Calling All Parents Of 5 to 12-Year-Olds Looking
For A Modern Science Curriculum
-
Do you want to inspire your primary school child to learn and love modern 21st Century science?
-
Do you want them to have FUN while learning advanced science these holidays?
-
Do you want to leap frog them 10 years ahead of their school classes and set them up for confidence and success in high school and beyond?
Our 2-hour workshops are FUN. They're both hands-on and minds-on so they engage both your child's left side and right side of the brain. We target the Big Ideas in STEM and science rather than the "baby science" they get in school. Our core curriculum covers the Periodic Table, molecular theory, electric charges and protons, electrons and neutrons. We make it easy and fun for them to fly higher in their science journey.
See our advanced curriculum below.
Starter Workshop 1: Atoms and the Periodic Table
Discovering the Alphabet of the Universe
What They Learn
Your child will discover that just 92 different kinds of atoms make up their world. That they're invisibly tiny. That each has its own shorthand way of writing it, called its symbol. That each has its own special number, called its Atomic Number.
We call the Periodic Table the Alphabet Of The Universe because it contains the symbols for all 92 atoms found in Nature, plus some extra ones, arranged in order of increasing Atomic Numbers. Just like the normal alphabet, the Periodic Table is a list of letters that kids can use to build "words", that is, new substances just as Nature does. Your child learns about the nuts and bolts of the Universe.
What They Do
Their first activity is using an LED-powered 40 x magnifier and a 100 x microscope to make things look much bigger. Kids are so engrossed in this activity when they discover that their finger prints looks like mountains and valleys, a sand grain looks like a boulder, and their hair looks like a giant rope. This gives them a sense of scale in understanding that, to see an atom, they would need to magnify something a million times using an electron microscope.
The most important categories on the Periodic Table are the metals and non-metals. This is awesome because it turns out to be hugely fun to distinguish between them using an electric circuit containing a bulb. Your student will test different objects and if the bulb lights up, it is positive for a metal.
We finish the workshop with a literal bang by showing what happens when liquid nitrogen expands to a gas 700 times its own volume inside a balloon. We also demonstrate the difference between element number 7 (nitrogen) and element number 8 (oxygen) by their different response to a flame. We won't give the game away but it will be memorable.
What They Get
Each student will be given their own A4 Periodic Table to take home and stick to their wall. The Universe in their own bedroom!
Parents, You're Invited
This can be done by zapping the atoms with electricity, heating them up, or using other forms of energy. When the electrons absorb this extra energy, they become like kids on a high-energy playground - we say they're in an "excited state." Imagine the electrons on higher floors, feeling all thrilled and buzzing with excitement! But don’t imagine too hard, because as far as we know, electrons don’t really feel things.
Starter Workshop 2: Magic Molecules
Making the Molecules of Life
What they learn
Did you know that children find molecules pretty easy to understand? They are fascinated how atoms can bond together and even follow specific bonding rules. Your kids can even learn to write structural and molecular formulas like H2O and CH4! And by learning this language of real scientists they are being prepared for future success.
Surprisingly, though, primary schools tend to avoid teaching this exciting topic. However, we believe it's time to change that! Our fantastic workshop makes learning about molecules a breeze!
In this workshop, we'll start with the Fabulous Four molecules which all use single bonds: hydrogen, H2, water, H2O, ammonia NH3, and methane CH4. Following that we will delve into the Terrific Three molecules which involve double and triple bonds: O2, CO2 and N2.
These seven molecules aren't just important in our everyday lives, they also serve as powerful demonstrations of underlying chemical principles.
What they do
Your student will play with our interactive (and patented) Sticky Atoms models, allowing students to visualize the four chemical valencies of different atoms and understand how single, double and triple bonds hold them together.
But that's just the beginning! Prepare for an extraordinary accomplishment as your children combine these seven molecules and unlock the very building blocks of life itself. They will discover the remarkable power of molecular combination as they create amino acids and even protein molecules. It's astonishing to think that even older high school students rarely have the chance to explore such advanced concepts.
By grasping these fundamental principles at an early age, your children will gain a head start in their scientific journey. They will establish a solid foundation in Inorganic Chemistry and Biochemistry, paving the way for future success in STEM education. This achievement will set them apart and create exciting opportunities that lie ahead.
Your Atomic School Instructors
Our workshops are run by knowledgeable and experienced science communicators who are skilled in making advanced concepts easy to understand to kids (and adults) Our expert instruction builds understanding of fundamental science concepts. This is reinforced by carefully designed hands-on activities that reinforce their understanding. Finally, we do fun and spectacular demonstrations that have that WOW factor which kids will remember and talk about with their friends.
