If you haven’t visited the Royal Institution before please do try to discover what it has to offer. You will find it in Albemarle Street near Green Park tube station. There is a fantastic programme of events for adults, families and children including theatre talks, workshops and the famous Christmas Lectures. Go along to hear leading scientists talk in the world famous theatre, exploring the way in which science shapes our lives. There is a great cafe and the Faraday Museum to explore in the basement. The iconic building is worth the trip alone! Check out the family theatre talks in November and December covering on the science of senses, Christmas, elements and metals here. If those topics don’t intrigue you then don’t forget to try some science at home inspired by the RI’s ExpeRimental short films.
Try out some STEAM activities at home with the Royal Institution
There are some really fun family science ideas to try at home on the Royal Institution ExpeRimental website. Find it here.
Rufus and the racers is one of my favourites. Which is yours?!
Year 5 take part in #UCLChemAirPoll
The pupils and staff at Wimbledon High take an active role in increasing sustainable travel, reducing congestion and improving air quality around Wimbledon High School. As part of this we hold the TfL STARS Travel Plan at Gold level and take part in numerous activities such as walk to school week and an anti-idling campaign.
We were therefore very keen to take part in the #UCLChemAirPoll project where a team of chemistry undergraduates from UCL visit year 5 to carry out an air quality investigation together. We wanted to find out about the air quality around our school and more about the seriousness of this issue. The UCL students visited us to talk to the year 5 pupils about air pollution, where it comes from and the problems that it can cause. The pupils then decided where they thought we should take air pollution readings and our wonderful team of chemistry undergraduates put up a series of diffusion tubes in the locations the pupils chose. The diffusion tubes will be analysed by the UCL team after a month of being in place to give us an idea of the levels of nitrogen dioxide around our school. We will then be able to discuss with the UCL team the implications of our results and actions that we can all take to reduce air pollution in our area.
While we await the results, year 5 have been thinking about ways we can find out more to give us a really full picture of air quality in our area. If you would like to help gather data please do be on the look out for sycamore leaves and send us your results! More information about the UCL project can be found here and more information about OPAL’s air quality survey can be found can be found here.
STEAM Explore Lectures coming up soon!
Don’t miss the exciting Explore lectures coming soon – all with a STEAM theme! Explore Lectures are suitable for those in years 9-13 and start at 4.30pm, with refreshments available from 4.15pm, in our purpose-built Rutherford Centre. Lectures generally last 40-45 minutes with an opportunity for questions at the end.
Want to find out more about the cyber security industry?
If you are between 14-18 years old you might be interested to take a look at the Cyber Security initiative. You will have the opportunity to undertake a series of games and challenges and will find out more about the cyber security industry. More information can be found here.
The Wider Earth – a new play at The Natural History Museum
A new theatre at the Natural History Museum has been unveiled for the award-winning drama The Wider Earth.
Join 22-year-old Charles Darwin on HMS Beagle’s daring voyage to the far side of the world, and discover the gripping story behind one of the most important discoveries in history. Find out more here.
Wildlife Photographer of the Year
The Natural History Museum is now hosting the Wildlife Photographer of the year exhibition. Find out all about it here.
Think Science for the new £50 note!
Wellcome Collection – the free museum and library for the incredibly curious.
You might like to visit the Wellcome Collection which is a free museum and library with many different events that create opportunities for people to think deeply about connections between science, medicine, life and art.
Smallpeice Trust engineering courses (residential)
Dates have now been released for a variety of fantastic engineering experiences at universities around the country. Have a look to see if any of these capture your interest. You will find out more about engineering possibilities as well as life at university.