January’s book competition

The DNA Detectives: Catch a Thief

 

This month we have a slightly different book competition for kids to enter, to help launch a brand new storybook ‘The DNA Detectives: To Catch a Thief’ written by Dr Mandy Hartley. Whilst there are lots of excellent reviews for this book, they are written by parents and Mandy would love to hear what children think too. If your child loves reading and would like to be in with a chance of winning a signed copy of The DNA Detectives: To Catch a Thief enter this competition by simply writing the words “me please” in the comment box below.

Dr Hartley is a new author and is looking for children to review her fun story all about a pet thief and the kids who try to find out who has stolen the missing dogs…

When Annabelle and Harry’s beloved pet dog Milly goes missing they believe the local pet thief has struck again. They have a list of suspects and plenty of evidence but how can they prove who the thief is? Their mum works as a DNA scientist and has a laboratory in the garden. The children realise they can become “DNA Detectives” and secretly use the laboratory to analyse the evidence just like real life forensic scientists. Join them on their thrilling journey where they collect clues, analyse evidence and learn about DNA to solve this case and bring Milly home safely.

“I create stories and communicate them to children in a multi-sensory way including elements to stimulate listening, smell, taste, sight and sounds as well as their as their imagination! Where possible I include scientific experiments in my stories finding entertaining ways to explain difficult scientific concepts such as natural selection, inheritance and evolution to children.”

Dr Mandy Hartley

https://www.thelittlestorytellingcompany.co.uk/the-dna-detectives-to-catch-a-thief 

DNA Detectives book reviews
Dr Mandy Hartley and two of the reviews written by parents on Amazon

This competition to win a signed copy of The DNA Detectives to review is open until midnight on 1st February. Only open to UK residents.


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Win this icon

WIN Optical Illusions book 2!

Optical illusions 2 single book

Love science books? We do too! And we love helping kids to learn all about science, which is why we’re giving our readers the chance to win brand new, hot-off-the-press science books, cool hey?! We have TEN copies of OPTICAL ILLUSIONS 2 to give away!! To enter simply answer this question:

Q. Optical illusions are tricks of the what?

  1. Nose and mouth
  2. Eyes and brain
  3. Hands and feet

Write your answer in the comment box before midnight GMT on 10th January 2018. Good luck! Winners will be notified by email after 10th January 2018. Only open to UK residents.

Optical illusions 2 competition blog


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StarFinder for Beginners jacket

Star Finder book winners

Maggie Aderin-Pocock MBE with Star finder for beginners book

In conjunction with our Planetary Adventures edition (issue 28) we ran a competition to win Star Finder for Beginners, signed by Maggie Aderin-Pocock MBE! Maggie is a presenter on BBC Four show Sky at Night, and is passionate about inspiring kids, especially girls, into science.

To enter the competition Whizz Pop Bang readers answered the following question:

What are stars made of?

A) Hot gas

B) Shiny aliens

c) Sparling Moon dust

The correct answer is of course hot gas! Well done to everyone who entered ?

Here our the five winners, who will each receive a signed copy of Star Finder for Beginners. Happy star-gazing! Thank you to DK Books for supplying the prizes, and asking Maggie to sign them for our lucky mini scientists.

  1. Isla Mackwell
  2. Benjamin Porter
  3. Thomas Perry
  4. Clair Saunders
  5. Danielle Vipond

We’ve also got some top tips from Maggie for star-gazing, including using a red torch if you need light as this has less effect on your eyes as they get used to the dark.


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Space Racers by Isabel Thomas

Space racers competition winners!

Inside the Space Racers kit

Big high-fives to all of you who entered the online competition to win SPACE RACERS kits, we loved reading your messages about how much you enjoy Whizz Pop Bang magazine! Great photos too!!

Congratulations to all of you who entered, choosing our favourite five was tricky! But without further ado here are the lucky winners who each receive a SPACE RACERS KIT ?

The competition winners are:

Space racers competition winner 1
Isaac, age 5

Dear Whizz Pop Bang,

Isaac (5 years old) has written the following to share with you as to why he loves his magazine subscription and looks forward to receiving it every month..

I love this magazine, the last one that was sent had lots about space in it and I want to be an Astronaut when I’m bigger so I did lots of reading about the rockets and planets.

