British Science Week, run by the British Science Association runs from the 8th - 17th March 2019 and is a ten-day celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths.
The British Science Week website has activity packs for Early Years, Primary and Secondary students, the packs are designed to be your one stop shop for supporting teachers during the week. The theme for the packs is 'journeys', from creating tunnels, time capsules and perfume to keeping a nature loaf and mummifying an orange, there's something for everyone. The activities include both lesson plans and assemblies. There is also a poster competition, students can make their poster about anything involving journeys.
There are several resources that LGfL schools can use during this time all around the theme of journeys.
Why not download our new Significant People resource for KS1 and KS2, this resource takes a handful of particularly important events and people and investigates their impact on history. Using Augmented Reality and interactive 3D you can see the route taken by Christopher Columbus, or explore the first powered flight test and touch down on the surface of the moon with a 3D animation of the Eagle lander.
Or journey to Antartica with our Polar Exploration resource. LGfL worked with the Scott Polar Research Institute at Cambridge University in creating this comprehensive resource, which provides a unique insight into the 'Heroic Age of Scientific Discovery'.
Featuring exclusive access to the historic archive of the most famous polar expeditions of the 20th Century, the resource includes:
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- Video footage of equipment and artefacts from the most famous expeditions, complete with text transcripts of the expert explanations
- High-resolution photographs of objects featured in the video footage
- Journal extracts read by a descendant of a member of Captain Scott's Discovery expedition
- Interactive map of the Polar Regions with plotted locations of the multimedia assets
- The opportunity to meet a modern-day polar explorer and hear of his experiences living for extended periods of time in some of the world's most extreme environments.
- A wide range of learning materials to support KS2, KS3 and KS4
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Follow the intrepid astronaut Tazz Anderson and her on board computer (MIC) on her journey to the moon to bring the valuable raw material 'Dysprosium' for use in smart devices on Planet Earth in Space Adventures - Mission to the Moon. This unique and engaging cross curricular resource is based around an original story commissioned by LGfL by the award-winning author Cath Howe. The resource features a comprehensive set of resources for Maths, Literacy and Science and a Computing unit created by Max Wainewright.
With Viral Contagion English and Viral Contagion Maths, students can use their Maths and English skills to look at the journey and spread of a biological outbreak in South London. Dramatized news reports describe the impact of the outbreak, challenging students to consider the use of language behind such scenarios and the need for effective communication to help save lives, alongside using their mathematical skills to understand the speed at which an outbreak can spread.
The entire Primary ‘Switched on Science’ scheme, offering full coverage across Key Stage 1 and 2 is available to all LGfL-connected schools. Switched on Science is a flexible and creative investigation-based programme with a clear focus on working scientifically. It is packed with best-practice CPD videos and supportive lessons to ensure every teacher can deliver the science curriculum with confidence. The package comes with all the additional resources teachers need to teach the entire Science curriculum, ranging from a video for each unit, teacher guide, interactive exercises, pupil workbooks, ideas for differentiation, and much more.
Virtual Experiments for Years 1 - 6, these ever popular online resources are ideal for demonstrating difficult scientific concepts - with the added benefit of:
- Minimising the time, mess and fuss involved in experiments
- Allowing you to repeat, slow down or vary the conditions of experiments
- Being useful for revisiting key work pupils may have missed or forgotten
Busy Things has a wide range of resources and games for use in Early years, KS1 and KS2 there are over 100 activities that are linked to the science curriculum that could be used during your science week. These include writing projects, interactive worksheets, graph projects and printables.
Widgit Symbols are simply drawn, colourful symbols designed to illustrate a single concept in a clear and concise way. They cover a range of topics (including science) wide enough to make them suitable for symbol users of all ages and abilities. Already used by many SEND departments and schools, the entire symbol database of over 15,000 images is now available to all LGfL TRUSTnet schools to search and download. The use of these symbols increases the accessibility of written text by giving readers of all literacy levels greater access to information. As they are designed specifically for written information, Widgit Symbol users can develop a real independence in reading and writing
The ever popular j2etool suite can also be used during Science Week, for a range of activities. Why not get pupils to research a famous journey and create a book in j2e, or make an animation of the water cycle or life cycle in JIT.
For the classroom why not download the collection of STEM role models posters celebrating women innovators illustrated by women artists, there are 8 in the set and each poster is accompanied by a short biography of the women featured, not only raising awareness of their achievements but also hopefully inspiring a new generation of women to work in STEM
Terrific Scientific from the the BBC is a set of curriculum-linked primary science resources for Key Stage 2 aimed at encouraging scientific enquiry. The resources focus on a series of practical classroom investigations linked to the curriculum, so teachers can use each one as a stand-alone science project, or as part of a bigger topic. For each investigation, there is an introductory film, fronted by well-known figures relevant to the age-group; a ‘how to…’ film which demonstrates the investigation, a downloadable teacher resource (including curriculum links) and student worksheets. Perfect for using in science week and beyond.
Explorify is another great site for free science resources. The Explorify activities are bitesize prompts for discussion and investigation, their high-quality image, video and hands-on activities are sure to spark curiosity and get your class thinking like scientists. Choose from a wide range of curriculum-linked, low-prep activities that will set young minds whizzing and whirring.
Reach out CPD is free science CPD for UK teachers, there are 30 courses for teaching 5-11 year olds covering everything from plants to planets. Each one provides teachers with concise topic knowledge and a whole raft of resources to use in class, including captivating short videos, practical activities and experiments, whiteboard visuals and more. Well worth checking out and sharing with colleagues.
What ever you are doing for British Science Week we would love you to share your work on our twitter or Facebook pages #BSW19