Are you planning a science birthday party for your budding mini scientist? Read on to discover how to plan the perfect science party. We’ve got a brilliant idea for plastic-free party bag favours, too!
If you want a zero waste party bag idea that won’t break and end up in the bin five minutes after the party ends, why not pick up a bundle of Whizz Pop Bang magazines? Choose from our large catalogue of back issues – why not choose your child’s favourite topic, a theme to fit the party, or something different for each guest?
Holding an experiment-filled science party? Select a variety of activity-packed Whizz Pop Bang magazines!
If you’re buying ten or more copies, just drop us a line at hello@whizzpopbang.com letting us know what you’d like to buy and if you want UK or international postage, and we’ll send you a price within two working days.
If you need ideas for DIY science parties check out our Spy Science issue that comes with a free stargazing party planner!
Free pullout star map:
More ideas for DIY science parties for kids:
Plastic test tube filled with colourful sweets with a note to say “Thanks for coming to my science party!”Science party idea for kids: make your own slime Science party ideas: making fake snowScience party ideas for kids: Harry Potter potions
As part of the unit plants, you will need to teach your pupils how plants reproduce. A key part is the role insects play in pollination. They do not need to understand it in great detail, but should know the term and have a general understanding of how it happens. The lesson pack we have created alongside this month’s issue called ‘Buzzy Bees!’ is a great simple, hands-on activity in which pupils will pretend to pollinate flowers as if they are bees.
The lesson pack contains:
A lesson plan linked to the national curriculum
A PowerPoint presentation
Instructions
Printable resources
Instructions for a whole-class waggle dance!
Great news! You don’t need any specialised equipment, just a paintbrush and two different coloured powders – either powder paints or icing sugar and cocoa powder.
Do you want to sneak more science into your school day?
Our reading comprehensions are a great way of getting more science content into your school day. On the website, all the reading comprehensions can be searched for by topic and year group, allowing you to pick ones which relate to your current science teaching or ones which revisit a previous topic. Each lesson plan has a ‘cross curricular’ box which lists reading comprehensions that link to the learning for that lesson. This month, for year 3 we have an interview with a super scientist who has found a way for bees to help people in poverty.
Whizz Pop Bang magazine and teaching resources are brilliant ways to enhance your school’s science teaching:
We provide downloadable science lesson plans, PowerPoint presentations, hands-on investigations and science reading comprehensions written by primary school teachers.
Whizz Pop Bang teaching resources link to the National Curriculum, ensuring correct coverage.
All of our resources are year group specific, ensuring progression between the years.
We make cross-curricular links to other subjects, such as English, Maths, History, Geography, Art, Design and Technology and PSHE.
Prices from as little as £197.99 per year for a copy of Whizz Pop Bang magazine through the post each month and whole-school access to our ever-growing library of downloadable teaching resources, with unlimited teacher logins.
We’ve also got an individual membership option so teachers and home educators can access all of our amazing downloadable resources for just £20 for the whole year.
Digital subscribers can: 💥 Choose between an annual subscription or a one-off purchase of a single issue 💥 Flick through complete 36-page editions of Whizz Pop Bang 💥 Get instant access when a subscription is purchased 💥 Download and print the amazing cut-out paper craft activities included in each issue purchased 💥 Save up to 36% when buying an annual digital subscription* (or a huge 57% on international subscriptions)!
* When you order a digital subscription or digital single magazine you will be redirected to Issuu.com, our digital magazine publisher. Savings based on full cover price of physical magazine (£4.75 per issue) plus international postage charges. New issues will be available on 1st of each month.
We’re super excited to announce that we’ve teamed up with Laurence King Publishing and Insect Lore for May’s online competition which we are running on Instagram and Facebook only! Head over there to find out how to win this bumper prize!
You could win:
Bug Bingo Game – This beautifully illustrated bingo game features 64 species of bugs from around the world. Identify all kinds of insects – from the giant hawker dragonfly to the kissing bug and the orchid bee to the sacred scarab – mark them off on your card and bingo! Bug Bingo brings a fun and educational twist to the traditional game as players learn the names and colourings of both favourite species like the honey bee and more exotic bugs like the vampire moth. Contains one masterboard, 64 superbly illustrated bug tokens, 12 bingo cards and brightly coloured counters for you to mark up your card, as well as a leaflet containing basic information and a few quirky traits for all of the bugs featured.
Butterfly Garden – Experience the miracle of metamorphosis with this unique Butterfly Garden! Observe caterpillars grow and change into butterflies, and then release them. The kit includes a 30cm tall reusable habitat for easy butterfly watching and a voucher for 3-5 caterpillars with food. Once you have received your caterpillars, they will eat, spin silk, and grow to TEN times their original size! After 7-10 days watch as they hang upside down and form their chrysalides! Then watch as they emerge as beautiful Painted Lady Butterflies and observe them for a couple of days before releasing into nature.
A 6-month magazine subscription for Whizz Pop Bang! Keep your young scientist engaged with a monthly magazine subscription filled with hands-on science activities, the latest scientific news, jokes, puzzles, and more! The best part? Loads of the supplies needed for the activities can be found in your kitchen cupboard.
