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Spring STEM Guide

Welcome to the Spring 2023 edition of our seasonal STEM guides! It contains:

  • STEM related Spring events and themed days/weeks
  • Quick, easy website and activity suggestions for how to get involved (click on the pictures to find out more)
  • Spring STEM resource recommendations

Diaries at the ready! The events listed below are a really good way to help theme your STEM activities and help children to make real-world links. Spring is full of new life; from tree buds and colourful bulbs emerging from the ground to lambs, frogspawn and early butterflies. Spring is a hopeful time when we can spend longer outside and enjoy all the season has to offer. Make the most of it with these STEM events.

International Women’s Day (8th March)

International Women’s Day is an annual event. It’s all about celebrating women’s achievements, raising awareness against bias and taking action for equality. t is a way to show how women have and continue to influence the world. As well as celebrating brilliant women, it’s also used as a day to highlight and raise awareness about issues that women still face. Whether deliberate or unconscious, bias makes it difficult for women to move ahead. Knowing that bias exists isn’t enough, action is needed to level the playing field.

How to get involved…

British Science Week (10-19th March)

British Science Week is a ten-day celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths that takes place between 10-19th March. British Science Week provides a platform to stimulate and support teachers, STEM professionals, science communicators and the general public to produce and participate in STEM events and activities.

The theme for the 2023 activity packs is ‘Connections’.

How to get involved…

World Water Day (22nd March)

World Water Day is a UN observance day, with the aim to highlight the importance of freshwater. It celebrates water and raises awareness of the 2.2 billion people living without access to safe water. It is all about taking action to tackle the global water crisis. 

The UN uses this day to highlight the importance of water usage and the effects it can have on climate change. The campaign shows how our use of water can help reduce floods, droughts, scarcity and pollution, and how it can help fight climate change itself.

How to get involved…

National Robotics Week (1-8th April)

The mission of National Robotics Week (RoboWeek) is simple: to inspire students into robotics and STEM related fields, and share the excitement of robotics across all ages. It showcases the strength of the industry and the amazing things yet to come. Activities can come in all shapes and sizes from a robot themed party to a robotics competition.

How to get involved…

Earth Day (22nd April)

The Earth Day 2023 Theme is Invest In Our Planet. This is the moment to change it all — the business climate, the political climate, and how we take action on climate. Now is the time for the unstoppable courage to preserve and protect our health, our families, our livelihoods… together, we must Invest In Our Planet.

How to get involved…

International Astronomy Day (29th April)

International Astronomy Day is a worldwide event which is observed annually on the 7th May. It’s intended to promote greater education and understanding of the universe, as well as the ways in which we can observe it. Star-gazing, visits to planetariums and astronomy workshops are common activities.

How to get involved…

Spring STEM Resource Recommendations

Here are a few of our ‘must have’ Spring STEM resources. We think you’ll come back to them year after year with your children! Click on each picture to view it on Amazon.

Have we missed off a winter STEM event or a ‘must have’ winter STEM resource? If so then add it to the comments below. (note: this is a UK based website so some events have a UK focus).

The Big Blog of Seasonal STEM Books

seasonal stem

These seasonal STEM books are a great starting point for STEM learning. Use them to find out more about real-world STEM and perhaps even inspire an activity!

Simply scroll down to the Spring, Summer, Autumn or Winter sections to find out more about each book. Click on the image to find the book on Amazon.

SPRING

SUMMER

AUTUMN

WINTER

 

Have we missed a great seasonal book? Comment below and we’ll add it on.

Winter STEM Guide

Welcome to the Winter 2023/24 edition of our seasonal STEM guides! It contains:

  • STEM related winter events and themed days/weeks
  • Quick, easy website and activity suggestions for how to get involved (click on the pictures to find out more)
  • Wintery STEM resource recommendations

Diaries at the ready! The events listed below are a really good way to help theme your STEM activities and help children to make real-world links. From frosty starts to roaring fires, from festive feels to valentines joy, Winter is a time to get cosy and enjoy all the season has to offer. Make the most of it with these STEM events.

Computer Science Week (6-12th December 23)

Computer Science Education Week (CSEdWeek) is an annual call to action to inspire children to learn computer science, advocate for equity in computer science education, and celebrate the contributions of students, teachers, and partners to the field. This week is held in recognition of the birthday of Admiral Grace Murray Hopper (9th Dec 1906) who coined the term “bug” (an error in a program) after removing an actual moth from a computer in 1947!

How to get involved…

Christmas (25th December)

‘It’s the most wonderful time of the year!’

There are lots of Christmas activities that make great STEM links. Make the most of the darker, cosier evenings by curling up with a wintery STEM book. See below for our ‘seasonal STEM books’ recommendations. Plus, keep your eyes peeled for our STEM advent calendar! Behind each door is a quick, easy STEM activity that you can do with children.

