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Hands on Science & Space Workshops for Primary Schools

Working Science

National Science Week 11-15th March 2024

We are currently talking bookings for National Science Week in 11th – 15th March 2024 and beyond. We offer our whole range of workshops to Primary Schools and an assembly at the beginning of the day.”

We aim to thrill pupils by providing “Wow” science demonstrations and offering hands-on practical activities to provide an unforgettable learning experience.

About Working Science

Working Science provides amazing hands-on science workshops for children in primary schools. All of our workshops are delivered by an experienced science communicator, with a PhD in Physics and Astrophysics. Dr Gareth loves exciting children with his love of science, check out his ongoing science adventures across the world. Our workshops are ideal for children in Key Stage 1 or Key Stage 2

We aim to thrill pupils by providing “Wow” science demonstrations and offering hands-on practical activities to provide an unforgettable learning experience.

Working Science at Recre8, Tonbridge

Fun and hands-on science workshops during the summer holidays

If your child (age 7 – 11) would like to learn more about science in a practical and engaging way over the summer, please come along to Recre8 for our science workshops, in the heart of the Tonbridge School Science department. As well as being surrounded by many interesting scientific artefacts and a massive wall sized Periodic table, we will be investigating hands-on science covering:

  • light and optics making colours and rainbows

  • making circuits and generating electricity
  • trying chemical reactions that explode, change colours and make slime
  • mixing chemicals and investigating solubility and filtering
  • changing states of matter and freezing ice cream
  • engineering and building 3d structures space, the planets and astronomy

We have lots of fun scientific equipment that your children can use and get familiar with. Practical science experience is really the best way to understand and remember scientific facts and procedures. Our resident scientist is Dr Francis who has a PhD in Physics and loves explaining science to inquisitive children.

Please join us for a fun week of science during Easter and July 2024. Book your place here Book activities & courses – (recre8courses.co.uk)

If you haven’t booked before with Recre8, its easier if you call on 01732 304123 to set up an account first.

Workshop Titles include:

Bath-bomb and Bubble-bath Making

Ideal for learning about how science is used in the cosmetics industry, this workshop is suitable for Years 2 – 6. We will provide your pupils with the equipment and know how to make uniquely perfumed bath-bombs and bottles of bubble-bath. Whilst making them, your pupils will be learning about how chemistry is used to mix perfumes and other bathroom and beauty products. Each pupil will take home the products they make.

Changing States

Suitable for Years 2 – 6, this workshop includes activities which will explain the structures of solids, liquids & gases.  We will turn a solid to a liquid, a gas to a liquid and a solid to a gas.  To demonstrate these changes we will use a smoke machine and materials including water, dry-ice, chocolate & ice-cream!

Chemical Reactions – Acids & Alkalis

Pupils will explore the difference between chemical & physical reactions, making slime from two different materials.  They will analyse a variety of household chemicals and drinks to find their acidity or alkalinity, discover how acids can be used to create electricity and how chemical reactions can create large forces and launch rockets.

Darwin & Evolution

Your pupils will handle fossils of ammonites, trilobites & belamites, and make plaster casts of imprint fossils in order to see them clearly.  They will map Darwin’s journey of discovery and explore the evolution of whales & humans, comparing changes in the shapes of skulls over time.  Your pupils will then be encouraged to consider them future evolution of humans. 

Eco-Electricity

Ideal for supporting an environment week, this interactive workshop is suitable for Years 2 – 6.  Your pupils will generate electricity using renewable energy sources including building electricity generating windmills, investigating solar panels and making electricity from potatoes or citrus fruits.  We will discuss the pros and cons of current electricity generation techniques and alternative environmentally friendly methods.

Forces

Suitable for Years 3 – 6, this workshop allows children to experiment with different types of forces, such as air pressure, gravity and friction (and as an option – magnetism). They will investigate the forces needed to separate and lift items and the forces needed to launch rockets into space. Your pupils will be amazed when we launch rockets in the playground. They will measure the forces with Newton meters and record their findings for each activity on a worksheet

Getting into Space & Exploring

Suitable for Years 3 – 6, this workshop focuses on travelling into space. We show how the Space Shuttle and rockets get into orbit, and how astronauts live aboard the International Space Station. This hands-on session includes launching rockets and investigating the scientific problems that have been overcome to make launching rockets routine.