Starter Workshop 3: Protons, Neutrons and Electrons The Secret Electric Life of Atoms
In this electrifying workshop, your child will embark on a hands-on journey to uncover the secrets of electricity and the inner workings of atoms. Prepare for some astonishing experiments that will leave them in awe!
What They Learn
Through simple yet dramatic electrostatic experiments, they'll discover that there’s electricity inside matter. These experiments will also illuminate the concept that electric force can be both attractive and repulsive, grows stronger with the amount of charge, yet weaker with distance.
Protons and electrons, the fundamental charge-carriers of Nature, hold the key to an atom's "personality." Your child will grasp why the Periodic Table is structured the way it is and why atoms occupy specific positions within it. It's like solving a puzzle that even high school students struggle with, but we'll explain it clearly so that primary kids can master it with ease.
We'll unravel the mystery of how atoms are composed of protons and neutrons nestled in the nucleus, while electrons gracefully orbit in shells on the outside. It's like peering into the very core of matter! They will gain a profound understanding of the modern definition of Atomic Number, which represents the number of protons located within the nucleus. It's an essential concept that lays the foundation for their scientific journey.
What They Do
Our workshop kicks off with exciting activities involving electric charges. Your child will make pieces of paper dance, witness their hair stand on end, and even push an aluminum can with a charged rod. It's an adventure filled with surprises!
Hold onto your seats as they witness their instructor bravely encounter a 400,000V Van de Graff generator, creating mini-bolts of lightning. The machine even has the power to make cupcakes soar through the air like a fountain! These thrilling demonstrations will set the stage for understanding the intricate workings of atoms.
To help your child grasp the layout of protons, electrons, and neutrons within atoms, we employ our exclusive Atom Maker model. It mimics the structure of an atom, making it a breeze to understand how protons and electrons interact with each other and within themselves. It's a key to unlocking the secrets of the world around us!
%20Wikipedia%20cropped.jpg)
Advanced Workshop: Photosynthesis
How Plants Make Your Food and O2
Photosynthesis is like a plant’s recipe for making its own food! Using sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide from the air, plants create glucose, a type of sugar that is just prefect for our fuel. That has to be the worlds best deal for us humans!
Here’s how it works: the leaves absorb sunlight, which powers a chemical reaction. In this reaction, the plant takes in carbon dioxide and water from the soil, then rearranges them to make glucose and releases oxygen into the air. This process not only feeds the plant but also produces the oxygen we breathe. Photosynthesis is nature’s way of turning sunlight into life-supporting energy for almost all living things!
You'll look through a microscope and discover the little holes in the leaf where CO2 molecules enter and the O2 leave the plant. These holes in the leaf are called stomata and you can think of them like little plant "noses" for exchanging gases with the outside world.
6CO2+6H2O+light energy→C6H12O6+6O2
Advanced Workshop: The Secrets of Water, Light & Sound Waves
Discover the Exciting World of Quantum Leaps!
Waves are like the high-fives of the universe! They’re all about energy moving through a medium—whether that’s water, air, or even solid ground—without the actual material traveling along. Picture yourself doing “the wave” at a stadium: each person stands up and sits down, but the wave of motion travels around the whole crowd.
Waves have cool characteristics like:
-
Wavelength: The distance between two crests (the highest points).
-
Frequency: How many waves pass a point in a second.
-
Amplitude: The height of the wave, which shows how strong it is.
There are different types of waves:
-
Water waves: Think of the ripples when you toss a pebble into a pond.
-
Sound waves: Vibrations traveling through the air that let you hear your favorite music.
-
Light waves: These waves can travel through the vacuum of space, bringing sunlight to Earth and letting you see everything around you.
🌊🎶🌈
So, next time you see waves at the beach, hear a song, or see a rainbow, you’ll know it’s all about waves bringing energy and information in the most awesome ways!
All atoms can make light. How do they do this?
The atom's electrons occupy energy levels like the floors of a building, with the ground floor being the lowest energy level and higher floors representing higher energy levels. Just like how we get excited when we receive a surprise gift or experience something new, atoms' electrons can also get excited when they receive extra energy!
What better way for parents to support their child's learning than to join them at no extra charge? You might even have some "ah ha" moments when you remember long-lost science concepts, or discover new ones that blow your mind. Some parents get as much out of it as their kids.
If you can't make it, that's fine. We will provide the best learning opportunities for them to grow their science while at the same time meeting new friends and having holiday fun.
And here’s the fascinating part. The colour or wavelength of the light depends on how far they fall. This means we can figure out how far apart the energy levels are by measuring the light’s wavelength. It's like being a detective and solving the mystery of the atom's energy levels!
