Primary upd8

Primary upd8 was produced some years ago but many activities remain timeless or can be adapted to bring up to date. They are a series of engaging science activities for 5-11 year olds. These activities are free as part of ASE Membership.

Each activity is based on an event or an everyday life context to help you make your science lessons more enjoyable and links to scientific enquiry skills. The activities support literacy and numeracy work and are designed to take advantage of interactive whiteboards. Each activity comes as an editable PowerPoint presentation, with plenty of colourful cartoon illustrations and interactive elements to grab children’s attention.

 

The 10,000 Year Cuckoo Clock

In this activity children explore ideas about how we measure time, and look at how these are used in different types of clock such as hourglasses,...
Felix Levinson

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Are We Running Out of Sand?

In this activity children consider what is sand? Why is sand such an important resource? And why is the UN concerned that it might soon run out?
Felix Levinson

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Alarming Clock

In this activity children will investigate how this clock works and determine how they would change the sound.
Vicki Hall

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Time Traveller

In this activity children think about the changing appearances of the Sun and Moon as well as saving the planet.

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How Old is my Mummy?

In this activity children learn about types of teeth and the ages at which teeth appear and are lost. They will look at diagrams of teeth and estimate

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Space Shuttle

In this activity children discuss the value of a space mission and what they think we could learn by travelling into space.

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What happened to Pluto?

In this activity children learn about the scientific method and use evidence to decide whether or not Pluto is a planet.

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Celebs in space

In this activity children advise Virgin Galactic managers about the conditions the celebs will encounter during their trip.

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Cosmic Clown

In this activity children investigate the effects of gravity and create a series of force diagrams to explain what it would be like in zero gravity.
Jacqueline Frost

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Mystery plane disaster

In this activity children learn that oxygen is vital for life and produce a safety leaflet describing aircraft emergency oxygen systems.

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Hands up who's ever orbited a black hole?

In this activity children use the exciting space mission to understand the concept of orbits and to link this to their understanding of gravity.
Felix Levinson

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How the Elephant Lost its Tusks

In this activity children will relate animal adaptation to concepts of natural selection and evolution in context of declining elephant populations.
Felix Levinson

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Dippy's Farewell Tour

In this activity children take on the role of Palaeontologists as they hunt for fossils, make their own fossil by casting and design display panels.
Felix Levinson

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Bone Detectives

In this activity children will become Bone Detectives, looking at skulls to see what they tell them about animals places on the food chain and diet.
Claire Seeley

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Fabulous fossil find

In this activity children take on the role of palaeontologists to work out if fossil remains could have come from a bipedal upright human.

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Jurassic Coast

In this activity children use the data provided to determine what type of rock makes up the Jurassic Coast and learn about other types of rock.

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Speedy Dino

In this activity children compare differences between dinosaurs to identify factors that may affect speed.

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Pet Fat Camp

In this activity children devise healthy diets to help obese dogs and cats lose weight.

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Evolution accolade

In this activity children are introduced to ideas about evolution in the context of habitats and environment.

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Dead as a dodo: new evidence from bones

In this activity children consider evidence from bones and contemporaneous drawings to make their own decisions.

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Material girls and boys - the new fiver and coins

In this activity children learn why currency notes are being replaced with polymer materials and why coins are made of metal.
Felix Levinson

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Super Snowballs and Stunning Snowflakes

In this activity children explore the science and maths of snowflakes and discover why giant snowballs have appeared on Russian beaches.
Felix Levinson

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Food chains: Are you eating plastic for dinner?

In this activity children will use food chains to explore the impact of plastic pollution in the oceans
Felix Levinson

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Biggest Ship in the World!

In this activity children pick from a range of investigations to explore, question and develop their ideas about floating and sinking.
Felix Levinson

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Ladybird, Ladybird, where is your home?