How to get involved…

RSPB’s Big School’s Birdwatch (8th Jan- 19th Feb 2024)

RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch (26-28th Jan 2024)

Big Garden Birdwatch: Be wowed by your local wildlife. Simply count the birds you see in your garden, from your balcony or in your local park for one hour between 26-28th January 2024.

Big School’s Birdwatch: If you’re a teacher, why not take part in the RSPB’s Big School’s Birdwatch. You can submit your results on the RSPB website from the 8th Jan-19th Feb.

RSPB’s Big Schools’ Birdwatch is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, and the reason it’s been going for so long is because it’s such valuable work. The results that schools submit to the RSPB are used by scientists to help create a picture of how birds are faring across the UK.

How to get involved…

NSPCC Numbers Day (2nd February 2024)

Join schools across the UK on Friday 2nd February 2024 for the NSPCC’s mega maths fundraising day.

Take part in Dress up for Digits and have a fun-filled day of maths activities and games, while raising money to support our services such as Childline.

The money you raise could help the NSPCC run its Speak out Stay safe programme to help children understand what abuse is and what to do if they’re scared or worried.

How to get involved…

Safer Internet Day (6th February 2024)

Safer Internet Day 2024 will be celebrated on the 6th February with the theme ‘inspiring change’.

From gaming and chat, to streaming and video, young people are shaping the interactive entertainment spaces they are a part of. Safer Internet Day 2024 celebrates young people’s role in creating a safer internet, whether that is whilst gaming and creating content, or interacting with their friends and peers.

How to get involved…

Engineers Week (18-24th February 2024)

Founded by NSPE in 1951, Engineers Week (18-24th February 2024) is dedicated to ensuring a diverse and well-educated future engineering workforce by increasing understanding of and interest in engineering and technology careers.

Engineers Week celebrates the positive contributions that engineers have made to the quality of life. It’s also an opportunity to increase diversity within the workplace, reinforce good education, and increase interest and understanding of the trade.

Celebrating Engineers Week enables young people to be inspired and motivated to get involved in engineering, especially if teachers and parents contribute. Dedicating lesson time to engineering will help children to understand the basics, so they can decide if they want to pursue it as a career.

How to get involved…

Winter STEM Resource Recommendations

Here are a few of our ‘must have’ Winter STEM resources. We think you’ll come back to them year after year with your children! Click on each picture to view it on Amazon.

Have we missed off a winter STEM event or a ‘must have’ winter STEM resource? If so then add it to the comments below. (note: this is a UK based website so some events have a UK focus).

How do you make clear ice cubes?

how do you make clear ice cubes

When it comes to making ice cubes I suspect we all have a similar technique: run the cold tap, fill up the ice cube moulds with cold water, pop in the freezer for a few hours and then remove as needed. In doing this, have you ever stopped to notice that the ice cubes you create are cloudy? In fact, they may well look like these images below:

Which got me thinking….

ice cube questions

The answer is simple and it has a lot to do with both the temperature of the water used to create the ice cubes and the way that the ice is frozen.To demonstrate this I’ve conducted a little experiment.

The Experiment

STEP 1: Take an ice cube tray and fill it with two different temperatures of water. Fill half the tray with water taken directly from the cold tap. Meanwhile the other half of the tray is filled with boiling water, straight from the kettle. Note: recently boiled water rather than water from the hot tap is best for demonstrating this. Adult supervision will be needed when trying this activity with children.

STEP 2: Carefully place your tray on a flat surface in the freezer. Make sure you’ve made a note of which end contains hot water and which contains cold!

STEP 3: Leave for a few hours, then remove and pop the ice cubes out to see the results!

 

What Are We Learning?

Boiling removes air bubbles from the liquid, allowing the water molecules to stick together even harder in the freezer. Removing these air bubbles also reduces the risk of the ice cube cracking or breaking into smaller pieces, meaning your drink stays colder for longer!

When we place the ice cube tray into the freezer, the water in the ice cube tray freezes at the outside of the cube first. This is the first part to cool down in the cold air of your freezer. As the water freezes, it pushes any impurities into the unfrozen part of the water. This means that any cloudiness is pushed to the centre of the ice cube as this is the final area to freeze. One way to counteract this is to use a technique called ‘directional freezing’ where the ice is frozen on one side first so all the cloudiness is pushed in the same direction. For example, if you freeze the ice from the top downwards then the cloudiness is pushed to the bottom, where it can then be chipped off to create a perfectly clear ice cube.

Next time you’re out at a restaurant, take a look at the ice cubes in your drink to see how clear they are!