Science Oxford creates and delivers educational activities that enrich the science and technology curricula in schools. If you have an interest in developing activities in a particular area, we can help by generating ideas, supporting grant applications and making links with related organisations. Contact our schools team with any enquiries at [email protected].
Shows & Workshops (Primary)
In Schools
Micro:Bot Mazes
90 min coding workshop for KS2.
Students code a BBC micro:bit to control a robot buggy and explore the importance of testing and improving their designs.
In Schools
Micro:bit Codebreakers
120 min coding workshop for KS2.
Students will learn how to use a BBC micro:bit to send messages to each other, considering the importance of privacy while trying to work out who their secret agent partner is.
In Schools
Super Senses
60 min workshop for nursery, FS & KS1.
Students talk about their senses and complete a series of activities using all their senses. An exploratory introduction to science.
In Schools
Discover Materials
60 min workshop for FS & KS1.
Students discuss what different objects are made from and use their observations and knowledge to predict what will happen in a ‘drop tube’ test, before creating their own new material.
In Schools
Inventing Isobel
45 min show for FS & KS1.
Isobel is a great inventor, and comes up with loads of fantastic ideas! Your students help her to think about the properties of the materials she's using to solve her problems.
In Schools
Rocket Mice
45 min workshop for FS & KS1.
Students discuss how air can be used to make things move before launching paper mice with empty plastic bottles and comparing the outcomes.
In Schools
Amazing Animals
60 min show for EYFS & KS1.
An enormous variety of animals are found across the whole world. In this interactive show, your students are challenged to ask why there is such a range of different animals.
In Schools
Crafty Rafts
120 min workshop for KS1.
Pupils design and build rafts using a variety of materials, testing and refining their designs throughout the session.
In Schools
Creature Creations
60m workshop for KS1 & LKS2.
Pupils investigate species adaptation and learn about habitats by making their own ‘Super Animal’ out of soft dough and other materials.
In Schools
Egg Drop Challenge
120 min workshop for KS1 & KS2.
Pupils explore forces and the properties of materials to create a structure to save their egg from a fall.
In Schools
Water Rockets
120 min workshop for KS1 & KS2.
Students design and decorate plastic bottle rockets which are safely launched outside using water and compressed air. The rockets are spectacular and can reach heights of 30m, or can be launched horizontally as rocket cars.
In Schools
Water Wheels
60 min workshop for KS1 & KS2.
How will we keep the lights on when the fossil fuels run out? This workshop introduces some of the renewable and non-renewable ways that we generate electricity.
In Schools
Rocket Cars
120 min workshop for KS1 & KS2.
Students design and decorate plastic bottle rocket cars which are safely launched horizontally outside on a playground ‘race track’ using water and compressed air.
In Schools
Great Fire of London
60 min show for KS2.
What started the Great Fire in September 1666? How did it destroy so much of London? Would we be able to stop it today?
In Schools
K’Nex workshops
90 or 120 min workshops for Y2 & KS2.
Pupils become engineers and design, build and test working models using K’Nex. Workshop challenges include fairground rides, opening bridges, Mars Rovers and rubber band cars.
In Schools
Marble Mazes
45 min workshop for Y2 & KS2.
Students are challenged to create a route for a marble to travel through as slowly as possible without stopping. They discuss their ideas, test their designs and analyse what worked best.
In Schools
Changing Materials
90 min workshop for KS2.
"It will explode!"; "Nothing will happen."; "It will melt AND evaporate."
Your students test their predictions by heating up different materials.
In Schools
Crime Scene Science
75 min workshop for KS2.
A mystery white powder has been discovered at a crime scene and students must become forensic scientists to discover what it is by carrying out a series of chemical tests.
In Schools
The Fire Show
60 min show for KS2.
Fire: both the comfort of the hearth, and the danger of the inferno. We examine the nature of fire, answer your burning questions, and learn how fire can be controlled.
In Schools
Joining Forces
60 min show for KS2.
Why have we brought a skateboard to your school? How does a person survive a fall from an aeroplane? We investigate the nature of forces and motion with fun demonstrations.
In Schools
High and Dry
120 min workshop for UKS2.
Pupils are challenged to design and build a floating platform using a variety of materials. They test and refine their designs throughout this buoyant session.
In Schools
Science of Magic
60 min show for KS2.
Where did the water go? Why didn’t that fall over? How could an egg be taught to swim? Working scientifically, pupils try to figure out the science behind a series of amazing magic tricks.
In Schools
Sound of Science
60 min show for KS2.
We are surrounded by sound in our everyday lives, but how often do we really think about it? This show explores how we make sound, how we hear it, how we can use it and most importantly how we can enjoy it!
In Schools
Sound of Science (workshop)
60 min workshop for KS2.
What is a sound? Your students explore different ways of making noise in a carousel of activities before making their own musical instruments and performing an orchestral masterpiece.
In Schools
Spy School
60 min workshop for KS2.
Join our top secret spy school and battle through a series of maths challenges; including cracking codes, reading hidden messages, solving sequences and discovering hidden co-ordinates.
In Schools
Marvellous Maths
60 min show for UKS2.
"Where there is life there is a pattern, and where there is a pattern there is mathematics." Pupils will be challenged and engaged by a wide variety of mathematical topics.
In Schools
Circuit Detectives
75 min workshop for UKS2.
Students are challenged to find the faults in a series of electrical circuits, taking a systematic approach to problem solving.
In Schools
Evolution in Action
90 min workshop for UKS2.
Pupils learn about variation, natural selection, adaptation and evolution through a series of practical and discussion activities that really help to develop their understanding.
In Schools
Super Suckers
120 min workshop for UKS2.
Students learn how a basic motor works and use their knowledge of electrical circuits to build a working vacuum cleaner from everyday materials.