In this activity children learn about the lifecycle of a ladybird and take part in a research study, the UK Ladybird Survey, a citizen science project
Lois Kelly

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Harlequin Ladybird -Invader and Settler

In this activity, children will learn that harlequin ladybirds are an invasive alien species which have adapted to living in the UK
Lois Kelly

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New Home New Nest

In this outdoor activity children investigate nests, researching how and where birds build them.They then go onto build and test their own nest design
Claire Seeley

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Thames Whale: Countdown to Catastrophe

In this activity children compare environmental conditions in the River Thames and the North Sea.

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Help the Hedgehog

In this activity children identify the features within a typical garden that both encourage and deter hedgehogs.

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Buzz off

In this activity children investigate how the pitch of the buzz from a twanged ruler can be changed and relate this to the sound of mosquito wings.
Naomi Hiscock

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Butterfly Blues

In this activity children determine the best conditions for a breeding site based on their knowledge of habitats.

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Roboroach

In this activity children will predict the behaviour of small creatures and suggest how influencing their behaviour may have a beneficial use.

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Vanishing bees

In this activity children investigate the possible causes of the vanishing bees and present their findings to the class in a role-play situation.

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Chocolate Factory

In this activity children are asked to work out a recipe for a new chocolate bar.

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Chocolate changes

In this activity children learn about reversible and irreversible changes. They correctly sequence the story of how chocolate is made.

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Fruit and veg

In this activity children explore the range of fruits and vegetables that are available and use them to create a salad, fruit kebab and smoothies.
Naomi Hiscock

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Martian Masterchef

In this activity children explore the conditions for plant growth, germination and pollination by designing investigations and exploring life cycles.

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Bake Off

In this activity children will plan a fair test to find out which raising agent produces the most gas.

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Pink Milk

In this activity children will find out what made the milk pink. They will consider what people and animals eat.

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Pukka Puddings

In this activity children use their science knowledge to identify ingredients and compare reversible and irreversible changes of heating and cooling.

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Bushtucker Challenge

In this activity children use scientific knowledge and practice numeracy skills to devise a balanced insect-and-rice menu for a day in the jungle.

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War of the Worlds

In this activity children consider whether there is any truth in the films' key idea that aliens can be wiped out by an unfamiliar virus.

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Light SOS

This is just one of a range of fun activities that you can pick and choose from to reinforce and expand children’s understanding about light.
Felix Levinson

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Too Many Bags

In this activity children question the evidence that we use plastic bags for 20 minutes to take our shopping home, but they take 1000 years to degrade
Lois Kelly

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Taser!

In this activity children work out how Tasers work in the context of Wonder Woman learning how to use it.

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Paper planes: a perfect performer

In this activity children design paper planes and devise rules for their class competition and will cover ideas about air resistance and fair testing.

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Build a robot

In this activity children are challenged to create a ‘convincing’ replica child, perhaps one who could sit in for a real child in boring lessons.

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I'm a celebrity

In this activity children will think about what they would need to survive in the jungle and consider the implications of having no electricity.

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Magic or magnetic?

In this activity children are asked if they can duplicate a magic trick using magnets.

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Minus 30 Celsius

In this activity children learn about the dangers of hypothermia and the need to keep warm and dress a figure suitably for mountaineering.

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Magna-Robot

In this activity children will determine from which type of material the robot should be made and will learn that some metals are magnetic.

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Skating and skiing

In this activity children use ideas of friction to plan answers to viewers' questions about how skating and skiing work.

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Football Shadows

In this activity children explore how different shadows can be formed depending on the number and position of light sources.
Naomi Hiscock

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Life's Ups and Downs

In this activity children learn about upthrust and its effects.

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Snorers - what's all that noise?

In this activity children learn how sounds are made and the difference between speaking and snoring and which parts of the body are responsible.

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Health News

In this activity children will develop literacy, numeracy and science skills through activities based on these three health news stories.

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Heart restarts

In this activity children learn about the heart and what causes the heart to stop working properly and the need for transplants.

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Recycle it!

In this activity children get to think about effective reuse and recycling methods, taking into account the properties of materials.  

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Living Forever

In this activity children debate whether living for 1000 years is such a good thing and consider the implications for the planet.

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Iceberg Ahead!

In this activity children plan an investigation into factors affecting the melting of icebergs.

