Famous Scientific Discoveries and How to Replicate Them with Children

With British Science Week fast approaching we have put together this blog to highlight a select number of famous scientific discoveries. In teaching your little ones about these key achievements, we have suggested 6 different STEAM activities for you to try. These activities are designed to not only make learning fun and memorable but to offer children opportunities to experiment with STEAM and furthermore, take the stress out of lesson planning for British Science Week!

1. Germ Investigation

To explore the way in which germs work why not introduce children to our simple science experiments:

• The first activity starts with a bowl of water and glitter sprinkled on top. Ask children to dip their fingers into the water and observe what happens (nothing). Then, repeat with a dab of hand soap on your finger and watch the results. This time the glitter will be expelled from the soapy finger and acts as a handy visual of the way in which germs react to soap too!
• A second activity to try starts with children rubbing hand cream into their hands. Then add a light sprinkling of glitter to one child’s hands and ask them to shake hands with their nearest person. Watch as the glitter (the germs) transfer from person to person as children continue shaking hands with one another.

These science activities can be used to perfectly accompany lessons about Joseph Lister, a British doctor who believed that germs and people not washing their hands were causing infections. His discoveries resulted in the widespread use of antiseptics and sterilising equipment which massively reduced the number of infections.

2. Fossil Discovery

For more STEAM projects why not investigate fossils…

• One activity to try with your little ones is a dinosaur dig! Bury bones, skulls and fossils in a tuff tray filled with sand and other materials and task your little ones with hunting for them using brushes and sieves.
• A second activity to try is to make your own fossils. This can be simply done using air-hardening clay and small-world animals like dinosaurs or birds pressed into the clay to create an imprint.

These activities are a great way to educate children about the famous scientific discoveries of Mary Anning, Charles Darwin and the theory of evolution!

Darwin is a widely celebrated biologist who contributed significantly to what is known as the Theory of Evolution. This is the term used to explain how living things change over time. To aid his work, Darwin would collect samples and fossils of animals to make his observations.

Mary Anning was another notable figure responsible for the scientific theory of Evolution and discovered the first complete fossil of a dinosaur!

3. Building a Vehicle

• To celebrate the breakthrough of the Wright brothers for their aeroplane why not provide your little ones with a collection of loose parts and see what vehicles they can construct?
• Loose parts could include tyres, sticks, crates, and pipes and children will need to work together to create their plane, train, boat, car, bike or even rocket.

Experimenting with different materials is exactly what the Wright brothers did when designing their first aircraft. They tested gliders, made model aeroplanes and observed how birds flew to lead them to create the very first controlled, powered and sustained human flight.

4. Exploring Gravity

Isaac Newton was a well-celebrated scientist and mathematician who was responsible for a number of famous scientific discoveries. One such discovery was the theory of Gravity. The story goes that Isaac Newton was sitting beneath a tree when an apple fell to the ground – this led him to wonder why objects fall to the ground and not up or sideways. It was this simple event that led to his work defining gravity.

To celebrate Newton’s work why not experiment with gravitational pull?

• Start by demonstrating the effects of gravity. In this case, we suggest dropping an egg from a height to see the impact.
• After observing this – task children with creating a vessel which will slow the rate of gravitational pull on the egg.
• One example could be a mini parachute. Encourage children to experiment with different materials and props and note the difference in the speed that the egg lands on the ground.

5. Route Mapping

To celebrate the achievements of Gladys West why not introduce our fun team-building activity in your setting?

Gladys West is a mathematician noted for her work on the modelling of the shape of the earth and as a result – her contributions to the Global Positioning System (or GPS) that we use in the modern day.

For this activity, you will first need to set up a small obstacle course of cones. This course needs to have a clear route, a beginning and an end. Then you will need to pop a blindfold on one child and the remaining children will act as the “GPS”. Each child will need to shout out an directional instruction. This will guide the blindfolded child through the maze of obstacles and safely to the end of the route.

6. Moon landing

Katherine Johnson was a physicist and mathematician who was largely overlooked in her field until recent years. Besides paving the way for women in STEAM she is responsible for being one of the NASA “human computers” who calculated the trajectory for the 1961 space flight. This put the first American astronaut into orbit. She went on to further contribute to the effort of not only launching an astronaut into orbit but also landing on the moon!

To celebrate her achievements, why not try a moon landing of your own?

• For this you will need a moon cut out from paper or card as your target. You will also need a rocket, this could be a foam rocket or one you have crafted yourselves.
• The aim of this activity is to throw the rocket and aim for it to land on the moon.
• Children can experiment by adding various pieces onto their rocket or trying their moon landing in different locations. This way they can establish what factors affect the trajectory of the landing.

We would love to know which of these activities you try with your little ones! Share your activities with us on social media by tagging us or using the hashtag #ExploreWithEYR