Science Oxford creates and delivers a wide range of exciting science workshops and shows that enrich the science and technology curricula in your school.
COVID-19 Update January 2021
Following the government announcement on the national lockdown, we will not able to visit schools and the Science Oxford Centre is now closed until further notice. We will contact schools booked for January and February as soon as possible and we will reopen for spring bookings as soon as we can. Please contact if you have any queries at [email protected] or call 01865 810 000 - we may take a little time to get back to you as many of our team are now part time furloughed, so please bear with us. Thanks for your support and understanding.
Booking ahead
We continue to risk assess all of our activities to ensure we can be COVID-secure when we visit your school. That process is ongoing and so some of the activities listed below may not be available. Please read our Outreach COVID Guidelines and our Risk Assessment for COVID-19.
To discuss health and safety arrangements for your school and to book a workshop or show, call 01865 810000 or email [email protected].
Shows & Workshops (Primary)
In SchoolsInventing Isobel
COVID-Secure
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 SchoolsRocket Mice
COVID-Secure
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 SchoolsAmazing Animals
COVID-Secure
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 SchoolsCreature Creations
COVID-Secure
60m workshop for KS1 & LKS2.
Children investigate species adaptation and learn about habitats by making their own ‘Super Animal’ out of soft dough and other materials.
In SchoolsEgg Drop Challenge
COVID-Secure
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 SchoolsWater Rockets
COVID-Secure
120 min workshop for KS1 & KS2.
Children 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 SchoolsRocket Cars
COVID-Secure
120 min workshop for KS1 & KS2.
Children design and decorate plastic bottle rocket cars which are safely launched horizontally outside on a playground ‘race track’ using water and compressed air.
In SchoolsGreat Fire of London
COVID-Secure
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 SchoolsK’Nex workshops
COVID-Secure
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 SchoolsMarble Mazes
COVID-Secure
45 min workshop for Y2 & KS2.
Children 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 SchoolsChanging Materials
COVID-Secure
90 min workshop for KS2.
"It will explode!"; "Nothing will happen."; "It will melt AND evaporate."
Your children test their predictions by heating up different materials.
In SchoolsCrime Scene Science
COVID-Secure
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 SchoolsThe Fire Show
COVID-Secure
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 SchoolsJoining Forces
COVID-Secure
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 SchoolsScience of Magic
COVID-Secure
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 SchoolsSound of Science
COVID-Secure
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 SchoolsEvolution in Action
COVID-Secure
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 SchoolsSuper Suckers
COVID-Secure
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.
In SchoolsSuper Senses
60 min workshop for nursery, FS & KS1.
Children talk about their senses and complete a series of activities using all their senses. An exploratory introduction to science.
In SchoolsDiscover Materials
60 min workshop for FS & KS1.
Children 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 SchoolsCrafty Rafts
120 min workshop for KS1.
Children design and build rafts using a variety of materials, testing and refining their designs throughout the session.
In SchoolsWater 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 SchoolsMicro:Bot Mazes
90 min coding workshop for KS2.
Children code a BBC micro:bit to control a robot buggy and explore the importance of testing and improving their designs.
In SchoolsMicro:bit Codebreakers
120 min coding workshop for KS2.
Children 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 SchoolsSound 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 SchoolsSpy 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 SchoolsMarvellous 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 SchoolsCircuit 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.