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Hands on science workshops for primary schools

Primary Science Workshops

Potato Enery

 As seen in the ‘Building Bridges’ Programme for gifted and talented pupils in Kent.

Working Science provides Wow factor hands-on science workshops for children in primary schools.

Our workshops are very practical and interactive. All children get to interact and experiment with the equipment we provide. All of our workshops are delivered by an experienced science communicator, with a PhD in Physics and Astrophysics.

We have prepared a range of science workshops (see below) that excite and engage children by providing “Wow” science demonstrations and hands-on practical activities for all children to promote a kinaesthetic learning experience. These really are workshops that you cannot get anywhere else.

We provide memorable and challenging experiences that complement and extend the learning of science in the National Curriculum at Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2.  Pupils can investigate electricity, forces, magnets, rocket making, circuits, space & astronomy, chemical reactions, light, sound & vibrations, geology & fossils and materials.

We are particularly well known for our unique Electricity Workshops, which are highly rated by teachers including our ‘Eco-Electricity’ and ‘Light & Electricity’ workshops.  If you need electricity workshops for KS2 classes please enquire about these. 

Our portolio of science workshops is constantly changing and being updated. 

Our 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 and 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.

Philosophy

Science is a voyage of exploration and discovery. It requires careful observations, fair testing and objective reasoning. Science is often a subject that primary teachers are less confident in teaching. It also requires specialist resources and takes time to prepare good interesting lessons. Working Science attempts to overcome this gap in knowledge and resources with our science workshops.

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

We provide science experiences that complement and extend the learning of science in the National Curriculum at KS1 and KS2. Pupils can investigate solar power, wind power, make batteries from potatoes and experiment with static electricity and commercial circuit boards. Our Workshops cover the topics of light, electricity and materials using scientific investigation techniques, fair tests and reasoning.

We have prepared a range of science workshops that have been tested in schools and have be found to be stimulating and enjoyable.  They allow children to extend their learning by exploring equipment and using real world science examples that they would not usually see to anchor science concepts.

The teachers we meet are often just as excited as the children to find out how our experiments work. Often we hear that they learned something new from our workshops, which has increased their confidence for teaching science.

Find our workshops on

Findschoolworkshops.co.uk

Please download our workshop leaflet for a quick summary of our popular workshops.