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DNA fingerprinting

In this activity children consider when DNA evidence is valid and use their knowledge of dissolving to advise forensic scientists.

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Miss Perfect

In this activity children are asked to consider the BMI formula as a way of determining a healthy weight and use lifestyle and diet factors.

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What's that buzzing noise?

In this activity children design a mobile phone with a ringtone that only they can hear and learn how humans have a different hearing range to animals

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Get Ratty!

In this activity children are challenged to design electrical circuits that would alert the user in different ways when an object or animal is sensed.

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Now you see me?

In this activity children investigate how mirrors can change the direction of light and use their scientific knowledge to design an invisibility cloak

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Farmer's Friend

In this activity children learn about the life cycle and the food chain of the ladybird and its use in organic farming.

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Disappearing ink

In this activity children decide how they can make secret writing and consider why erasable paper might be useful.

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Stonehenge Rocks!

In this activity children consider why the settlement crumbled yet Stonehenge is still standing and use their knowledge of rocks to explain why.

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Awesome Airbus

In this activity children learn how such an enormous plane can take off and stay in the air and design an Airbus for their school.

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Great Wall of China

In this activity children will test methods of measuring length and discuss their accuracy.

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Blowing in the Wind

In this activity children consider how they can use wind power to charge a mobile phone and investigate circuits and how a wind turbine works.

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Blowing in the wind: a review of wind power technology

Is the revival of one of the oldest methods of harnessing energy viable or desirable?

Wed, 01/01/2014

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Scott of the Antarctic

In this activity children are asked to discuss why Scott and his party perished.

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Getting Lost

In this activity children will use their knowledge of pushing and pulling to guide the lorry out of the street.

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Mister Big

In this activity children investigate whether they can make predictions about growth and compare different parts of the skeleton to answer questions.

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Where's Wally?

In this activity children are asked to consider why animals migrate and why it is important to understand their food chain.

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New Earth

In this activity children consider scientific evidence about the Earth and other planets and consider what factors make a planet suitable for life.

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Egg Cosy

In this activity children consider the conditions necessary for an egg to hatch and predict the ideal conditions for an incubator.

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Ban the Bag

In this activity children consider what other materials could be used to make bags and choose a suitable material to stop using plastic bags.

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Floating Ducks

In this activity children will imagine finding some of these plastic toys washed up on the beach.

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Kids Behaving Badly

In this activity children will create a fair test to test the idea that consuming certain additives can cause hyperactivity.

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Bluetongue Blight

In this activity children look at evidence to identify victims of Bluetongue and how to contain it and learn that a virus is a micro-organism.

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Ready Sunny Go!

In this activity children consider the disadvantages of solar-power and look at data and predict the best month for the race in Australia.

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A Sticky Problem

In this activity children look at the factors that affect dissolving to plan an investigation to find out the quickest method of removing the new gum.

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Grow Your Own Snowman

In this activity children dissolve salt in water to make a saturated solution and investigate evaporation on the size of salt crystals grown.

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Track-it Jacket

In this activity children use data to determine positions using the same method as satellite navigation equipment.

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Favourite Colours

In this activity children can take part in a testing procedure and plot their results and discuss whether they agree with the scientists findings.

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Left Right

In this activity children investigate whether there are more left-handed people in the population now than 100 years ago.

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Deathzone

In this activity children investigate the need for supplemental oxygen at high altitudes and determine when extra oxygen is necessary on a climb.

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Fatal Flowering

In this activity children debate possible explanations for why the giant palm died and then what plants really need to grow.  

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Switch On

In this activity children identify appliances that use electricity and appreciate the effect that electricity has on our everyday lives.

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Knee Power

In this activity children design a circuit for a flashing light powered by the knee brace and consider the advantages and problems.

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Levels Rising

In this activity children find out how the melting of glaciers can increase the sea levels and what the implications may be.

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Colourful Cauliflowers

In this activity children consider whether these new cauliflowers are a good thing and argue whether a supermarket should or should not sell them.

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Flour Power

In this activity children investigate the feasibility of growing wheat at home and explore different shapes of plot for the necessary area of cropping

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Clever Cooker

In this activity children decide what information the cooker would need in order to cook the food without burning it.

