Sir John Lillie
Primary School
Succeeding on the Journey through Lifelong Learning
SUMMER
Dear friends and neighbours,
I hope this email finds you all safe and well.
Please see below for another round of simple science activities you can do at home with the kids, information on our summer programme at The Invention Rooms and the latest news from Imperial of COVID-19.
Simple Science Activities
We hope you have been enjoying the simple science activities we’ve been sending over since the beginning of lockdown. This week you can discover more about nature with Natural History Museum online, make a giant spaghetti tower with the Science Museum and try some dance mat typing!
- Beautiful butterflies with the Natural History Museum (8 + years to adult)
Last week we showed you to make a butterfly feeder and record the different butterflies you find. The Natural History Museum have also produced a video as part of their Nature Live series all about these amazing animals.
These videos are broadcast live every Tuesday and Friday from 11.55am. You can tune in on Youtube and ask your questions, as well as checking out the other videos they have made about Whales and Dinosaurs.
If you’d rather get hands on, you can also make these amazing Origami butterflies and display them at home by hanging them on string to make a fantastic butterfly mobile.
- Spaghetti Structures (6 + years)
In this activity from the Science Museum, you can make your own towers from Spaghetti and marshmallows. A single piece of spaghetti is pretty weak, but if you use lots of pieces you can build a strong, tall tower! Just like an engineer you’ll have to try different methods to make the tallest structure you can. The webpage gives some clues, but the fun is in making mistakes and trying new things to see what happens.
As the link suggests, you’ll just need spaghetti and marshmallows, the real challenge is trying to not eat them all before you’ve built anything!
- Dance Mat typing (7 + years)
Learning to type can be quite intimidating for young children. However, the smart people at Dance Mat typing have found a great way to teach children to type by turning it into a game. Suitable for children 7+, it’s a fun way to learn to type with cartoon characters leading you through the four levels, which get harder and harder as more letters are introduced.
Meet Our Scientists from The Invention Rooms – Summer Holiday Programme
Join our scientists for a Zoom chat about their research and get the chance to ask the questions that you want answered from an expert! From materials and volcanoes to space exploration, these sessions will give your family a chance to find out more about our cutting edge science.
Developed specially from The Invention Rooms for families living around the White City campus and aimed at 6 – 12 year olds – these interactive sessions are interactive, online and a great way for local families to learn about our science in a fun, relaxed way! Each virtual session is open to 15 families and last for 45 minutes.
We are running six Meet Our Scientists sessions running throughout summer from the 22nd July to the 26th August. Details on the first three sessions are below:
- Materials for the future with Jess and Rosie
July 22 10:30 and 14:00
From building houses for three little pigs to making a brand new bridge, getting the right material for the job is really important, but what do you do when you need new materials to do amazing new things? Well, you make your own! Join our experts Rosie and Jess and talk to them about what it takes to develop the materials of the future.
- Green Energy for the Future with Ellie and Louise
July 29 10:30 and 14:00
As climate change increases and fossil fuels run out, we know that we are going to have to get our energy from renewable, green sources. However getting energy is just half the problem, we also need to be able to store it on a massive scale! Join Ellie and Louise as we discover how scientists create and store green energy, discover why a cake can’t just get bigger and bigger, and have your chance to ask the questions about one of the most important science topics on the planet!
- Saturn Exploration with Omakshi
August 5 10:30 and 14:00
With its beautiful rings and amazing moons Saturn is one of the most interesting planets in the solar system, but how do we learn about a planet that is over a billion miles away? Join our researcher Omakshi as she talks about her research exploring the magnetic fields of Saturn and how scientists discover more about planets far away from Earth.
Latest News COVID-19
Read the latest news on Imperial’s work on COVID-19.
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