British Science Week at Heatherton

Heatherton had an action-packed week celebrating British Science Week #BSW2022. The theme this year was ‘growth’ and pupils got to take part in a range of exciting workshops that explored how our world is constantly changing.

The week started with the girls having access to a fully electric car which sparked conversations about the growth and change within car engineering. The girls compared the differences between fully electric cars and other models which helped them to see how cars are evolving to be better for our environment.

There were incredible workshops from Mobile Zoo and space Explorer Dome.

The Mobile Zoo workshop allowed the girls to have a hands-on experience with a range of animals whilst also learning interesting facts about how they adapt and change. Each Year group even got to adopt their own animal.

Heatherton’s hall was transported to space during the workshop from space Explorer Dome. This immersive experience taught the girls all about our solar system and how space technology has changed over time.

There were a variety of BSW themed experiments taking place in timetabled science lessons throughout the week. These included:

• Making seed bombs to help grow wildlife in the local area
• Building and testing marshmallow catapults to learn how energy is stored and converted
• Observing how seeds germinate by planting seeds in their own handy gardening gloves
• Learning about the possibility of life on Mars and designing their own animals that they think could survive there
• Identifying how worms contribute to soil and plant health
• Testing how far slime can stretch
• Learning to code a robotic arm to solve a maze

Additionally, Mr Mc Nicholl brought in a programable robot which got the Nursery children curious about how technology is advancing. They even got to watch it do some dance moves!

It was a truly remarkable week full of excitement and great learning, but don’t just take our word for it – hear what some of our pupils had to say:

Seeing the animals in the Eco Cabin was my favourite activity. I learnt that lizards can drop their tails and grow a new one – Jemima, Year 1

I found the robotic arm maze the most challenging as I had to write lots of code but through trial and error, I was able to solve it – Tilly, Year 5

Miss Ford is a fun teacher. She makes sure that we know what we are doing but also gives us independence to learn – Amy, Year 5

I feel like we have an advantage at Heatherton as we have an amazing Science lab and get to use Bunsen burners – Arianna, Year 6

Science is my favourite subject and we got to do lots of exciting experiments this week like making marshmallow catapults – Lily, Year 6

Thank you to Siobhan Ford, Head of Science at Heatherton, and all the staff for organising such a memorable British Science Week for everyone. We are sure that we are enabling the growth of some budding scientists of the future who will go on to make a positive global impact.