug (fix) and        Part two
     improve the programme                                                    The sample sprites also need
     to move the Autosub6000           4   By yourself or with a partner,
                                                                              debugging. The crab sprite has
     around the ocean floor,               write a list of instructions
                                                                              the correct algorithm to refer to; it
      while photographing the              you think are needed to
                                                                              is important you can explain what
      samples found.                       programme the Autosub6000
                                                                              each block in the working model
                                           sprite. You can act the
                                                                              does. The others have missing
                                           instructions out to check if you
                                                                              blocks. Work through the sprites,
                                           have them right.
                                                                                  each one is missing more
     Kit list
     ]                                                                            blocks.

      Computer with internet access                                               Next steps
                                                                                    Have someone test your
                                                                                    fixed programme
                                                                                    Now have a think about
                                                                                    what else you can do to
                                                                                    improve this programme
                                                                                    Can you make the sprite go
                                                                                        faster or slower?
                                                                                               Can you make

         WATCH OUT!
                                                                                               the animal
                                                                                                 sprites move
                                                                                                 automatically
         You will need a basic                                                                  like real sea
         understanding of the                                                                  creatures?
         Scratch coding programme
         before doing this activity.

17
Exploring the world
                                        Escape from
                                        the ice
About this                              Part one                                Next steps

activity                                1   Fill the yoghurt pot or similar a
                                            third of the way up with water
                                                                                  If you left the ice to melt,
                                                                                  draw a sequence of pictures
                                            and add a figurine so they are        showing how much the ice has
 A plastic adventurer got
                                            submerged in the water. Put           melted after 5 mins, 10 minutes
 themselves stuck in ice, and
                                            this in the freezer                   and so on
 it is up to you to explore how
 best to get them out! What             2   When it is frozen, top up the         You could create a story or
 methods do you think will                  water until the container is full     poster, recounting how the
  work best?                                and freeze again so that the          figurine ended up in the ice
                                            figurine will be inside the ice,          and then act out the
 Ice is formed when water is                not floating on the top.                   story using sounds and
 cooled down to 0 degrees                                                             movements.
 Celsius. The molecules (little
 water particles) get all their
                                        Part two
  energy sucked out of them
  as they cool down, until they         1   Release the ice from its
  stop moving altogether. This              container. You might need to
  is when ice is made - we call             run the yoghurt pot under a
  this process freezing.                    little water to free the ice

     When you want to turn ice into     2   Now, it’s up to you to decide
     water the reverse happens;             what is the best way to get the
     we call this process melting.          figurine out of the ice. Putting
                                            it in a bowl of warm water
                                            perhaps? Or maybe putting it
                                            on the windowsill. How about

     Kit list
     ]                                      tapping it with a hammer?

         Yoghurt pot or small
         freezable container
         A figurine, e.g. Lego person
         Water
         A freezer
         Foil
         Small hammer or bowl
         of tepid water
                                            WATCH OUT!
                                            Be careful when using a
                                                                           .
                                            hammer to get the person out
                                            The ice can slip around a lot!

                                            Be aware of slippery puddles
                                            made from the melting ice.
                                            Have a towel handy to mop
                                            up any mess.

                                            Do not freeze containers made
                                            from glass or with lids or caps.

18
Exploring the world
                                        Run to the Deep
About this                              Step one                             or brief presentation to perform
                                                                             alongside their display. Position
activity                                Find a large space outdoors to
                                        mark out a 1000m course. This
                                                                             the banners around the course at
                                                                             each waymark.
                                        will give a rough scale of 1:10
 Run, walk, push, or even skip
                                        compared to the actual depth
 to the bottom of the ocean                                                  Tip: The deeper you go, the less
                                        of the ocean which can be over
 and get active whilst exploring                                             we know about ocean life, so the
                                        10,000 metres deep. You might
 sea-life. Run to the Deep is                                                abyssal and hadal zones may be
                                        need to have multiple laps. You
 a new running app that will                                                 more challenging to research.
                                        can scale it down further to suit
  be available during British
                                        different ages and abilities. Use
  Science Week, following
                                        the depth guide on the following
  the successful launch of Run                                               Step three
                                        page (worksheet 3) to plan the
  the Solar System last year.                                                Invite other students, teachers and
                                        course. Ask your students to help
  Mark a course around your                                                  families to sign up to take part. They
                                        calculate where they will need
  school and give students                                                   could run, walk, push themselves or
                                        to place the waymarks along the
   the chance to become                                                      even skip around the course. Ask
                                        route to mark the start of each of
   experts by creating banners                                               them to stop at each banner to
                                        the five zones.
   and short demonstrations to                                               find out about the ocean zone and
   communicate the science                                                   watch the demo or presentation.
                                        Tip: Students should divide the
    behind each ocean zone.
                                        depths on the worksheet by 10.
    Invite families to take part and
    make it a whole school event.       Step two                             Next steps
                                        Divide the class up into groups      If you have a school running club
                                        and ask each group to research       or you are organising this as a