I made the solar system and showed my 3 year old sister the planets (she likes Saturn the best), I like all the planets but Earth is my favourite.
I have included a picture of the solar system I built with a little bit of help from Mummy.
Thank you,
Isaac & Mummy

 

Space Racers competition winner 2
Arthur, age 6

 

Hello Y

I really really love your magazine. Receiving it is the thing I look forward to the most. I love it so much I asked my mum to make some science clothing for me…. so this month I got to enjoy reading your magazine wearing my science trousers. If you look closely you will see planets, microscopes and anything a scientist will need. In fact I think it actually has all of your science equipment hidden on it!

Thank you for the magazine.
Arthur

 

 

Space Racers competition winner 3
Elfie, age 7

 

To whizzpopbang

I love the magazine because it’s fun and I get to learn things and my favourite subject is science. I like doing the experiments and testing my friends on facts. Here is my moon sand footprint and Martian atmosphere experiment.

From Elfie

 

 

 

 

Space Racers competition winner 4
Rocky, age 6
Hi WhizzPopBang gang!!
This is astronaut Rocky’s photo for the Space Racers competition.
He thinks WhizzPopBang is “totally out of this world”!! … and here he is travelling to the moon (and back) to show you how much he loves your magazine! He is completely science and space-mad! 
Tim Peake is one of his hero’s and when he’s older he wants to go to the ISS and do lots of funky scientific experiments! (Number one on his experiment list is to see how different fans behave in space [he loves fans and all things that spin!!])
His favourite rocket is the Saturn V but he wants to build a rocket of his own when he’s old enough – his own ‘Rocky rocket’!!. …I’ll make sure he invites you guys for a ride as a thank you for fuelling his thirst for all things sciencey each month with your fantastic magazine 😀
Thanks guys!
Space Racers competition winner 5
Robin, age 7

 

Hi! 

We love Whizz Pop Bang because there is so much to make and do. I loved making the solar system model, I even made another one for my little sister! 
Thanks for creating a great magazine. 
Robin

 

 

 

SPACE RACERS KIT published by Laurence King
SPACE RACERS KIT published by Laurence King

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Design an emoji competition

Royal Institution Christmas lectures competition 2017

We have news of a fun competition for emoji-lovers! This competition is run by the Royal Institution in conjunction with the Christmas lectures this year…

Royal Institution Christmas lectures 2017

Design an emoji for Christmas Lecture Professor Sophie Scott!

Emojis are changing the way we communicate online. We’re all using them and we all have our favourites. But sometimes there’s a situation, feeling or object that doesn’t have an emoji and it really, really needs one! Now’s the chance for you and your children to give the world the emoji you’ve always dreamed of!

To mark the 2017 CHRISTMAS LECTURES from the Royal Institution, they’re asking people of all ages to design an emoji and share why it is missing in the world.

Design an emoji competition
Design an emoji competition

It’s a fun and easy way for kids to do a science-related activity, and links to this year’s CHRISTMAS LECTURES where the amazing Prof Sophie Scott will reveal the wonderful ways we and animals communicate – emoji’s will be right in the mix!

So look out for the CHRISTMAS LECTURES on BBC Four between Christmas and New Year

Go to http://www.rigb.org/emoji to find out more and submit your emoji ?

The closing date is 5pm, Friday 15 December. You’ll start to see emojis featured on the Ri website and social media from 1 December onwards. So be sure to check back to see if yours has made it into the emoji hall of fame.


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Stargazing tips for kids from space scientist Maggie Aderin-Pocock MBE

Top star gazing tips from Maggie Aderin-Pocock

As the nights draw in and it gets dark earlier it’s the perfect time to pull on your hats and gloves and get outside to start stargazing! Before you venture out we’ve got some top tips from space scientist Maggie Aderin-Pocock MBE. And if you’re keen to learn more about the night sky, enter our online competition to win a copy of STAR FINDER FOR BEGINNERS signed by Maggie ? ? ?


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WIN! STAR FINDER for beginners

WPB online science book competition Star Finder for beginners with forward by Maggie Aderin-Pocock

KIDS! Do you love star-gazing and finding out all about the wonders of the night sky above us? Have you ever tried spotting a constellation? With this brand new book you’ll learn how to identify ‘pathfinder’ stars and discover more than 20 constellations. Also includes a glow-in-the-dark night-sky viewer!