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Price of Rice

In this activity children decide the reasons why the price of rice might be increasing so rapidly and study data to decide these major reasons.

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Moose on the Loose

In this activity children identify animals and construct food chains. They will form an argument for or against the idea of this wildlife enclosure.

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Lights Out!

In this activity children will learn what happens when electrical circuits are broken.

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Juicy adventure

In this activity children design a boat made of recyclable materials and consider the forces acting on a boat.

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Miracle Berry

In this activity children will investigate which foods are sour and which are sweet.

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Crossing the River

In this activity children will investigate the properties of materials to build a raft to cross the river or to carry their equipment.

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Fuelling the Flight

In this activity children argue why a hydrogen-powered plane will be better for the environment and learn about other gases and their uses.

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Summer Sun

In this activity children will investigate ways of measuring sunshine and discuss the validity of these methods.

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Seeing Rainbows

In this activity children will learn about how rainbows are formed and the importance of the Sun as a source of light.

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Sweet Dreams

In this activity children will use interpreting smells, group discussion and interaction to come to conclusions about our sense of smell.

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Creepers or Creepy Crawlies?

In this activity children help the cocoon's new curator to sort the exhibits into plants and animals giving simple reasons for their classification.

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Polar Bears

In this activity children will consider how we hear and decide what affects a polar bear’s hearing.

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Save Our Snowman

In this activity children investigate the best conditions to stop the ice cube from melting and apply knowledge to describe how to save the snowman.

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How Green is Your Tree?

In this activity children will sort Christmas trees and decorations into groups and consider what materials to use to make an eco-friendly tree.

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101 Dalmatians?

In this activity children will learn that baby animals grow into adults and will then apply this knowledge to match the right puppy to its parent.
Miranda Moon

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Hungry Caterpillar

In this activity children will learn the life cycle of a butterfly and create and label a life cycle diagram.
Jackie Clegg

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Nature Walk

In this activity children use art to record their scientific observations.
Jackie Clegg

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Dirty Work

In this activity children learn about different types of soil in the simplest terms and then apply this knowledge to correctly identify soil types.
Petra Mitchard

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Darwin 200 Snail Hunt and Snail Space

In these activities children determine which snails are found in which habitats and have a better understanding of evolution and adaptation.
Jacqueline Frost

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Egg Smasher

In this activity children consider the pushes and pulls involved in such a device and they will design their own version.
Vicki Hall

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Le Whiff

In this activity children investigate which senses we use for exploring the world and suggest smells to create different moods.
Jacqueline Frost

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British Bluebells

In this activity children can view the Museum survey http://www.nhm.ac.uk/take-part/citizen-science/bluebell-survey.html or use standalone.
Miranda Moon

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Moss Mat

In this activity children compare moss plants to daisies and consider the habitats they prefer to decide those appropriate for bathroom use.
Jackie Clegg

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Ida - The Missing Link?

In this activity children consider how the media highlights some stories and how scientists work to find the science behind the headlines.
Vicki Hall

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Sports Day Superstar

In this activity children learn about friction and investigate the grip of different shoes to decide which are appropriate for racing on sports day.
Petra Mitchard

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Sounds Under the Sea

In this activity children learn about sound and plan an investigation to find out if you can still detect sound when your ears are covered.
Vicki Hall

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Spreading Swine Flu

In this activity children learn about swine flu and its symptoms and look at how viruses spread and consider how they can be contained.
Jacqueline Frost

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Sheep Pig

In this activity children are encouraged to discuss the advantages/disadvantages of adaptation and consider a variety of points of view e.g. a farmer.
Miranda Moon

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Easter Island Hats

In this activity children will learn about pushes and pulls and ways of moving objects.
Tessa Edwards

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SOS Save Our Sweets

In this activity the children will investigate and create a menu for a week.
Petra Mitchard

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Shark Attack

In this activity children look at data and debate possible explanations using the format of the ‘Call my Bluff’ game.