Great Scientists and their Discoveries

Suitable for Years 3 – 6, this workshop focuses on some of the greatest scientists in history, finding out how they made their discoveries and changed the way we understand the world around us. We will begin with Newton, Faraday and Einstein, progressing through to the inventor of the World Wide Web, Sir Tim Berners Lee.

Light and Electricity

Suitable for Years 3 – 6, this workshop enables your pupils to explore light and shadows, mirrors and reflections, colours and rainbows. They will experiment with light boxes and prisms, static electricity, circuits and will get commercial circuit boards to work! 

Magnets & Magnetism

Suitable for Years 2 – 6, this workshop includes activities which enable your pupils to explore the properties of magnets.  They will experiment with magnetic materials, exploring the strength, attraction and replusion.  Using iron filings they will discover the magnetic field lines and look at the magnetism of the Earth.  We will provide the opportunity to investigate how magnets are used to generate electricity, and make a simple motor. 

Perfume Making and Marketing

Ideal for forming part of a school enterprise week, this workshop is suitable for Years 3 – 6. Your pupils will be given everything they need to make perfumes from essential oils using chemistry equipment and techniques. They will go on to learn how to market, promote and sell these perfumes, perhaps even generating revenue for the school! The workshop demonstrates to pupils how science, manufacturing, branding and pricing need to work together in order to develop a successful business idea, thus enabling pupils to develop, produce and market a high quality and saleable product.

“The children had a great day.  They learnt about marketing, promotion and pricing in a child friendly way.  There were lots of hands-on activities which enabled all children of all abilities to participate in.  To top it all off each child had a bottle of perfume to take home!  The feedback from both children and parents has been very positive.  Thank you Gareth!”

Linda Lauder, Class 5 Teacher, Walker Primary School.

Rocks, Minerals & Fossils

Your pupils will handle and examine small fossils of ammonites, trilobites & belamites and will have a go at excavating fossils from plaster of Paris or sand based enclosures, identifying them just like palaeontologists.  They will pan for gold and minerals, learning how these are washed from mountains into rivers.  Your pupils will investigate the soil around the school grounds, analysing it in terms of texture & acidity or alkalinity.

Sound and Vibrations

Suitable for Years 3-6, this workshop allows pupils to experiment with sound and vibrations. They will develop their understanding of how sound is created and how it travels to our ears, the effects of different materials on the way sound travels and the importance of air for our hearing of sounds. We will also investigate the speed of sound and the shape of waves.

Space, Stars and the Universe

Suitable for Years 3 – 6, this workshop enables your pupils to discover the science behind the planets and stars.  We will cover the birth and death of stars, study the solar system and constellations, as well as stellar objects such as black holes and supernovae.  We extend pupils’ learning through hands-on activities including investigating gravity on different planets and what the light coming from distant stars tells us.

Science Testimonials

Teachers give us outstanding reviews saying:

“We would recommend these workshops without hesitation”.

“Thank you for helping us to make our brilliant bubbling bath bombs! Love from Class 3”

“Thank you for our wonderful and exciting day.”

Science Workshops designed for Primary Schools

‘Hands-on’ Science

Our science workshops allow children to try ‘hands-on’ science to stimulate questioning and kinaesthetic learning in a safe controlled environment.

Downsview School, Brighton

‘Sensory Science Workshops’

Our unique ‘Sensory Science Workshopshave been developed specifically to thrill and engage children of all ages with special educational needs.

Primary Science CPD Sessions

Primary Science CPD Sessions

We have also developed and trialled a Primary Science CPD Session for primary school teachers to increase confidence with the teaching of science subjects and to provide ideas for equipment and exciting science investigations in class.

Science Parties

We also provide science parties for children from ages 6-10 (near Tunbridge Wells and South London), with rockets, slime, ice cream making and other activities.

Space Workshops like No Other

Discovering Space

Space, Stars and the Universe Workshop

Engages children to with facts about the planets, comets, meteorites, stars, black holes and galaxies.

Getting into Space - Nasa Launch The Shuttle

“Getting into Space” Workshop

Teaches children about rockets, launching into space, the space shuttle, living in space, the ISS, and NASA and ESA missions to the moon and Mars