Advanced Workshop: Electromagnetism
How It Makes the World Go Round
Buckle up for a mind-blowing revelation: electricity and magnetism are like BFFs, two peas in a pod! It's like a cosmic connection – electricity can whip up magnets, and magnets can conjure electricity. Mind. Blown.
Why does this matter, you ask? Well, we've harnessed this dynamic duo to create the coolest contraptions on the block – electric motors and their funky cousins, electric generators. The best part? We're not stuck relying solely on batteries to power our homes or devices. But hey, having both options is like having your cake and eating it too.
Now, imagine diving into a workshop where the magic happens. You'll get the inside story on magnetic fields, and even map their field lines courtesy of your everyday magnet. Ever wondered how electricity can flex its muscles and create a magnetic field? We'll unravel that mystery too. But hold on to your lab coats because we're flipping the script – you'll learn how to turn a magnetic field into electricity. Ta-da! Along the way, you'll be the wizard behind the curtain, crafting your very own electric motor, a legit transformer (no Hollywood glam here), and the world's simplest electric train. Get ready for a wild ride through the electrifying wonderland of magnets and electricity – where science meets pure, unadulterated FUN! 🚀✨
Advanced Workshop: Ionic vs Covalent Substances
How Protons & Electrons Glue the World Together
Ionic and covalent substances are all around us, and they're also on the cutting edge of technology. Of course, lithium ION batteries are fast revolutionising our economy and this workshop will allow your student to quickly grasp what a lithium ion is, and why it's better than many others.
It's protons and electrons that determine whether a substance is ionic or covalent. By understanding how they are organised inside atoms using our hands-on Atom Maker, we can easily work out why some combinations of atoms lead to an ionic compound like salt (NaCl) and others to covalent substances like water (H2O).
Advanced Workshop: Organic Chemistry
Discover The Building Blocks Of Life
Life on Earth started about 4 billion years ago! While we're still figuring out exactly where—whether in the air, sea, or on asteroids from outer space—we do know that just four kinds of atoms played a starring role: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen, which together make up over 96% of our weight.
Carbon is the ultimate ringmaster because it loves making four bonds with other atoms. Together with small amounts of sulfur and phosphorus, they combine to form carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, and DNA, the blueprint of life. What a spectacular molecular orchestra they make!
In this workshop, you'll first build molecular models of hydrocarbons, the rock stars of the chemistry world, made up of just hydrogen and carbon. They’re the foundation of all kinds of cool stuff, from the fuel in your car to the building blocks of plastics to the backbone of many molecules in your body. You’ll even get to burn hydrocarbons and then test the combustion products to see what they make. Get ready for some hands-on chemistry fun!
Put on your safety goggles and discover how burning organic molecules forms CO2 and H2O.
Then we’ll throw in some oxygen atoms to spice things up and make alkanols (aka alcohols, such as ethanol), alkanals (aka aldehydes, such as formaldehyde), alkanones (aka ketones, such as acetone), and alkanoic acids (aka carboxylic acids, such as acetic acid in vinegar). Soon you will be able to identify an organic compound like a pro.
Finally, we’ll give you some wildcard molecules with distinct personalities, which you might have already met in real life without realizing it—like ethyl acetate found in fruit, benzaldehyde found in almonds, and vanillin found in, you guessed it, vanilla beans.
Get ready for a fun and fragrant exploration of the amazing world of organic chemistry!
.png)
96% of living things are made of just four elements- carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen. With these building blocks the key molecules of life including amino acids, carbohydrates, lipids can be made. Adding sulfur and phosphorous also builds all the proteins, RNA and DNA. Our bodies need another 50 of the elements, but they account for only about 4% of us. And it’s good to dodge mercury, lead, arsenic and the radioactive ones.
Aluminium is a strange case as it’s the 3rd most abundant kind of atom on earth, yet our bodies have not found a use for it. Luckily we have found a use for it as the bodies of aeroplanes, cars and Coke cans.
Advanced Workshop: Polymers
How Molecules Make Daisy Chains!
Polymers are like molecular chains made up of repeating smaller units called monomers. Imagine a string of beads, where each bead is a monomer, and the whole string is the polymer! These chains can be long, short, stretchy, stiff, or flexible depending on how they’re arranged. Polymers are everywhere around us: in nature, they form things like DNA (which carries our genetic information) and cellulose (which makes up plant walls). Humans have also invented synthetic polymers, like plastic, rubber, and nylon, which we use in countless products. Polymers are incredibly versatile, making them essential in everything from clothing to technology!