     Kit list
     ]                                  one of the ocean zones. Give
                                        each group materials to create
                                                                             family event you could invite
                                                                              adults and older students to sign
         Long tape measure or           a banner or display which will       up to the full 10km during British
         measuring wheel.               communicate what they have           Science Week. They can download
                                        found out. You could ask them        the mobile app by going to
         7 pieces of cloth or other     to come up with a simple demo        www.runtothedeep.com to listen to
         banner material for                                                 commentary about each zone as
         waymarks                                                            they run and participate in a
         Materials to decorate                                               virtual race.
         banner: pens, poster paints,
         PVA glue, scrap fabrics,
         string
                                          WATCH OUT!
         Download the app                                                                         Midnight zone
         Optional: During British            Make sure that the course is
         Science Week you can                safe and remove any trip or
         download the mobile                 slip hazards.                                Sunlight zone

         app from
                                             Ensure the course is
         www.runtothedeep.com
                                             accessible to everyone.                                 Abyssal zone

                                              Consider the weather.

                                              Risk assess and supervise
                                              if necessary the student
                                              interactions at each
                                              waymark.

                                              Manage the flow of people
                                              moving around the course.
19
Get involved

Run to         Exploring the world
the Deep
               Ocean zones
Worksheet 3

                          0m The ocean surface

                          0 - 200m
                          The epipelagic
                          or sunlight zone

                          200 – 1000m
                          The mesopelagic
                          or twilight zone

                          1000 – 4000m
                          The bathypelagic
                          or midnight zone

                          4000 – 6000m
                          The abssopalagic
                          or abyssal zone

                          6000 – 11000m
                          The hadal or
                          trenches zone

                          11000m The ocean floor

20
Exploring the world
                                       Building bridges
About this                             The rules                             Erect the towers…

activity                               1   Each of the LEGO bricks used
                                           must be no longer than 4cm
                                                                             With the clock ticking, you’re
                                                                             going to need to move fast. The
 These are the guidelines for              (1.57in)                          first bits you should construct are
 an official Guinness World                                                  the towers at either end. These
 Records® challenge. If you’re
                                       2   The bricks must be laid flat on   must be big and strong, but you
                               r           a surface prior to the attempt,   can’t take too long to make
 successful, you could get you
                         ks!               and may not be pre-joined in      them.
 name in the record boo
                                           any way. Once laid out, the
 The record: Longest span of a             bricks may not be touched         Build the span…
 LEGOTM bridge made in three               until the attempt begins
                                                                             Next, you’ll need to make the
 minutes
                                       3   The bridge must have two          bridge span. Here, you’ve got
 The challenge: Build a LEGO               towers on either side and a       to balance stiffness with weight.
 bridge in three minutes (with             deck connecting the two           More bricks mean more strength,
 no help from anyone else)                                                   but are they fixed firmly enough to
 that is at least 10cm (3.93in)        4   There must be at least 10cm       support their own weight?
 off the ground and that will              (3.93in) clearance between
 stand for at least 10 seconds.            the underside of the              And hope it stands!
                                           deck and the ground
     To make an official                                                     Finally, join it all together and
     application, visit                5   You have three minutes to         stand back. If it’s still standing
     www.guinnessworldrecords.             complete the bridge and it        after 10 seconds, then you’ve got
     com/apply                             must stand unsupported for        yourself a valid record attempt.
                                           10 seconds after the time is up   Be sure to film everything clearly,
                                                                             including the stopwatch used to
     Kit list                                                                time the attempt.

        LEGO bricks – no longer                                              Next steps
        than 4cm or 1.57in                                                   For more fun science activities visit
        Base plates (optional)                                               www.guinnessworldrecords.com/
         Stopwatch or timer                                                  science
         Ruler or measuring tape
                                                                             For full guidelines and to apply for
         Camera (optional)                                                   this record visit
                                                                             www.guinnessworldrecords.com/
                                                                             records/apply-to-set-or-break-a-
                                                                             record/

      Watch out!
         Make sure to have a clear
         space to build, without
         people around.
         Careful not to tread on the
         blocks, as they hurt!

