Well, Christmas seems to have crept up on me yet again! Here at Fun Science, preparations are well underway for science themed Christmas Parties and our Christmas holiday sessions.
Fun Science seems to have developed a (very small) parental following and after just two posts about our science themed activity days (complete with a Christmas mystery and launching Santa's Sleigh) five children have signed up already! I have to admit, this made me more than a little excited! Hopefully more children will book to come soon and our limit of 40 children will be reached. Forty children looks like a lot when you write it down, but with 5 members of staff on hand to help and the children split into small groups it soon becomes manageable.
Other Fun Science events coming up include running a science themed activity day for children at Heywood School on the 18th December, 4 free assemblies for local schools, 15 birthday parties between now and the end of December, being a guest speaker at a Bath Spa University industry insights event, talking to year 10 pupils about business and attending the launch of the Engine Shed in Bristol. It's a good job I enjoy being busy!
Next term we will be running our science themed after school programme at The Paragon School, Bath and St Keyna Primary School, Keynsham but that's a blog post for another day!
Visit www.fun-science.org.uk to find out about our christmas holiday sessions, schools services, event services, free assemblies, birthday parties and much more!
Showing posts with label bristol. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bristol. Show all posts
Thursday, 14 November 2013
Tuesday, 8 October 2013
Building a Mars Rover at @Bristol
There can't be many people who can say that at work today they build a Mars rover! But that's exactly what I was involved with when I volunteered for a morning at @Bristol science museum in Bristol. Admittedly the 'rovers' were remote controlled cars with velcro strips for attaching cameras, batteries and antennae (all plastic but all very good imitations!) but for the children they were aimed at they were perfect!
Children first got the chance to choose what to attach to their rover. How many cameras would they need? Many initially went for one facing each way but then realized that they would need two pointing in each direction to get any kind of depth perception. Children also had to decide how to power their Rover. Nuclear generators create a lot of power but are expensive and would only last for two years, batteries can store energy but do not last long and too many would be very heavy whereas solar panels can receive energy from the sun but cannot store it. In the end most children decided upon all three! We also had to work out how to transmit any information we picked up back to Earth. Did we want to use a satellite which is very heavy but can transmit data directly to Earth or an antennae which is lighter but can only send information a short distance to a nearby satellite? There were lots of decisions to be made!
After the Rover was filled with numerous plastic models children were given the chance to build their own scoop out of Knex before driving their Rover over Mars! Ok, well it wasn't quite Mars but a specially made cardboard surface with numerous rocks made a very good alternative. As the Rovers bumped into cones, rock samples were knocked off into the children's scoops. It was all very clever!
The final step was to analyse the rocks. Were they smooth? If they were this could provide strong evidence that they had once been surrounded by water. Also, if they fizzed when nutrients was added to them we could determine that there may well be life forms within the rock. Children were able to complete all experiments themselves before deciding whether they thought there was life on Mars based on the evidence they had collected. The general consensus was that it is possible but further tests are needed.
I had a brilliant time the day I went to @Bristol and I know lots of children did too! If you haven't had a chance to visit the Mars Lab exhibit at @Bristol then make sure you get down there as soon as possible as the exhibit closes on the 14th October. Visit http://www.at-bristol.org.uk/ to find out more.
Children first got the chance to choose what to attach to their rover. How many cameras would they need? Many initially went for one facing each way but then realized that they would need two pointing in each direction to get any kind of depth perception. Children also had to decide how to power their Rover. Nuclear generators create a lot of power but are expensive and would only last for two years, batteries can store energy but do not last long and too many would be very heavy whereas solar panels can receive energy from the sun but cannot store it. In the end most children decided upon all three! We also had to work out how to transmit any information we picked up back to Earth. Did we want to use a satellite which is very heavy but can transmit data directly to Earth or an antennae which is lighter but can only send information a short distance to a nearby satellite? There were lots of decisions to be made!
