Are you ready for Science Week 2021? Taking place in Ireland from November 6th to 14th 2021, we have picked out some fantastic family-friendly events that you won’t want to miss!
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Sweets, superheroes, constellations and more!
There are lots of fun events taking place this year online to celebrate Science Week, here’s just a small selection of ones that caught our eye.
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Extraordinary Science Week Events
Circus Science with Dr Ken Farquhar
Date: November 6th
Roll up, roll up. It’s time to check out the science behind the circus.
Champion juggler and scientist Dr Ken explores the scientific principles behind skilful circus tricks and dangerous stunts.
Hold onto your seats as he eats fire, cracks whips and juggles 5 beanbags! You will find out why jugglers love gravity, how clowns use ‘the force’ like a Jedi and if unicyclists keep moving to stay still. It’s science but not as you may know it!
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The Amazing Wonderstruck Air Powered Rockets
Build paper and card rockets and blast off at the Sligo Science Festival event!
Participants work in pairs or individually to build paper and card rockets. Once complete, we launch the rockets from our custom built launchers, supplying launch pressures up to 100 psi!
The main STEM topics covered in this workshop are: Forces, Aerodynamics & Friction, as well as more holistic skills such as team working, communication, investigation etc.
For more information and to book tickets, click here.
The Science of WandaVision
Date: November 8th
Visit the magical, scientific world of WandaVision with the Superhero Scientist Barry Fitzgerald!
In early 2020, the Disney+ series WandaVision arrived to much-deserved adulation. The series features one of the MCU’s favourite couples – Wanda Maximoff and Vision – as they settle into life in a small town. But all is not as it seems, and Wanda’s world is built on puzzlement and magic.
And there’s a lot to explore here. You’ll get the answers to questions like ‘What is the science behind Wanda’s magic?’, ‘Is it possible to build a synthetic digestive system for Vision?’, and ‘Could someone really run as fast as Pietro Maximoff?’
For more information and to register for tickets, click here.
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The Science of Star Wars
Date: November 9th
Star Wars may be based in a fictional galaxy far, far away, but the science and engineering behind its astonishing technologies is very real.
Star Wars is filled with exotic alien worlds and incredibly advanced technologies. But which technologies are scientifically accurate? And what is the science behind these technologies?
In The Science of Star Wars, brought to you by Kildare Library and Arts Service, you’ll be taken on a scientific journey through some of the iconic gadgets, gizmos, and structures central to the adventures of Luke Skywalker, Rey, Han Solo, and others. Questions that will be addressed include “Can we build a Death Star”, “How could the hyperdrive work?”, and “Is it possible to make a real lightsabre?”
For more information and to book tickets, click here.
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The Science of Sweets
Date: November 10th
Join Gastronaut and TV presenter Stefan Gates, who has written and presented dozens of shows for BBC1, BBC2, BBC4, CBBC and Channel 5.
Stefan has put together a fabulously entertaining yet educational look at the Science of Sweets for the Cavan Monaghan Science Festival.
For more information, click here.
The Science of Chocolate
Date: November 10th
Join Christine Campbell of Anyone4Science and Dr Craig Slattery of UCD to explore the chemistry of chocolate. There’s a lot of great science and chemistry in chocolate. How do we taste things and why do we like sweetness ? We like creamier chocolate because it tastes and feels different to us, and that difference is all down to particle size. Dark chocolate and cacao contain an amino acid called tryptophan that your brain uses to produce the neurotransmitter Serotonin, which can increase feelings of overall happiness. Serotonin is the feel-good chemical and influences your mood.
This event will also explore the processing of chocolate from bean to bar and we’d also explore how to make amazing chocolate sauce using water, even though chocolate is hydrophobic.
For more information and to book tickets, click here.
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Live Ice Cream Making Workshop
Date: November 13th
Join Anyone4Science in a live ice-cream making workshop. Anyone4Science likes ice-cream making for a very unusual reason. The reason is because we can make our very own freezers! In fact, you can make your own freezer, too!
Join in on Zoom for this workshop to learn interesting facts about this frozen treat and most importantly a salty secret, that will show you how people used to keep their food cool during the summer months centuries before electricity was invented.
For more information and to book tickets, click here.
Constellation Inspiration: Online Music & Science Workshops
Date: November 13th
Discover amazing star constellations visible from Earth such as Ursa Major and Orion and learn about the vastness of distances in space. Find out about the Golden Record – a really special collection of music and sounds from Earth that was placed on the Voyager space craft over 40 years ago and is still travelling through space.
Inspired by these and other wonders of the universe, you’ll get to create your own out-of-this world music in response with this workshop run by The Ark. You might even compose a music track for your own Golden Record!
Led by musicians Anita Mahon and Bryan Jardim who are both passionate about space, this workshop will ignite your fascination for science and music in one.
Suitable for ages 7+. For more information and to book tickets, click here.
Giraffe Habitat Challenge
Date: November 13th at 3pm
Dublin Zoo is calling on you to participate in the virtual Giraffe Habitat Challenge. This innovative workshop tasks budding young designers to try their hand at designing a new giraffe habitat.
Children will hear from zookeepers, engineers and sustainability experts from Dublin Zoo’s sustainability partner SSE Airtricity, while working with a Dublin Zoo educator to design a new giraffe habitat.
This one-hour programme is suitable for children aged 9-12. For more information and to book tickets, click here.
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Regional Science Week 2021 Festivals
There are regional Science Week 2021 Festivals taking place around the country with online events:
- Cavan & Monaghan Science Festival
- Cork Science Festival
- Festival of Farming & Food Teagasc, Galway
- Galway Science & Technology Festival
- Limerick Festival of Science
- Mayo Science & Technology Festival
- Midlands Science Festival
- Southeast Science Festival
- Sligo Science Festival
- Tipperary Festival of Science
- WexSci Wexford Science Festival
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