                                                                             OUT
                                                                             NOW
21
Get involved
                                             Citizen science
About this                                   Part one                                Part four

activity                                     Get online!
                                             Head to www.zooniverse.org/projects/
                                                                                     Once you’ve drawn a box that
                                                                                     fits the litter tightly inside, tell us
                                             theplastictide/the-plastic-tide         what kind you think it is in the
 There is a rising tide in our
                                                                                     pop-up. The types can include
 oceans, a tide of waste
                                                                                     ropes, strings, soft bags/wrappers
 plastics. It is a sad fact that
                                             Part two                                or drink bottles. When selected,
 60% of our oceans are being
                                                                                     click “OK”.
 heavily contaminated with                   Can you see any plastics or litter?
 plastics, which has a negative              It can be difficult to spot litter      Keep on repeating this process, to
  effect on the wildlife living              and plastics. However, generally        help us create a cleaner world!
  within the seas.                           you’re looking for pieces bigger
                                             than 1-2 cm which are visible at
                                                                                     Next steps
 Eight million tonnes of plastics            normal zoom.
 enter our ocean each year,                                                          Sign up to our social media and
 but scientific researchers can              You should be able to spot              check out our website or sign up
 only account for where 1% of                plastics and litter by carefully        to our newsletter for updates:
 that ends up… which is found                looking at each image, and
 on our ocean’s surface. So                  zooming in on objects you’re not            @VisionFromTheSkies
 where is the missing 99%?                   sure about. Watch out for the
                                             clear, black and white plastics,            @ThePlasticTide
     ‘The Plastic Tide’ is a citizen         as they can blend in to their
     science project that uses               surroundings. Remember if you               ThePlasticTide
     drone technology to                     are uncertain about an object,
     survey and take photos of               you can use the ‘uncertain’ tag.        To get involved with other
      contaminated beaches,                                                          citizen science projects, head to
      where plastics can be found.                                                   zooniverse.org
      The project needs your help            Part three
      to examine hundreds of                 Found something? Awesome!
      thousands of images to locate          Draw the rectangle around the
      these pieces of waste in order         offending piece of plastic so it fits
      to train computers to find the         inside and move onto Part four.
       litter by itself in the future. Get
       involved and be a part of the         Not found anything? No problem,
       clean-up effort! Help realise a       just press ‘done’… and please
        ‘Vision from the Skies’.             keep on searching the images,
                                             you will find some!

      Kit list
      ]

          A computer/laptop or
          mobile/tablet
          Internet access
          A keen eye

22
Poster competition
About this                              Part one                             Part three

activity                                Research your poster
                                        Investigate and imagine all
                                                                             Send us your poster
                                                                             Posters will be judged on how
                                        the amazing exploration and          creative and well-researched the
 Get creative and enter the
                                        discovery that takes place around    ideas are and how well the poster
 British Science Association’s
                                        the world. Here are some topic       has been made or drawn. Once
 annual poster competition.
                                        ideas to get you started:            your poster is complete, write all
 You can make your poster
                                                                             your information on the back,
 about whatever type of                   What sort of discoveries have
                                                                             have your teacher, leader or
 exploration or discovery you             you made?
                                                                             parent/guardian fill in the online
 like, and enter our UK-wide
                                          Research famous explorers          registration form, and then post
 competition with the chance
                                          e.g. Captain James Cook,           your entry to us.
  to win an array of prizes.
                                          Gertrude Bell, David Livingston
 Many activities found in this            Think about what discoveries
                                                                             Next steps
 pack could be entered into               might be made in the future
 the poster competition, simply                                              Celebrate!
                                   .      Other than places, what else
 look for the paintbrush symbol                                              For more details, along with
                   the m to serv e        do people explore?
 Or you can use                                                              the full set of rules and tips for
 as a source of inspiration to                                               educators, check out our website
  get you started.                      Part two
                                                                             www.britishscienceweek.org/
                                                                             plan-your-activities/poster-
                                        Make your poster                     competition/
                                        Once you’ve done your research,

     Kit list
     ]                                  it’s time to get creative!
                                        Your poster must be:
         Paper (A4 or A3)
                                          2D (flat) – if you make a model,
         Creative materials, e.g.         you need to just send us a
         pens, pencils, scissors,         photo of it
         glue, watercolours, paint,
         colouring crayons, glitter,      On A4 or A3 paper
         pipe cleaners, felt, thread,   You can use pop up pictures, pull
         wool, foil, clay, straws,      out tabs or use materials
         string, beads, stamps,         such as paint, drawing
         googly eyes, foam,             pencils, crayons and paper.
         sequins, pom poms

23
You can also read