Artist’s rendition of science – skovoroda/123RF Stock Photo
It is British Science Week! It’s an annual event promoting science, technology, engineering and maths across the UK, which runs from the 10th to the 19th March this year.
The theme for this year is ‘Connections’! Most innovations aren’t just the work of one person, often they occur through partnerships, collaborations and connections as concepts are developed into ideas, ideas into developments, and developments into products and services. Connections between individual scientists and teams, from all different fields, are the lifeblood of scientific discovery and it is great to see this being celebrated.
There are several ways you can participate:
Downloading Activity Packs
There are downloadable activity packs available from the website for a variety of age groups providing lots of exercises and activities promoting science, technology, engineering and maths.
Smashing Stereotypes
There are a collection of over forty stories from individuals and teams to show that science is a career for everyone and anyone. The aim is to encourage young people, from all backgrounds, to think about a potential career in science, technology, engineering or maths. The various stories, and other information, can be found here.
Pixalytics’ own Managing Director, Dr Samantha Lavender, is also getting involved this week. On Wednesday, she is attending a local school to discuss her job, career and all things science with the students.
Poster Competition
There is a competition to design a poster based on this year’s theme of Connections. So have a think about the myriad of ways that connections link through science, technology, engineering and maths – can you design an eye-catching poster?
The competition closes at 6pm on 31st March, so you have plenty of time. There are various age group categories, and all the details can be found here.
Attending Events
Events are taking place around the country to attend, and the details about what is happening can be found here.
While there aren’t too many events in Devon – we’d like to highlight the ‘We Are All Star Stuff’ Family Fun Day happening next Saturday, 18th March, at the Norman Lockyer Observatory in Sidmouth. Running between 11am and 5pm, the day includes talks, visiting the Planetarium, storytelling sessions, hands-on demonstrations, rocket launching and meteor detecting. It is a great venue we know well as Sam gave an Earth observation lecture a few years ago, and it is well worth a visit.
If there is not anything local to you either, then there are a few online events too:
- The British Science Association (BSA) hosted their own Question Time panel event, exploring what science can do to better to involve young people. The video of the event is here.
- Science Farm Live is happening this week with various lessons available online from NFU Education. The questions they are considering are (and guess which one caught our attention!):
- How are tractors connected to space?
- How are pigs connected to jumbo jets?
- And how are sheep connected to seaweed?
Whatever you are doing this week, try to include some science!
