Calling All Parents Of 5 to 12-Year-Olds Looking
For A Modern Science Curriculum
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Do you want to inspire your primary school child to learn and love modern 21st Century science?
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Do you want them to have FUN while learning advanced science these holidays?
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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.
Special Offers
Up to 25% discount is available for siblings and multiple bookings. See here for details.
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
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.
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!
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Advanced Workshop: Ionic & Covalent Bonds
How You and the World are held together!
These bonds literally hold our world together, alongside metallic bonds, each with its own superpower—ionic bonds power electrolytes like salt, covalent bonds form life’s foundation like amino acids, and metallic bonds conduct electricity like champs!
And we'll show you how to tell the difference.
We’ll dive into four “s” substances: salt (ionic lattices), sugar (covalent molecules), sand (covalent lattices), and sodium (a metallic lattice in a sea of electrons). Your kids will love uncovering the unique personalities of ionic and covalent bonds in this hands-on workshop!
This is a high-concept version of science primary students are not used to receiving. They will dive into the very protons and electrons and discover how these funcamental charge carriers creates bind atoms in our Universe together. That is the essence of Chemistry itself!
electron transfer
To get the best from this workshop, your child should have attended the Starter Workshop 3: Protons, Electrons and Neutrons workshop earlier.
Advanced Workshop: Electrochemistry
Where Batteries are Born!
Ionic substances take center stage here, generating electricity in batteries or driving electrolysis to extract aluminum from bauxite (Al₂O₃). Batteries are key to our energy future, storing solar power for later use—soon, EV car batteries might power homes, charging by day and plugging in at night!
Kids will build their own batteries and explore electrolysis hands-on—what an exciting adventure! Using a multimeter they can measure the electrical voltage driving the charged electrons from one electrode to the other.
This workshop shows how some metals have a stronger affinity for electrons than others, leading to a concept called the Electrochemical Series.
They will directly observe how positive blue opper ions which are missing a couple of electrons have the power to steal electrons from the iron atoms of a nail, turning the copper ions back into neutral orange jetallic copper atoms again. You can think of it as a competition for electrons, and some are better than others. The iron nail is copper-plated which transforms how it looks. It demonstrates that different metals have different abilities to attract electrons to them, thus driving the chemical reaction.
This is Chemistry before their eyes!
Comparing all metals (and some nonmetals) tells scientists how to design the best batteries in the world. The world desperately needs more clever electrochemists to make scientific and technological breakthroughs. Could you child be one of them?
To get the best from this advanced Electrochemistry workshop, your child should have attended the Ionic and Covalent Bonding workshop earlier.