The good news is we have five copies signed by BBC TV star Maggie Aderin-Pocock, so get your entries in to win! Simply answer this question by leaving your answer in the comment box below:

What are stars made of? A) Hot gas  B) Shiny Aliens   C) Sparkling moon dust 

Whilst Maggie was busy signing the books for our lucky winners we asked her for some top tips for star-gazing, this is what she said…

  1. With stargazing it’s all about location, location, location. Find somewhere away from the streetlights, I try to go to the back garden or go with an adult to an open field.
  2. It’s good to have a clear night, cloud stops us from seeing the stars and if the moon is too bright it can also be hard to see the stars.
  3. If you do get a clear night it can be cold so wrap up warm, but remember to let your eyes adjust to the dark. If you need light carry a red torch as this has less effect on your eyes as they adapt to the dark.
  4. Best of all enjoy yourself. There is so much to see with just our eyes, the Moon, stars planets and comets. Have fun!

Thanks Maggie, you’re a super star!


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Space Racers by Isabel Thomas

Online competition to win SPACE RACERS kit by Isabel Thomas

WPB online science book competition SPACE ROCKETS

Whether you’re age eight or 108 there’s something really exhilarating about making paper rockets and imagining you can really zoom off into space! Which is why we’re over-the-moon happy to announce we have FIVE Space Racer kits to give away for our November online competition, to link in with the November issue of Whizz Pop Bang science magazine Planetary Adventures.

To enter this competition we’d like to know what you love most about Whizz Pop Bang magazine. Send in a photo or video of you with your favourite issue, telling us which pages you read first, or which experiment is the best or who you do your experiments with in your family and why it’s so much fun. Email your entry to win@whizzpopbang.com with SPACE RACERS in the subject box by 12pm GMT on 30th November 2017.

Space Racers contains everything you need to press out and make your own paper rocket models. From the rocket that made the first manned space flight, Vostok K, to the future of space travel, the Skylon space plane. Use the easy to use, step-by-step instructions to build eight historically accurate rockets and two imaginary rockets, which are left blank for your own designs. A separate booklet introduces you to the exhilarating world of rocket science and space exploration, and includes fun and detailed fact files for each rocket. Published By Laurence King, priced £22.50.

Space Racers Make Your Own Paper Rockets is written by the hugely talented Whizz Pop Bang science writer, Isabel Thomas.


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Whizz Pop Bang chromatography flowers

FLOWER POWER chromatography competition entries and winners!

In our FLOWER POWER issue Whizz Pop Bang readers learnt how to use the power of science to make these gorgeously frilly flowers. Paper chromatography is a neat little science trick that you can use to easily separate the different coloured inks out of felt tip pens.

Readers sent in their photos to enter the flower power competition to win a nature keeper tree diary set. As you’ll appreciate it was a tough job choosing just three winners – you should all be winners for producing these colourful creations! However, there could only be three winners and here they are:

Lula Brown, Aged 9
Isabel Soden, Aged 8
Jasper Warner, Aged 5
Congratulations, you have all won a Learning Resources Nature Keeper and Tree Diary Set perfect for summer science in the garden! Have a browse through all the entries for the competition, so many beautiful flowers and budding young scientists… ? ? ?

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See inside science book review

Winning science book review by Alfie, age 5

 

Whizz Pop Bang science news for kids

A few months ago we ran a competition to win all six of the science books shortlisted for the Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize 2016 including two by our awesomely amazing Whizz Pop Bang writers Isabel Thomas and Dan Green 🙂

Without further ado here’s the winning review by Alfie, age 5. Well done to Alfie for being a super mini scientist AND being so passionate about science. Enjoy those books!

See inside science book review

See Inside Science by Usborne Books

  “It’s about the human body, cells, animals, plants, the beginning of the universe, space, energy and electricity, elements and the periodic table, putting things together, Protons, Neutrons, Electrons and Quarks inside an Atom and the final one, see into the future.
  I’ve learnt that there are all sorts of elements, 92 elements that aren’t made in a lab, if you’re counting the ones in the lab there’s 118, but loads of people forget about Dutrium, so there’s 119.  Dutrium is a gas that Brown Dwarfs fuse.  
  I like it because I like science.  I love science actually.  It’s got atoms in it.  I like it that it has flaps.  It’s easy to understand. 
It’s fun, fun, fun, fun, fun.”
Review by Alfie Jack Pile, age 5

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