British Science Week 2023: Connections
British Science Week is an annual celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths and this year takes place between 10th and 19th March.
Every year, the week has a theme and this time it’s ‘Connections’, so whether you’re looking at how one part of the body works with another or how one small discovery led to a world-changing invention, it’s all covered within the theme. To give you some more ideas of what you could explore with your pupils, we’ve collated some of our most relevant science activities, along with some fun ones for your youngest pupils.
You’ll also find activity packs on the British Science Week webpage itself.
1. Life cycles
At its very simplest, a life cycle is what connects a caterpillar to a butterfly, a tadpole to a frog or a chicken to an egg.
We’ve lots of activities which explore life cycles, looking at animals but also plants. Simply search for ‘life cycle’.
We also have ready-made lesson plans for pupils aged 4-9, featuring frogs and butterflies, which could save you valuable time! You will find them in the Lesson library on our Welcome page.
2. The body’s systems
Our bodies are a mass of connections, all working together to enable us to breathe, grow, repair, think and learn. They are so complicated that scientists have broken the connections down into different systems so they are easier to understand.
Busy Things has labelling activities on:
1) the circulatory system, which has the heart as its centre and looks out how our blood is transported around our bodies
2) the digestive system, which looks at how food comes into our body, is absorbed and then the waste expelled
3) the respiratory system, which looks at what’s involved in breathing and
4) the human skeleton, which looks at how our bones connect together
3. Habitats and ecosystems
Another important aspect of the natural world where you find a lot of connections is within habitats and ecosystems. Animal and plant life rely on each other to provide food and maintain the conditions that they need to thrive in.
This is something Busy Things activities explore in great depth. We have our:
- habitats and ecosystems quiz
- environment and climate change activities, which look at deforestation, energy production, and the impact of climate change worldwide
- Tree World interactive climate change game, where the aim is to create a world that works for animals, birds and humans!
4. The Solar System
Taking our thoughts about connections to the next level, we can look at how the Earth sits within our wider solar system and compares to the other planets.
Again, Busy Things has numerous activities focusing on the different aspects of the solar system.We have:
1) A solar system labelling activity
2) Activities on the gas giants, the rocky planets, the Earth and the sun
3) Fact file templates for each planet
You’ll also find lots of Clip art in the Clip art library to support pupil-led learning and presentation-making.
Once the children know the basics, perhaps they can think more about why Earth is the only inhabited planet and what makes it perfect for supporting human life.
Summary
We hope this blog has given you some ideas about what you could cover within Connections for British Science Week this year. It’s an exciting theme which could be covered in a multitude of ways! Connections are all around us so it really is a case of looking closely, and exploring what you find.
Want to see the Busy Things activities we’ve mentioned?
If your school subscribes to Busy Things already, you’ll be able to access all the activities mentioned here by simply typing British Science Week into the Search feature.
If you don’t already subscribe but would like to see our activities, we’d love you to take out a free 28-day trial with us! Simply click here for this. You’re more than welcome to have a virtual tour via Zoom too. If you’d like one, contact us here and we’ll get it organised!