Science Oxford Recommends

Our Science Oxford team recommend and review online STEM resources for families and schools.

Check out the latest STEM activities and resources to use in school or at home with family. It could be a great activity guide, an interesting video, a science quiz, something new and fun to try, or a good book to inspire big thinking.

Choose from these great online resources:

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Seed gathering season

Get involved in The Tree Council’s Seed Gathering Season, from 23 September to 23 October. You’ll find lots of practical information on how to identify, prepare and grow seeds into trees, shrubs and hedgerows of the future.

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British Science Week 2024

Plan ahead for British Science Week 2024, which takes place from 8 to 17 March, with the theme of ‘Time’. They’ve made available great free activity packs for you to download and use in your classroom any time.

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National Coding Week

National Coding Week takes place from the third Monday of September each year. Science Oxford’s Technology Projects Officer Sarah recommends participating in the Astro Pi Mission Zero.

The Wild Escape

The Wild Escape celebrates UK wildlife and creativity. They’ve got some great ideas for how you can participate too.

National Insect Week

Insect Week runs from 19th to 25th June, when we focus attention on raising awareness and celebrating the importance of insects in our world, including the roles they play in pollination or breaking down organic materials. Join in the activities from home or school, and learn more about these important ‘minibeasts’.

World Bee Day

World Bee Day on 20 May is the opportunity to celebrate the wonderful world of bees! It is also a day to raise awareness of the importance of bees and other pollinators, which are crucial for our food production, and the health of the planet. Enjoy some learning activities from the British Beekeepers Association.

Wild Senses

These ‘Wild Senses!’ resources are about nocturnal animals and their ‘super senses’, and contain links to KS2 and KS3 curricula.

My Science Club

We love the simplicity of the quality material produced by My Science Club! If you’re keen on running a science club, then they can help with some great resources.

Online science shows

Check out our online science shows for primary schools

Watch now

Make you own nest box

Finding more homes for birds in celebration of National Nest Box Week in February

IF Oxford online

IF Oxford science and ideas festival offers a range of ‘On Demand’ interactive online talks and activities for all ages

Starters for Science

A series of five-minute videos created to support teachers to get started with practical science enquiry

Puzzle Day

Free puzzle activities from the Science Oxford Centre team and Primary Science Teaching Trust / Science Sparks.

NASA Space Place

Have a go at making your own spacecraft or a rocket you can actually launch

National Children's Gardening Week

Fun outdoor activities for families at home or children at school over summer

Sensory Science

Sensory Science is a series of short films, created by one of our Big Science Event at Home judges, Dr Sarah Bearchell.

The ABCs of COVID-19

The science behind the pandemic that changed our lives – a book by Jen Harper

Marble Roller Coaster

Build a Marble Roller Coaster and other great STEM Inventions.

BBC Great British Bunting

The BBC ran a ‘Great British Bunting’ campaign in 2020 to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the end of the Second World War. You can use their resources to make your own bunting to celebrate many upcoming occasions.

Barclays Code Playground

If you enjoyed coding a micro:bit and are looking for more fun computing activities, check out Barclays Code Playground on YouTube…

Rube Goldberg Video Challenge

Enter the Rube Goldberg official challenge!

Animal Adaptations

If you enjoyed our Creature Creations Challenge, why not try these amazing Animal Adaptations at home or in school

Mary Anning - A fossil hunter's story

The award-winning short film, Sea Dragon, tells Mary Anning’s incredible story and sets the scene for a series of enquiry-based activities – for upper KS2 aged children.

Good reads for the bookworm in your family

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Am I Made of Stardust?

Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock (MBE) is a space scientist, celebrated STEM educator and communicator, and presenter of the long-standing BBC’s The Sky at Night. She is passionate about encouraging young people to pursue their “big, crazy dreams” and to answer big questions. Her latest book Am I Made of Stardust? is full of amazing facts about the Universe to excite you about learning more and exploring Space.

More info

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The Truth Detective

Did you know Florence Nightingale was a ‘truth detective’? She looked at the data and used a pie chart to show why good hygiene and sanitation in medicine was so important to saving lives. You can read this interesting story and others in Tim Harford’s new book, The Truth Detective, in which he helps young people “make sense of a world that doesn’t add up”.

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The Greatest Show on Earth

Mini Grey is an award-winning author and illustrator, and her book The Greatest Show on Earth will take you on a whistle-stop tour through the story of life on Earth, a story that covers 4.6 billion years!

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Summer reading

A long summer holiday is the perfect time to open and dive into the pages of a good book, learn new things and let the imagination wonder. With Book Lover’s Day on 9 August, it’s also the perfect time to celebrate books and the way they enrich us. Our team has put forward some recommendations for summer science reading for various ages.

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