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01 Jun-01 Jun 2023

Ideas Studio

  • all ages
  • Maths

Make Your Own Tangram Puzzle

MathWorks: Join Claire as she explains what makes tangram puzzles so unique. Then make your own set and battle it out with David to make the most animals using your puzzle.
  • 8 and over
  • Design
  • Engineering

Rube Goldberg

MathWorks: Ross explores where creativity meets invention by taking a look at the Rube Goldberg machine. Get inspired to create your own mechanical masterpiece as Ross sets off his own incredible invention.
  • 11 and over
  • Data/Maths
  • Maths

Pull-up Nets

MathWorks: Tetrahedrons, octahedrons and cubes oh my! Join Orla and explore some pretty special 3D shapes that have intrigued humans for centuries. Then create your own exciting pull-up net!
  • all ages
  • Design
  • Materials

Marvellous Materials

MathWorks: Join Ross as he learns what materials are and how they can be useful. Then help Ross and Claire reduce waste materials by creating useful objects from old plastic bottles.
  • 8 and over
  • Design
  • Engineering

Automaton

MathWorks: What is an automaton? How does it work? Join Claire as she explores the original robots and shows us how to make our very own moving mechanical object!
  • 11 and over
  • Design
  • Engineering

What Floats Your Boat?

MathWorks: What makes a good boat float? Find out from Ross and Claire, as they try to create a boat and test out how much weight it can hold.
  • 13 and over
  • Engineering

A Spark of Science – Seeing Without Eyes

Eilidh and Natalie from the Centre for Doctoral Training for Applied Photonics explain how light travels and how this understanding can help us improve technology.
  • 13 and over
  • Engineering

A Spark of Science – Lasers

Find out about light, lasers and light engineering from Ben Szutor from the Centre for Doctoral Training for Applied Photonics.
  • 8 and over
  • Space

Yuri Gagarin

Let's go! 60 years after the first human flight into space, we're still exploring. Find out what the experience was like for Yuri Gagarin, as he blazed a historic trail into orbit.
  • 8 and over
  • Our Planet

Vertical Farming

In this episode of 'A Spark of Science,' learn about the practice of vertical farming and how it's transforming agriculture.
  • 8 and over
  • Engineering
  • Space

Satellites

Did you know that the Earth and Moon are natural satellites? Learn more in this week's 'A Spark of Science.'
  • 8 and over
  • Materials

Urban Mining

That junk drawer might be a cause of shame to many of us, but in this episode of 'A Spark of Science' find out how the contents could go on to have a new life...
  • all ages
  • Space

The Spark: Destination Space

Calling all space cadets! Come and explore the dust of Mars and the depths of space with this out-of-this-world issue of The Spark!
  • 8 and over
  • Space

The Mars Rover – Rosalind Franklin

Have you ever thought about what it would be like to go to Mars? Katie is here to tell us about an exciting new European Space Agency (ESA​) mission plus, get creative and make your own model rover from items you can find at home.
  • 8 and over
  • Computer Science

Make Your Own Codebreaker – Caesar Cipher

Find out how to send and receive your very own secret messages. James is here to talk you through making a Caesar Cipher that only you and your allies can decipher.
  • 8 and over
  • Design

Animation Station

Cartoons and animations are amazing - but how do they work? They use an optical illusion called persistence of vision!
  • 8 and over
  • Computer Science

Build a Computer

Computers are an integral part of our day-to-day lives - almost everything we own has a computer inside it! James explains the different parts of a computer, and what they do, whilst building his very own LEGO computer!
  • all ages
  • Design
  • Engineering

Land Yachts

What is a land yacht? Is it a car with a sail or a boat with wheels? A land yacht is a vehicle powered by the wind - it travels on land but it has both wheels and a sail. Andy shows us how to create a land yacht from everyday recycling.
  • 8 and over
  • Space

Space for Art

Artists have been inspired for generations by looking up at space. Nina from our Planetarium team shares a range of art and music inspired by space, or even made in space!
  • 8 and over
  • Design
  • Transport

Future Transport

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to design your own transport of the future. What will it look like? How will it be powered?
  • 8 and over
  • Space

The Webb Telescope

Due to be launched into space in 2021, the James Webb Space Telescope, or Webb Telescope for short, is set to build on the incredible results of the Hubble Telescope and see even more of the universe.
  • 8 and over
  • Engineering

Brilliant Bridges

How do bridges hold up so much weight? Join Ruairi as he conducts an experiment to find the most brilliant bridge!
  • 8 and over
  • Computer Science

Breakfast Bot

How do computers know what we want them to do? Coding! Find out how Alicia gets on as she tries to program a robot to make toast with jam and butter.