Events kick off during the first week with a wee bit of dancing during the The science festival ceilidh. Put on your dancing shoes and join the Red Rock Ceilidh Band to celebrate the start of the Science Festival. Featuring Festival favourite dances, The Very Large Hadron Collider and Mr Schrödinger’s Maggot. Other events include Walking on thin ice – a co-curated exhibition about climate change based on the vision of 12 teenagers selected from around the UK to work directly with polar researchers. The Polar Museum team discuss the exhibition during a further event on 13th March.
Also for older children and teenagers: The world of tomorrow needs you (12 March). How can people live in harmony with nature? Travel forward in time and create your ideal world with this artist-led workshop in partnership with the Cambridge Conservation Initiative. Make your ideas in 3D, add them to the map and see the future world unfold.
The first Saturday is one of the busiest days at the Science Festival with hundreds of events across the city centre at a variety of locations along Downing Street, the New Museum’s Site and various University of Cambridge Museums, Departments and Institutes. It gets incredibly busy, so the Festival recommends that families plan their visits by using the map at the back of the programme. Events tipped to be the most popular include:
- CHaOS talks at Crash, Bang, Squelch! Get to grips with exciting, fascinating and just plain weird science that shows you how the world around us works. Enthusiastic students from CHaOS will show you what goes on in our experiments, looking at lots of science that goes ‘crash’, ‘bang’ and ‘squelch’!
- The science of archaeology. Were Neanderthals fussy eaters? What can bones tell us about a person’s life? How were stone tools made? Science can help archaeologists answer these questions, and many others. Join researchers from the Department of Archaeology and discover the secrets revealed by pots, plants, metals, bones and maybe even fossilised poo!
- Kite making with the Department of Engineering. How do wings work? How can sticks, plastic bags, sticky tape and string make a flying machine? What do all kites have in common to make them fly? Choose a design, make a kite, test it, improve it and start on a journey of exploration of practical Aeronautical Engineering
- The great animal race. Join zoologist Dr Matt Wilkinson to meet the fastest animals on land, in the air and in the water, and find out how they do it.
- Tiny but terrific: the wonderful world of insects. Although individually tiny, insects dominate the animal world in number of species, number of individuals and sheer biomass. They are also crucial for the healthy functioning of ecosystems and for much of our food production. Dr Ed Turner, Museum of Zoology, explores this amazing diversity, as well as why insect numbers are declining and how they can be conserved.
- Collaborate and make a gigantic virus! Hairy, spiky, rounded, geometric; viruses come in all shapes and sizes. Dr Liz Hook and Emma Copley, Department of Pathology, provide images of real viruses to use as inspiration and materials to help makers build their own 3D virus for our giant virus installation.
The Guildhall opens its doors on Saturday and Sunday for a range of inspiring and exciting science activities including dancing, virtual reality cycling, crime scene investigations, various puzzles – including an escape room – quizzes, sensory explorations and much more. Visitors can also find out what animals see, how clean your hands are, and why our noses make snot.
Meanwhile, the Babbage Lecture Theatre hosts two events that are perfect for teenagers. Dr Emily Shuckburgh, Cambridge Zero, explains the science of climate change in The climate change emergency, and Professor Hutchinson, Royal Veterinary College, illustrates why dinosaurs survived the Triassic period using 3D computer models and simulations in Were dinosaurs special.
Week 2 launches with a bang on Monday 16th March with the Primary Rocket Launchpad. Primary school groups are invited to the Department of Engineering to explore 3D geometry, make paper rockets and then launch them using compressed air. The following day, The Polar Museum hosts a colourful, sensory storytelling event, Little Explorers: auroras for children under 5s with renowned storyteller Marion Leeper. On Wednesday, musicians from the Academy of Ancient Music present a playful look at the Inspire exhibition during Harmoneyes (for younger children). They retell the story of Cupid and Psyche through sound and explore how music can create visions of things that we cannot see in real life.
The early part of week 2 kicks off with another fully immersive event for teenagers, Explore the world of genomics and bacteria (17 March), offering fascinating insight into the tools used by researchers to solve some of the world’s greatest health challenges. Participants get to explore the awesome world of genomes of bacteria through interactive online e-learning activities and by using genome sequencing techniques to track harmful diseases and antimicrobial resistance.
On Friday 20th March, Dr Hugh Hunt and Rob Eastaway are back by popular demand with another collection of puzzling curiosities linked to familiar everyday objects during More puzzling surprises. Who knows what surprises they will be (literally) pulling out of the hat this year – expect playing cards, balls, envelopes and much more.
Weekend 2 of the Science Festival is again teeming with events for all budding Einsteins and their families. On Saturday, activities include a creative workshop, Clay celebrations, at the Fitzwilliam Museum with ceramicist Sarah Nibbs; a day of science exploration at the Polar Museum during Past and present science day; a wide range of activities, demonstrations, games and talks during the Open afternoon at the Institute of Astronomy; and a Family gaming night at the Centre for Computing History, with games that everyone can play from retro classics like Pac-Man and Space Invaders through to modern examples like Wii, PS3, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.
Various University of Cambridge Departments open their doors for a packed day of science activities. Visitors can discover what happens when you stretch a party balloon very fast at the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy; explore creative and critical thinking with hands-on events at the Centre for Mathematical Sciences; solve the seven million dollar maths problems and enjoy all the student-inspired science projects during Schools Zone at the Cavendish Laboratory; and get a glimpse of the latest laser technologies by playing laser tin alley and going on the laser lab tours at the Institute for Manufacturing. Anglia Ruskin University also welcomes visitors to its Cambridge campus throughout the afternoon; families can enjoy science-related storytelling and get hands on with a wide range of activities.
Sunday 22nd March is the final day of the Science Festival and is health themed. Events take place at the Cambridge Academy for Science and Technology and right across the Biomedical Campus. Activities include a giant map puzzle game to help the fictional ‘Dr Well’ decide which new medicine to use on patients; lessons in how to make the world a healthier place; dancing to improve health with the diet disco; noisy demonstrations about the world of adhesion with Dr Ewen Kellar in Stuck!; catchy tunes and funky visuals during Genomics: the musical; and a series of revolting demos which reveal what happens from the moment food enters the mouth all the way until it reaches the toilet in Gums to bums.
Speaking ahead of the Festival, Dr Lucinda Spokes, Cambridge Science Festival Manager, said: “I am delighted with the wide range of events this year – which are not only designed to inspire and enthuse the next generations of scientists but to also provide learning opportunities for children and young people who are always so curious about how things work. Every year, it is immensely rewarding to see thousands of them and their families getting hands on and delighting in the incredible scientific research that happens in this city.”
View the full programme and book tickets>>>
Image: The no-nonsense clean room from the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology at a previous Science Festival
Credit: Maximilian Ge
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This year’s Festival sponsors and partners are Cambridge University Press, AstraZeneca, Illumina, TTP Group, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge Epigenetix, Cambridge Science Centre, Cambridge Junction, IET, Hills Road 6th Form College, British Science Week, Cambridge University Health Partners, Cambridge Academy for Science and Technology, and Walters Kundert Charitable Trust. Media Partners: BBC Radio Cambridgeshire and Cambridge Independent.