Science topics – Page 13 – Whizz Pop Bang Blog

What’s On in September: THE BRITISH SCIENCE FESTIVAL, SWANSEA

Posted on 2nd September 2016 | by Rachael Tapping | Leave a Comment

What’s On in September: THE BRITISH SCIENCE FESTIVAL

Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th September, at the National Waterfront Museum, Swansea.

Now this sounds like loads of fun; 2 days of Roald Dahl-themed hands-on science fun for all the family, what could be better?! Events include an Astronaut Bootcamp, 3D Space Show, Marine explorers, Splendiferous Science Show, Sealife Safari and LOADS more! They’ve even got a whizzpopping Roald Dahl science show with CBBC’s science communicator Jon Chase, pretty awesome huh?

All tickets are free, but booking is recommended at www.britishsciencefestival.org

Here’s what they say on the website:
“We’re celebrating Roald Dahl’s centenary with a scientific take on his books. CBBC’s Jon Chase reveals the Splendiferous Science in Dahl’s tales and we’ve left a trail of golden tickets for you to follow and claim a prize… keep your gogglers peeled for everything from frightswiping Gremlins to scrumdiddlyumptious chocolate!

We’ve also teamed up with the Marina Market to talk about food. You can take a taste test, learn how to keep yourself healthy, and explore the chemistry in your kitchen. There are even some insects for you to eat… if you’re brave enough!

‘Marine Explorers’ venture out and investigate everything that lives in the sea. Get onto Swansea University’s research boat ‘Noctiluca’, which is moored on the quay at the Waterfront Museum. You can control an underwater robot, explore scientific survey equipment, observe underwater video footage and be captain of the ship.”

Don’t forget to share your photos with us on Facebook or Instagram and tell us all about the best bits! #BSF16

10th and 11th September
National Waterfront Museum and surrounding venues including Swansea Museum and the Dylan Thomas Theatre
Open 11am-4pm
FREE!

https://www.britishsciencefestival.org/family-weekend/

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The ultimate treat for Dinosaur-mad kids…

Posted on 30th August 2016 | by Rachael Tapping | Leave a Comment

Are your kids totally and utterly obsessed by dinosaurs? Do they dream about dinosaurs? Well at The Natural History Museum in London there are plenty of dinosaurs and they do attract some interesting fellow snorers at night… Yes every month instead of closing all the doors and saying goodnight to the dinosaurs, sleep tight and see you in the morning, the staff at the Natural History Museum invite families to come and have a dinosaur sleepover.

Dino Snores for Kids at the Natural History Museum — Dino Snore sleepover for kids at the Natural History Museum

Aptly named the ‘Dino Snore’ this special event is perfect for a special birthday treat, or indeed a treat for your little dinosaur expert who will remember this experience forever.

Don’t forget to take your Dinosaur issues of Whizz Pop Bang with you for bedtime reading! If you don’t already subscribe you can buy back issues here, issue 4 and 14 cover topics on Palaeontologists and How To Hunt For Dinosaurs.

Check out all the details on the Natural History Museum’s website, next available sleepover date is 3rd December so hurry and get it booked:

http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit/exhibitions/dino-snores.html

Thoughts on Dino Snores for Kids…

‘Just such a unique experience to sleep in such an iconic building.’

‘It was exciting, fun and ticked all the boxes for a magical experience.’

‘Amazing experience you couldn’t replicate anywhere else.’

‘Perfect for kids who dream of being a dinosaur hunter.’

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Win a John Adams Forensic Science Kit PLUS a copy of Home Lab Science: Exciting Experiments for Budding Scientists by Robert Winston

Posted on 28th August 2016 | by Rachael Tapping | Leave a Comment

This month we have not one but two competitions for your budding scientists to enter! Up for grabs we have three copies of Robert Winston’s HOME LAB EXPERIMENTS BOOK and five John Adams Trading Co FORENSIC SCIENCE KITS!!!

What are you waiting for kids, open issue 13 of Whizz Pop Bang and get cracking. Enter before 5th September.

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Whizz Pop Bang science magazine for kids Shooting star

Looking for a cheap and easy kids science party? Host a stargazing party!

Posted on 18th August 2016 | by Rachael Tapping | Leave a Comment

September is the ideal time of year for a stargazing party; it’s cheap, easy to host and the kids get to stay up ‘late’ which is always deemed to be fun in itself!

Inside issue 13 is the ultimate guide to the night sky, along with a pull-out stargazing map to help the kids decipher the constellations and find out how to spot Mars, and depending on the conditions, maybe Saturn too!

We’ve put together a party planner for your science party with a difference, including the recipe for planet cake pops to impress all your party guests. And don’t forget to order copies of Whizz Pop Bang science magazine for really cool goodie bags, order single issues here.

