First Lego League Challenge - Online June / July - Primary schools needed - to participate

Registration is now open for 2020-2021 FIRST® LEGO® League Challenge season and we would welcome teachers to contact to discuss particpation in the competition. Get your team together and think about the ways we can get people moving is the theme this year. FIRST® LEGO® League Challenge is a global STEM programme for teams of young people, to encourage an interest in real world themes and develop key skills that are crucial for their future careers. Young people work together to explore a given topic and to design, build and program an autonomous LEGO® robot to solve a series of missions. For more information click here. In Wales we are offering three online tournaments – Click here to register and here to contact for more information

See Science have funding to support schools to participate in an online  competition for teams of young people, to encourage an interest in real-world themes and develop key skills that are crucial for their future careers.

Inventors: STEM Ambassador Alun Armstrong helps Sennybridge Brownies achieve success

Brownie Leader Liz meets her group weekly on Zoom. As part of their Inventors Badge the brownies needed a challenge to complete.
Alun Armstrong has long been praised for his expertise with school activities and imaginative use of everyday items to teach engineering, maths and design.

Alun had gathered sets of pre-cut cards, bottle tops, used matchsticks and tapers, which were used to complete tangrams, build and design, puzzles and towers.
He joined the Brownie meeting on Zoom to assist Liz explain the challenge and judge the result. Visits to rural locations can prove difficult at this time of year, particularly with variable weather, this example proves that much can be accomplished in the virtual environment but with a live presenter and audience!

Alun - Thank you so much for last night, the girls really enjoyed the evening.  The milk bottle top pyramid was our family favourite.  
 Thank you for putting so much time and thought into the evening, we all greatly appreciated everything you prepared.
Liz

Experience is invaluable not forgetting that many of these opportunities can also contribute to their wellbeing. But it is also important to think that supporting pupils to enter competitions have a positive impact on  teachers: networking, raising the science department profile, and more. Click here to read  an article by Annabel Jenner  to learn what exactly what teachers and pupils can gain from participating in STEM competitions beyond winning and find links to competitions you might be interested in entering in 2021.

Cardiff Science Festival STEM Stars

The Science Festival takes place during February Half Term, a visible feature in Cardiff city centre: on shopping precincts, street science busking, talks and activities in popular locations.
The organisers were determined to sustain engagement with family audiences and the public during the pandemic. A full week of events was organised online including the popular ‘STEM Stars’ which was hosted by the STEM Ambassador Coordinator Wales.

https://www.cardiffsciencefestival.co.uk/en/events/stem-stars

4 STEM Ambassador starred in a stellar event takin the audience through lively presentations. Following themes of 
Science of the Covid 19
Technology
Astronomy and the search for Alien Life
Robotics
Science of Nature

Joining us online were many families safeguarded by the well controlled protocol laid down by the Festival. 

It was a different experience to face to face engagement but there were outstanding benefits, such as the ‘dwell time’ for families, no queuing to see the activity and a close up look of what each Ambassador was demonstrating.

Joining the panel from his workplace abroad STEM Ambassador Chris commented how enjoyable it was to take part in an event at a distance.

Start planning now for British Science Week 2021!

Its not too late to get your pupils involved in British Science Week 2021, happening 5 – 14 March.

Science is all around us every day and there are lots of ways we can still engage and celebrate the role that science plays in all our lives. And with the backdrop of a global pandemic, now it is more important than ever that we embrace and explore it.

The British Science Association have produced Activity packs with lots of ideas for activities that children can do at home, from practical ones such as splitting light and identifying different types of plastics to research-based ones such as producing a fact file on a STEM Person of the Week.

Teachers can also make use of the CREST Resource Library. At primary level there is a collection of one hour fun activities written in a parent-friendly way with ideas for outdoor challenges and many low-resource activities. One of our favourites is Crafty Rafts in the SuperStar collection.

And don’t forget the Poster Competition! This year’s theme is Innovating for the Future. Schools can enter up to 5 posters and the closing date is April 30^th. You can find all the details here.

The Great Science Share for Schools is the award-winning campaign that invites 5-14 year olds to share theirown scientific questions and investigations, to raise the profile of science in schools and communities, and inspire young people into science and engineering. 

So much preparation is already underway to make 2021 even more successful. Keep up to date with what’s on whenby registering your interest. They’ll be monthly announcements and activities culminating on the 15th June 2021. 

Starting 25 February, we're bringing you a series of expert-led webcasts from our Great Science Share Regional Champions.Packed with practical insights, resources and inspiration - dip in or catch them all!
See what's on offer with sessions from supporting inclusivity, cross-curricula approaches, to eliciting questions and taking learning outside. Visit this page to explore.

FREE Facilitated Chemistry Workshops (Funded by the RSC)

From early March through to the end of the summer term, See Science will be offering a variety of FREE workshops to schools across Wales. We will be flexible in how we deliver these workshops, depending on COVID restrictions - delivering face to face in schools or virtually via live links on platforms to suit the schools.

Chemistry in a Pandemic Workshop (Yrs 5 to 9)

This will be a brand new workshop looking at Chemistry and the role of Chemists in fighting a global pandemic.

For more information or to register your interest, contact Llinos at See Science 

The whole of this programme is completely free of charge and designed to give your learners an enthralling, experiential week that they will remember. With new Lockdown restrictions in place, we’re planning for learners both in school and at home so that you can be confident your Science week can go ahead. You can do as little or as much of the programme as you like and all equipment can normally be found at school/home or bought at a supermarket.Schools that sign up for the programme will gain access to:

• 4 live lessons hosted by Encounter Edu and presented by real-life farming role models from across England and Wales. Think live lambing, discovering future farming tech and exploring cow poo with a farm vet

• A farming-themed climate science show created by Welsh Science Museum Techniquest

• Our award-winning Farming STEMterprise resources featuring a differentiated STEM project for every year group from 1 – 6

• The Farmvention: Climate Superheroes competition featuring interactive 3D tours of farms across England and Wales, climate themed investigations for both KS1 and KS2 and the chance to win £1000 for your school.

All you need to do is sign up on the form below and we’ll send you around one email per week between now and Science week to help you get prepared! Go to https://education.nfuonline.com/NFUScienceWeek

Tallest Paper Tower - 2021 Fluor Engineering Challenge!

Reach for the Sky with the Tallest Paper Tower Challenge

With only paper and tape, the 2021 Fluor Engineering Challenge asks students to build a tower, as tall as possible, that can successfully support a can of food at the top for a full sixty seconds.

This challenge is fun for all ages and can be done in the classroom or with students at home. The materials are deliberately simple. We want as many students as possible to build a paper tower and enter the challenge!

Submissions for the Fluor Challenge will be accepted February 14-March 12, 2021, but you and your students can start planning, designing, and building now! Details here.