After School Science Club: BLOCKS

Museum of Science and Industry, Liverpool Road, Manchester (map)
Friday 27th October 2017

After School Science Club happened again in 2017, as part of Manchester Science Festival, and our theme this year is BLOCKS. We'll be joined by the wonderful people from the LEGOLAND Discovery Centre, who'll be providing a massive giant table of LEGO for us all to play with during the evening - join us in building a giant scale model of Manchester as it exists only in our wildest imaginations. We'll also have engineer and physicist Valerie Bentivegna building working microscopes and telescopes from LEGO bricks - and you can have a go too!

Talks included:

  • Nanochemist Suze Kundu, taking a close look at the tiny building blocks that all matter is made of
  • Author, presenter and astrobiologist Lewis Dartnell, talking about The Knowledge you'll need to rebuild civilisation block by block
  • Mathematician and host Katie Steckles, on mathematical block designs
  • Materials scientist Jamie Gallagher, on why he absolutely can't bloody stand blocks

The event was hosted by award-winning mathematician Katie Steckles, joined by a team of block-buskers (yes) circulating the room. We also had our usual competitions and prizes, freebies, block-rocking beats and good company.

Photos from our 2017 event - all images by Mark Taylor.

After School Science Club: COLOUR

Museum of Science and Industry, Liverpool Road, Manchester (map)
Saturday 29th October 2016

For 2016 we put together another amazing science club as part of Manchester Science Festival. There was no ball pool this year (sad face), but our theme for Science Club this time was COLOUR. The event took place in the Revolution Manchester Gallery at the Museum, and we had a giant paint wall you could join in and paint. Our talks and demos were themed around the colours of the rainbow, and there were colourful snacks, puzzles and goodies. It was totally spectrum-tacular.

Talks included:

  • Stand-up Mathematician and Numberphile/YouTube legend Matt Parker, bringing the maths
  • TV guest expert/radio presenter and UCL inorganic chemistry professor Andrea Sella, who'll be mixing up colourful chemicals
  • Science writer, presenter and The Naked Scientists' resident neuroscience expert Ginny Smith, on the neuroscience of colour vision
  • Atmospheric scientist and Bright Club performer Sophie Haslett, on the science of rainbows

We also had our usual hostess with the mostest, award-winning mathematician Katie Steckles, and a team of science buskers bringing hands-on science demos to the tables. Plus our usual competitions and prizes, freebies and good company.

Photos from After School Science Club: COLOUR in 2016 - all photos by Robie Basak

After School Science Club: BALLS!

Museum of Science and Industry, Liverpool Road, Manchester (map)
Friday 30th October 2015

Since the Museum of Science and Industry had a ball pool for the 2015 science festival, our theme was BALLS.

Talks included:

  • Physicist & BBC TV scientist Helen Czerski on the science of bubbles
  • Cosmologist, Stargazing Live guest and New Scientist writer Andrew Pontzen, on quantum mechanics
  • Professor of Andrology & reproduction expert Allan Pacey, on the ins & outs of testicles
  • Mathematician Katie Steckles, on the mathematics of spheres and the greengrocer's problem

We also had Blue Peter's resident science guy and YouTube regular, Greg Foot, and self-proclaimed physics nerd and FameLab award winner Nic Harrigan, who entertained us with Close-Up Science.

Photos from After School Science Club: BALLS in 2015 - all photos by Robie Basak