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As the seventh series of the Beeb’s excellent Bang Goes the Theory hits our screens this month and with Brian Cox’s boy band looks seemingly omnipresent these days, it’s fair to say that science is far more trendy today than it was when we were at school!
n top of that, with National Science and Engineering Week taking place in March and offering stacks of events at museums and venues throughout the country, now is the perfect time to explore the fun of
science with your children, perhaps awakening an interest that could last a lifetime. Why not use the opportunity to revisit the wonder and excitement of science through your children’s eyes? From stars to bugs, rainbows to volcanoes, science can be exciting and fun. A little inspiration can set children off on a stellar career path from a very early age. Some of our greatest scientists and inventors recall childhood moments when they were turned on to science, whether
it was kitchen chemistry, stargazing, or watching a soap bubble change from rainbow swirls to colourless just before it pops. Even if they don’t ultimately become science boffins, developing a healthy interest in why things do what they do is a fantastic foundation for inquisitive minds. Look out for opportunities to show your children the wonders of science in everyday things, and take your cue from them to see where their interests may lie.
Biology
Show your kids biology in action on a wildlife walk. Get up close and personal to study the detail of a butterfly wing, the veins of a leaf or dewdrops on a spider’s web. Get down on the lawn with them to watch ants, or explain how worm casts are formed. Grow cress or mustard seeds on wet cotton wool; or sprout beans in a jar (delicious in salads or stir fries.)
Physics and Engineering A trip to the play park is a good opportunity to demonstrate the principles of force and motion (a push on the swing) gravity (which goes faster, a twig or a stone coming down the slide?) or momentum (a quick push on the roundabout, and it goes round and round and round...).
Chemistry
Baking, even making a cup of tea, is chemistry. From bubbles to crystals to making your own slime, practical fun science projects and the chemical principles of everyday things are simply explained on
www.about.com. There are also thousands of demo videos on
www.youtube.com. For older
children, TED talks from the world’s foremost experts on all manner of subjects are fascinating, and free to access.
www.ted.com
Most of us have made an erupting volcano by simply mixing bicarbonate of soda with vinegar. Add some red and orange food colouring to make it more realistic. You can make mini volcano models from paper mache or clay (wait for them to dry first before you start pouring in liquids!)
Using the same principles of chemistry, you can learn how to make a bath bomb. Or why not demonstrate the properties of oil and water in an exciting way by making your own lava lamp? To help get you started, there are some simple yet amazing activities on the next page, that are suitable for you to do at home with the children. Please visit
www.britishscienceassociation.org/ national-science-engineering-week/download- activities-competitions-and-quizzes/activity-packs where you will find over 300 similar activities that we are sure you will enjoy as much as they do!
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