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Christmas Lights

In this activity children will investigate electrical circuits and consider how a safe and reliable circuit that works, can be made.
Miranda Moon

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Kettle Car

In this activity children will investigate the process of evaporation by designing an investigation that can be done in the classroom or playground.
Tessa Edwards

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Plimsoll Line

In this activity children learn about buoyancy and how it is affected by different water conditions and learn the importance of a Plimsoll Line.
Petra Mitchard

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Building Big

In this activity children will learn the parts of the plant and design a building using a flower shape as inspiration.
Miranda Moon

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Free Spirit

In this activity children will learn about friction and consider how vehicles move on different surfaces.
Vicki Hall

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Pesky Potholes

In this activity children investigate how rocks react differently when in water and do this by testing the permeability of a selection of rocks.
Jacqueline Frost

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Stop the Superweed

In this activity children consider the benefits or otherwise of using this new method and reach conclusions by scientific knowledge of food chains.
Vicki Hall

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First Class Scientists

In this activity children design their own stamps to celebrate a significant development that has impacted upon modern life.
Petra Mitchard

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Ash Cloud Chaos

In this activity children investigate methods of separating mixtures of solids and learn about the problems of ash clouds for aviation.
Miranda Moon

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Sorting Out the Oil Spill

In this activity children will investigate the properties of water and oil and will try to find a way to separate the two liquids.
Jacqueline Frost

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Ricky's Backpack and Shelter

In these activities children help Ricky decide which materials will be good to keep him warm, dry and comfortable and what to eat and drink.
Tessa Edwards

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Invasion of the Super Slug

In this activity children investigate the preferred habitat of slugs to explain why a slug would move to a new habitat.
Petra Mitchard

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HMS Chocolate

In this activity children will decide which materials are suitable for making a boat. They will investigate materials and design a boat.
Vicki Hall

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Searching for Squirrels

In this activity children collect data about the distribution of black squirrels and record it on a map with the date of the sighting.
Miranda Moon

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icow

In this activity children will discuss the importance of cows in the food chain and learn the life cycle of a cow.
Vicki Hall

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Rescue Me

In this activity children will use knowledge about pushes and pulls to suggest how the capsule was moved up and down the mine shaft.

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Spudnik

In this activity children learn about the different forces acting on an object and how those forces will affect the movement of that object.
Petra Mitchard

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Three Little Pigs

In this activity children learn about different materials and how they can be used for specific purposes.They will build and test models of houses.
Vicki Hall

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All Change

In this activity children investigate the properties of materials in order to design a coin sorter to distinguish between old and new silver coins.
Vicki Hall

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Timing the Tsunami

In this activity children investigate the movement of waves and use a chart to explain how to predict when a tsunami may hit.
Jacqueline Frost

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Money-munching Termites

In this activity children will use knowledge about insects and familiar animals to identify different sorts of food eaten by them.
Tessa Edwards

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Rise of the Dinosaurs

In this activity children will learn about the formation of coal and that there are different types of coal.
Petra Mitchard

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Who Did It?

In this activity children investigate the evidence that scientists have used and they design an ammonite model using the most important features.
Miranda Moon

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Vroom Vroom!

In this activity children will investigate different types of sound and determine which could be used as the new sound for modern quiet cars.
Vicki Hall

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Giant's Causeway

In this activity children consider rock types, find out how to generate electricity and research historic and current use of water and wind energy.
Petra Mitchard

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Man in a Box

In this activity children learn that air is composed of various gases and they determine the importance of carbon dioxide and oxygen.
Jacqueline Frost

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Happy Trees

In this activity children consider how trees impact our lives and whether there is scientific evidence to suggest that trees make us happy.
Miranda Moon

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Sun Light

In this activity children use knowledge about the Sun to discover that it is the source of light for the Earth and light is essential to see things.
Tessa Edwards

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Speedy Snow Travel

In this activity children learn about traditional vehicles for travelling across snow and investigate ways of reducing friction.
Jacqueline Frost

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Viking Magic

In this activity children will use their knowledge of the movement of the Sun to predict how to navigate using the Sun.
Vicki Hall

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Cycling to the South Pole

In this activity children consider the features of a bike made for these conditions and what materials might be used and why.
Petra Mitchard

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Musical Insects

In this activity children will investigate how sounds are made and will attempt to make sounds of their own.

