March 2019

Try some fun science activities for British Science Week!

This week marks another British Science Week, a ten-day celebration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Along with a myriad of activities to get involved in, we're excited to share our own activities and experiments, developed with one of our scientists, Charlotte Maughan, to be enjoyed at home with the kids or in school.

Day 1 of British Science Week

To kick the week off, we'd like to share our DNA helix-building activities, a 3-for-1 deal! The first of the activities is creating an origami DNA helix based on a sequence of your choosing. The next experiment will give you a scientific piece of jewellery, while the third involves yummy candies


Day 2 of British Science Week

For today's activity, we're giving you a fun tie dye experiment! This activity illustrates separation science, and in this case, you will be using surgical spirit, instead of water, which does not have an effect on permanent marker. 

Create your own fun design on a shirt and watch as the colours react when you drop surgical spirit on the shirt!

Day 3 of British Science Week

Today's experiment sees us building bridges. A structure is something that supports its own weight and the weight of another object. Weight provides two kinds of force: compression and tension. Compression is a force that pushes down on a structure which must be channeled to the ground. Tension stretches the structure.

Triangles are one of the strongest shapes because they withstand both tension and compression. Compression pushes down equally on two sides of the triangle, causing the base to be pulled equally in two directions, also known as tension. Therefore, all three sides of the triangle bear a load.

Can you build a bridge strong enough to support objects?

Day 4 of British Science Week

Did you know that, to celebrate 150 years since its first publication, 2019 is International Year of the Periodic Table? 

The Periodic Table of the Chemical Elements was designed by the Russian scientist Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev. We thought that it might be fun to see what words you can make by using the symbols. Try Scrabble with your friends? Or if you're feeling particularly scienterrific, how about making a crossword puzzle? Russian words are acceptable too...

Why not share your best efforts via Twitter, using #IYPT2019?

Day 5 of British Science Week

Today's activity experiments with air resistance and requires just a few household items. 

When a parachute opens, the air resistance increases to slow the object down. The object will continue to slow down until a lower terminal velocity is reached, or when the air resistance force equals the weight of the object. From here, the object will fall at a steady speed until it lands. 

Have fun experimenting and watching how different materials and sizes affects the fall time!

Find the activity worksheets below and check back tomorrow for some more science-related fun!

DNA Sequencing Activities - British Science Week (pdf)
Tie Dye Experiment - British Science Week (pdf)
Build a Bridge Experiment - British Science Week (pdf)
Periodic Table of Chemical Elements - British Science Week (pdf)
Parachute Experiment - British Science Week (pdf)