Live Lab
From learning about blood to extracting strawberry DNA, snail racing or identifying animal skulls, the Live Lab is a drop-in space in the Exploration Zone where we can share short demos and hands-on activities for our visitors on Family Days. Live Lab activities typically last up to 15 minutes, and the activities are run either by local experts, giving families a chance to meet and talk to visiting scientists about their research, or our own Science Oxford team.
Live Lab activities give families an opportunity to discuss different areas of science and provide children and adults with opportunities to design and carry out their own short experiments. Children can develop their science skills and vocabulary, and feel like a real scientist!
Live Lab sessions run regularly as part of our Family Days from October through to March. They are subject to staffing and availability, so please check details when you book. (Please note Live Labs are not available for STEM club visitors.)
The development of the Live Lab programme has been supported by the Evolution Education Trust as well as by local scientists providing activities.
Live Lab activities include:
Indicators: Find out more about these special chemical ‘detectives’. Make your own indicator and use it to test and experiment with a range of household products.
Seeing Differently: Look at different types of visual impairment with a range of special glasses. Can you still read an eye chart, unlock a box, find an object or make a cup of tea?
Snail Racing: Learn more about snails, their habitats, adaptations and behaviours, and how to care for them as pets. Test your understanding with a bet on a snail race!
Strawberry DNA: Find out more about inheritance and our ‘recipe for life’. Why is life so varied and can you design and carry out your own experimental method for getting the DNA out of a strawberry?
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