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Run Run As Fast As You Can

In this activity children learn the importance of exercise in keeping us healthy and understand that exercise keeps our bodies and minds healthy too.
Miranda Moon

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Schmallenberg Virus

In this activity children consider facts about micro-organisms and use their knowledge to complete a quiz and research the work of scientists.
Tessa Edwards

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Queen of Diamonds

In this activity children will investigate the hardness of rocks and its relation to the use of the term 'diamond' in relation to anniversaries.
Vicki Hall

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Fuelling the Olympics

In this activity children learn about what is needed for a balanced diet and how important diet is to an athlete's performance.
Petra Mitchard

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Looking for Ladybirds

In this activity children learn how to identify different species of ladybirds and take part in scientific research.
Lois Kelly

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Where's the Water?

In this activity children will use knowledge about evaporation to understand what has happened to the water on Mars.

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Flying through Space

In this activity children construct paper aeroplanes to explore air resistance and make a prediction, experiment and form a conclusion.

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Odo's Truck

In this activity children learn how forces cause movement and to understand the way that liquids behave enables us to use them in hydraulic systems.

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Clever Bird

In this activity children learn about different sorts of movement and how to describe these and relate movement to pushes and pulls.
Vicki Hall

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Bottle Garden

In this activity children consider what plants require to thrive and investigate the effect of changing any factors required for plant growth
Petra Mitchard

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Bamboo Bikes

In this activity children will have the opportunity to plan and set up a fair test investigation to test the strength of bamboo canes.
Lois Kelly

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Electric Clothes

In this activity children will investigate how a conductive fabric can change the brightness of a bulb. 
Primary Upd8 Team

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Rabbit Care

In this activity children will consider how to look after a rabbit and other pets.
Naomi Hiscock

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Cool Pots

In this activity children carry out a fair test to see how long it takes an ice cube to melt in their own mini 'cool pot ' compared to in a single pot
Helen Harden

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Sandy Seeds

In this activity children will be observing the growth of seeds in sand and compost over time.
Helen Harden

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Monsoon Proof Roof

In this activity children investigate whether a local material, straw, is the best material to use or if a different material would be better.
Helen Harden

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Are we loom crazy?

In this activity children identify and compare the suitability of everyday materials for particular uses.
Christina Whittaker

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A new frog

In this activity, children explore how scientists classify living things and will develop their own classification system for frogs.
Naomi Hiscock

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Hoverboard

In this activity, children will consider the impact on the skateboarding experience of reducing friction by lifting the board off the ground

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Next stop Antarctica

In this activity children plan and carry out research about the Antarctic in order to develop a persuasive argument.

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Making Contact

In this activity children focus on the application of science to solve problems and invent a new product that can then be tested as fit for purpose.
RI Christmas Lectures 2014

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The Light Bulb Moment

In this activity children use observation of the world around us to compare and contrast traditional lighting with new forms of light.
RI Christmas Lectures 2014

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A New Revolution

In this activity children are encouraged to consider the process of invention and take a simple device and improve it with a motor.
RI Christmas Lectures 2014

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Can you believe your eyes?

In this activity children will learn how the brain can interpret signals in different ways.

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Weird materials

In this activity children will carry out tests, observe and describe three different solids that behave differently when mixed with water.

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Elephant Bird Egg

In this activity children make comparisons, using appropriate numeracy methods to display comparative data to form a conclusion around missing data.
Claire Seeley

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The spin pass

In this activity children consider how science plays a role in the development of sports and also exploring how players use science during the game.

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Lift Off

In this activity children consider what it might be like to be an astronaut on the launch pad.
RI Christmas Lectures 2015

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Life in Orbit

In this discussion activity children focus on the human essentials for life linked to the idea of a vehicle delivering to the ISS.
RI Christmas Lectures 2015

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Wet World

In this activity children consolidate their understanding of the water cycle through discussion and decision making.

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