Professional Groups

Fun primary school physics for you to take into schools

Aims
Website
Workshops
Topics
Contact the team

Aims:

• To excite the interest of young children in physics
• To support the teaching of physics (science) at Key Stages 1 and 2

Pilot meetings showed that there were a large number of physicists interested in visiting primary schools and they requested ready-made material that was fun and at the correct level. Ten presentations were developed by the EPSRC PPE funded team, from the University of Sheffield, and are now on the Institute of Physics PIPS website. All the material is free to download.

Workshops:

Training/workshops are being held across the UK for physicists who are interested. These introduce the material, provide opportunities to try activities and save a lot of preparation time. An invitation to the forthcoming workshops.

Sixteen  have taken place and more are being planned. Grateful thanks are due to all those involved at the universities of Manchester, Sheffield, Liverpool, Cambridge, Cardiff, Durham and Birmingham and to Daresbury STFC as well as to the local branches.

To come soon:

University of Salford on 19 June 2008, 14:00 to 17:00 after lunch at 13:00

Daresbury Laboratory STFC on 16 July 2008, 13:30 to 16:30

During the BA Festival at Liverpool on 09 September 2008

University of Keele on 22 October, 13:00 to 16:00

 If you would like to attend a workshop or are able to host a workshop at your place of work, then contact Ann Marks - email a.marks@sheffield.ac.uk

The website includes: 

• Detailed descriptions of all activities
• PowerPoint slides
• Details of apparatus – uses kit found around the home hence less than £20 per topic
• Video clips of the team presenting sessions in schools
• Safety notes checked by an ex Director of CLEAPSS
• Advice from experts - before you start

10 Topics:

1. Electricity
2. Forces and Gravity
3. Forces and Magnets
4. Sound
5. Solids
6. Light 
7. Solids, Liquids and Gases – Liquid Nitrogen 
8. Sunlight and Space Travel
9. Forces and Springs 
10. Earth and Solar System

The sessions:

• Are fun!
• Start from basics and link with the curriculum
• Go beyond the curriculum to link science with their everyday lives
• Involve the children in activities
• Encourage the children to ask questions
• Are free
• Use mainly everyday objects
• Are complete but can be modified by users to suit the length required, kit available and their own experience

Messages:

• PHYSICS IS EVERYWHERE
• Doing physics/science is exciting
• There are lots of questions that have not been answered
• ‘Perhaps one day you will answer one of them’

The team:

Professor Gillian Gehring
Professor David Mowbray
Dr Susan Cartwright
Dr Richard de Grijs
Dr David Lidzey
Ann Marks

Lessons learnt:

• “In my view the really important message is how much the schools appreciate this!” – Gillian Gehring – Project PI
• “I agree - primary schools really need these activities universities have concentrated on secondary schools.” Prof David Mowbray – team member
• Children replicate activities at home safely
• Scientists become real people to the children
• Researchers add material linked with their work
• Those going into schools have as much fun as the children!

Ann Marks MBE CPhys FInstP 
Physics Education Consultant
Department of Physics and Astronomy
University of Sheffield

Email: a.marks@sheffield.ac.uk

Website: www.iop.org/pips

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