After the Rover was filled with numerous plastic models children were given the chance to build their own scoop out of Knex before driving their Rover over Mars! Ok, well it wasn't quite Mars but a specially made cardboard surface with numerous rocks made a very good alternative. As the Rovers bumped into cones, rock samples were knocked off into the children's scoops. It was all very clever!
The final step was to analyse the rocks. Were they smooth? If they were this could provide strong evidence that they had once been surrounded by water. Also, if they fizzed when nutrients was added to them we could determine that there may well be life forms within the rock. Children were able to complete all experiments themselves before deciding whether they thought there was life on Mars based on the evidence they had collected. The general consensus was that it is possible but further tests are needed.
I had a brilliant time the day I went to @Bristol and I know lots of children did too! If you haven't had a chance to visit the Mars Lab exhibit at @Bristol then make sure you get down there as soon as possible as the exhibit closes on the 14th October. Visit http://www.at-bristol.org.uk/ to find out more.
Monday, 16 September 2013
What we have been up to - Summer 2013
This summer has been a whirlwind of parties, holiday events and even a graduation! Read on to find out exactly what we have been doing and how Fun Science has been contributing to the local community.
Summer community events
Fun Science tries to help out local charities and community organisations by running workshops and activities for free or at a heavily discounted price whenever possible. This summer we spent a day running sessions for 150 girls aged 11-18 at a Guiding Event in Huish Woods, Taunton, Somerset. The girls were all given the opportunity to make their own rockets, raise their hair on our Van de Graff generator and learn a little about their own bodies with spirometers, lung capacity bags and blood pressure monitors. The following quote from one of the Guides (all of whom had been working their way around various activities throughout the day) summed up exactly what we at Fun Science are always trying to achieve.
"I was looking forward to the Fun Science least of all because Science is boring but it has been my favorite thing out of the whole day!" - Guide aged 14.
Fun Science were also very lucky to receive funding to work with some of the youngters who have recently started living on the brand new Wyndham Park estate in Yeovil and so Chemical Cress came along to do a couple of outdoor science sessions including rocket launches, illusions and chemical reactions. The primary aim of this event was to give the children on the estate, many of whom have moved to England from various European countries, a chance to get to know each other and to make friends with others in a similar situation to themselves. Fun Science helped to get the children interacting with each other through a range of activities whilst also getting them excited about science - the Mentos and diet coke experiment was a big hit!
Click here to find out more about our workshops.
Graduation!
This summer, Cressida Bullock, the owner of Fun Science and the leader of many of the company's events, graduated from Bath Spa University with a 1st Class Honours degree in Biology. This was a very exciting day and you can see Cressida below, dressed in her graduation robes with a very big scroll!
Lots of new scientists join our team
With the increasing popularity of our holiday events it became necessary to increase the size of our team at these events. We were very happy to welcome back some familiar faces and have also taken on some new members of staff for holiday events. Pictured below are Krypton Katie, Mercury Mali, Helium Hattie and Chemical Cress after working extremely hard at our three summer fun days in Bath.
We have also been very excited to take on a new employee to cope with an ever increasing demand for Fun Science birthday parties. Our new party entertainer Hydrogen Hana has already received some fantastic feedback and, following extensive training, received the following review after her very first party!
"Could you pass on to Hana that she was very good and the children all loved it, I didn't know at the time it was her first time, and I wouldn't have guessed. (my husband told me later, she had told him) she was prompt, confident at talking to the children, and as my 3 year old said 'the science lady was very friendly' ! They all loved making the slime, getting certificates with their science names on and the experiments she did with mixing the household 'chemicals' . Particularly the green stuff that foamed out of the top. My son was delighted at being at the front helping, that was just what he wanted as birthday boy"
To find out more about our holiday events, birthday parties or other services please visit www.fun-science.org.uk or email info@fun-science.org.uk
Summer community events
Fun Science tries to help out local charities and community organisations by running workshops and activities for free or at a heavily discounted price whenever possible. This summer we spent a day running sessions for 150 girls aged 11-18 at a Guiding Event in Huish Woods, Taunton, Somerset. The girls were all given the opportunity to make their own rockets, raise their hair on our Van de Graff generator and learn a little about their own bodies with spirometers, lung capacity bags and blood pressure monitors. The following quote from one of the Guides (all of whom had been working their way around various activities throughout the day) summed up exactly what we at Fun Science are always trying to achieve.