We are running this competition on Instagram and Facebook only! Head over to our socials to find out how to be in for a chance of winning one of three of these awesome bundles.
T&C’s: This giveaway closes at midnight on Wednesday 31st May 2023. One winner will be selected at random from all entries via Facebook and Instagram and will be contacted in the first week of June. This competition is open to UK residents only. Winner will be informed via your original comment by @whizzpopbangmag – please be wary of scams, do not give personal details or follow any links from other accounts. For full terms and conditions visit buff.ly/3ij98Q3 This competition is in no way affiliated, endorsed, sponsored or administered by Instagram or Facebook.
Some bees, including bumblebees, can vibrate their thorax to help shake pollen from a flower onto their body. This is called buzz pollination and you can see it in action here:
Australia’s massive iron ore trains operate without drivers!
The Chichester Range in the Pilbara, Western Australia challenges some of the biggest Iron Ore Trains in the world. The Rio Tinto Iron Ore network crosses the ranges around 80 kilometres south of Karratha. These hills challenge trains on both the climb and descent with steep grades on both sides of the hills.
See a driverless train in action in this epic video:
Have you ever wondered how high an egg would have to be dropped for it to burn up before it hit the ground? Whizz Pop Bang reader, Amelie, aged 10, wrote to us recently to ask just that.
Our robot, Y, explains: An egg would need to be going super quickly for it to burn up as it travelled through Earth’s atmosphere. Meteors burn up because they are travelling at speeds of tens of thousands of miles per hour. The friction from the meteors pushing past gas molecules causes them to heat up. If you simply dropped an egg from from space, the egg would accelerate until it reached a terminal velocity of about 120 km/hr (75 mph). That’s why it can’t speed up anymore because the pull of gravity (due to its mass) equals the push or air resistance (due to its shape).
Do you find teaching about rocks a bit dull?! We have created a fun-filled lesson that will bring this subject to life. Pupils will learn how scientists have used rock strata to define when the K-Pg mass extinction happened.
Where would this lesson fit into my medium-term plan?
This lesson would be suitable after pupils have been taught what fossils are, as it explains how scientists know which fossils are from the dinosaur era. Our knowledge organisers are a good way to support your pupils’ vocabulary and ensure progression through the school.
How is this lesson better than a worksheet?
Most children will remember an active, interesting lesson better than the information they complete on a worksheet. They will create their own rock strata sandwich complete with fossils and a K-Pg boundary using bread, sweets and biscuits!
In our downloadable lesson packs, we include everything you need to teach the lesson, apart from some inexpensive resources. Included in this lesson pack is a PowerPoint presentation that explains rock strata and the K-Pg boundary. The pack also includes a sheet of instructions for making the sandwich and a silly science quiz, where pupils will guess which animals roamed with the dinosaurs and are still living today!
If you are not a subscriber to our school resources, you can subscribe here for your school or take out an individual teacher membership here, which will give you access to all of our downloadable resources.
How can I get more science into my school day?
An easy way to get more science content into your school day is to give your pupils quality science-related text during reading time. We have loads of downloadable reading comprehensions as part of our resources. This month we have added three more for year 3 linking to the unit of rocks.
We also have a bank of spectacular science images that are perfect for promoting discussion. They feature a striking scientific image along with a couple of questions. As you click through the PowerPoint presentation, the answers to the questions will be revealed. Pupils should try to answer the questions as you go. The presentation added this month for the unit ‘Rocks’ is called ‘Asteroid crash!’. It only takes ten minutes, so it can slot into those awkward times in the school day, such as straight after lunch while you are waiting for everyone to come in.
See all our discussion topics available for rocks here.
If you would like some FREE samples, sign up here for a magazine and an example lesson pack for years 2 to 6.
How much does it cost to gain access to all of the Whizz Pop Bang resources?
Prices start from as little as £197.99 per year for a copy of Whizz Pop Bang magazine through the post each month and whole-school access to our ever-growing library of downloadable teaching resources, with unlimited teacher logins.
We have an individual membership option so teachers and home educators can access all of our amazing downloadable resources for just £20 for the whole year.
This kit allows you to simulate the epic power of a volcano in your own home. With a sturdy frame that effortlessly slides together, you can build a huge volcano model that measures more than one foot tall. The kit includes hardening plaster-coated fabric strips to wrap around the frame, along with paint, fake boulders, and cardboard cutouts of dinosaurs and prehistoric plants to decorate your volcano.
When you’re ready for action, simply mix the included non-hazardous powders, dye, and water to create a chemical reaction that produces flowing red ooze, simulating the molten hot lava flows of a real volcanic eruption. Six packets of chemicals are included, allowing the volcano to be erupted multiple times. The kit also comes with a large, full-colour scientific poster of a volcano, as well as an instruction sheet that provides educational information about volcanoes, their formation, and the science behind their eruptions.
This is a fantastic educational experience for any budding geologist or scientist, and it’s an exciting opportunity to learn about the inner workings of the Earth and the different types of volcanoes that exist.
To enter the competition, simply answer the following question in the comments:
What term is used to describe a “sleeping” volcano?