For your stargazing party you will need:

Blankets to lie on in the garden
Binoculars (and a telescope if you have one or can borrow one)
Flasks/cups of hot chocolate and marshmallows
Jam jars and tea lights to decorate the garden, and lead the way to the stargazing blankets
Planet cake pops already made and ready to eat
Glow in the dark stickers or glow sticks to play with together
Tell your guests to bring a jumper and a wooly hat so they don’t get too cold!

The ultimate evening to hold your stargazing party will be on Saturday 10th September as the Moon will be visible in the evening sky and it will be dark by around 8pm.

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Children's author Nick Arnold joins Whizz Pop Bang team

Horrible Science author Nick Arnold joins the Whizz Pop Bang team!

Posted on 15th July 2016 | by Rachael Tapping | Leave a Comment

Errrrr gross! Slime, goo, rotting fish and the unimaginably disgusting are what you think of when you hear Nick Arnold’s name mentioned. Yes, the Horrible Science author is joining the Whizz Pop Bang team so watch out everyone, Nick’s armed and ready to saw off some legs 🙂

We’re head-to-toe excited about having Nick on board – what more does a children’s science magazine need than a brilliant science writer who gets everyone into the weird and wonderful world of science!

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Minibeast photography competition

Posted on 14th July 2016 | by Rachael Tapping | Leave a Comment

The results are in from our minibeast competition (issue 11, June) and we have five winners to announce!

Firstly we want to say thank you to all of you who entered. We had over 75 entries of awesome minibeast photos. We now have spiders, bees, butterflies, caterpillars, beetles, slugs, ladybirds, snails, dragonflies, centipedes and moths all crawling around on the Whizz Pop Bang office wall 🙂

Without further ado here are our lucky winners and their prize-winning photos…

Isla Gibbs, age 10:

James Grant, age 7:

Khadeejah Hussain, age 5:

Megan Whitfield, age 10:

Pippa Pang, age 6:

Congratulations to our five winners, your butterfly garden kits are on the way! If you didn’t win and you’d really like a butterfly garden kit they are available from insectlore.co.uk

Enjoy the sunshine and the minibeasts in your garden or park, and remember to handle all minibeasts very carefully and be aware that some might sting.

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What makes the best bubbles? Try this experiment and see!

Posted on 30th June 2016 | by Rachael Tapping | Leave a Comment

Would you like to know what makes the best bubbles?

Make a base mixture of water mixed with washing up liquid. If you don’t already have one, you can make a bubble wand using a pipe cleaner. Experiment with blowing bubbles, and then try adding sugar, baking powder, corn syrup or glycerin to your mixture, one at a time. Test how each ingredient changes the surface tension and affects the bubbles.

Have you ever wondered why bubbles form in soapy water but not in ordinary water? The answer is surface tension. The surface tension of water is too strong for bubbles to last – the water molecules pull each other together and the bubbles quickly burst. When water is mixed with soap, the surface tension becomes weaker and the liquid can be ‘stretched’ more, allowing bubbles to form.

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Kids are you ready to taste the foods of the future?

Eating Foods Of The Future At Cheltenham Science Festival 2016

Posted on 23rd June 2016 | by Rachael Tapping | Leave a Comment

Whizz Pop Bang introduced eating insects (entomophagy) to the Cheltenham Science Festival; inviting kids and their families to try ‘foods of the future’. These are just some of the kids who tried pasta and flapjacks made with crickets, we think the smiles say it all!

In issue 7 of Whizz Pop Bang we introduced our readers to the concept of eating grubs as a sustainable source of protein. Now as a forward-thinking kids science magazine we’re all about looking into the future 🙂 So we got in touch with a company in Thailand, called Bugsolutely, who make pasta using 20% cricket flour mixed with 80% wheat flour, and asked them if they’d send us some boxes to try. Three weeks later a large box arrived full of pasta ready for our trials. We sent out a newsletter inviting Whizz Pop Bang subscribers to take part, and within minutes we were inundated with families wanting to taste cricket pasta! So we set up individual trials, and took the pasta to Cheltenham Science Festival to find out firsthand what the kids thought.

And the results?

In the style of Innocence smoothies, we asked people to vote with their rubbish. So we had a ‘YES! I’d definitely buy this’ bin, and a ‘NO! It’s not my cup of tea’ bin. The results speak for themselves, it’s a resounding YES please to buying foods made with insects in the UK!

The double page spread in February’s issue of our magazine, introducing the idea of eating grubs:

Feed the World – By the year 2050 there will be over 9 billion people living on Planet Earth. With all these extra mouths to feed, there is a real risk of a global food crisis developing. Farm animals are responsible for producing almost a third of the greenhouse gasses that are contributing to global warming. They also need lots of land and drink lots of water, so we need a more sustainable solution.

“The way we farm our food is going to have to change. We can’t keep farming like we do today, or we won’t be able to produce enough food and look after our environment at the same time.” Dr Sarah Beynon, an insect expert and farmer.

Insects – the taste of the future Like it or not, we are all going to have to make changes to the way we eat in the future, and scientists like Dr Beynon think that insects will soon become a normal part of our diet.

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