"I was looking forward to the Fun Science least of all because Science is boring but it has been my favorite thing out of the whole day!" - Guide aged 14.
Fun Science were also very lucky to receive funding to work with some of the youngters who have recently started living on the brand new Wyndham Park estate in Yeovil and so Chemical Cress came along to do a couple of outdoor science sessions including rocket launches, illusions and chemical reactions. The primary aim of this event was to give the children on the estate, many of whom have moved to England from various European countries, a chance to get to know each other and to make friends with others in a similar situation to themselves. Fun Science helped to get the children interacting with each other through a range of activities whilst also getting them excited about science - the Mentos and diet coke experiment was a big hit!
Click here to find out more about our workshops.
Graduation!
This summer, Cressida Bullock, the owner of Fun Science and the leader of many of the company's events, graduated from Bath Spa University with a 1st Class Honours degree in Biology. This was a very exciting day and you can see Cressida below, dressed in her graduation robes with a very big scroll!
Lots of new scientists join our team
With the increasing popularity of our holiday events it became necessary to increase the size of our team at these events. We were very happy to welcome back some familiar faces and have also taken on some new members of staff for holiday events. Pictured below are Krypton Katie, Mercury Mali, Helium Hattie and Chemical Cress after working extremely hard at our three summer fun days in Bath.
We have also been very excited to take on a new employee to cope with an ever increasing demand for Fun Science birthday parties. Our new party entertainer Hydrogen Hana has already received some fantastic feedback and, following extensive training, received the following review after her very first party!
"Could you pass on to Hana that she was very good and the children all loved it, I didn't know at the time it was her first time, and I wouldn't have guessed. (my husband told me later, she had told him) she was prompt, confident at talking to the children, and as my 3 year old said 'the science lady was very friendly' ! They all loved making the slime, getting certificates with their science names on and the experiments she did with mixing the household 'chemicals' . Particularly the green stuff that foamed out of the top. My son was delighted at being at the front helping, that was just what he wanted as birthday boy"
To find out more about our holiday events, birthday parties or other services please visit www.fun-science.org.uk or email info@fun-science.org.uk
Thursday, 19 July 2012
The perfect picture!
For more photos, many of them taken by Claire, please visit http://www.fun-science.org.uk
To find out more about our birthday parties please visit http://www.fun-science.org.uk/parties.html
Monday, 9 July 2012
Hello!
Hello and welcome to the new blog of Fun Science! From here we will be posting details of events, experiments to do at home, scientific discoveries and various things as seen through the eyes of a Fun Scientist!
But first, you may be wondering who exactly we are - Fun Science is a company based in Bath which travels to Bristol, Yeovil, Swindon, Frome etc., delivering science birthday parties, after school clubs and assemblies to local children - all in the name of Fun! It is our belief that learning through interactive demonstrations and play is the best kind of learning there is! So now you know who we are and a little about the way we think. I hope this blog can be useful to some people and if you would like to find out more please visit http://www.fun-science.org.uk .
But first, you may be wondering who exactly we are - Fun Science is a company based in Bath which travels to Bristol, Yeovil, Swindon, Frome etc., delivering science birthday parties, after school clubs and assemblies to local children - all in the name of Fun! It is our belief that learning through interactive demonstrations and play is the best kind of learning there is! So now you know who we are and a little about the way we think. I hope this blog can be useful to some people and if you would like to find out more please visit http://www.fun-science.org.uk .
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