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Are you ready for the solar eclipse on the 12th August? The last eclipse in the UK like this was back in 1999 and really doesn’t feel like it was 27 years ago! This Wednesday, a total solar eclipse will be visible over Greenland, Iceland, Spain and parts of northern Portugal. The UK and Ireland … Continue reading “UK Solar Eclipse 2026 – What is it and how to watch”

You probably already know that a group of wolves is a pack, cows form a herd, and birds fly in a flock, but beyond the expected, there are some hilarious, unexpected, and incredibly apt collective nouns for groups of animals. Collective nouns aren’t always the terms used by scientists, who tend to stick to more … Continue reading “20 Funny Animal Group Names You’ll Never Forget”

A heatwave is defined as an area being unusually hot for 3 or more consecutive days, but what causes hot weather? Hot weather is caused by high pressure. When an area of high pressure pushes down on the ground, the air compresses and becomes hotter and drier. The high-pressure system pushes clouds out of the … Continue reading “What’s a Heatwave?”

The 2026 Football World Cup might be coming to an end, but football is ever popular in my house, so here are Four Football World Cup STEM Challenges for you to try this summer. All the activities use very basic materials, and I’ve included free printable templates for the reaction time test and goalkeeper game. … Continue reading “World Cup Football Science: Kick Off Summer with These Awesome STEM Challenges”

Ultraviolet (UV ) light is invisible radiation that can damage your skin and eyes if you don’t protect yourself. If your kids are anything like mine, they find sunscreen a bit of a sticky inconvenience, so UV beads are a fantastic way to visually demonstrate how sun cream protects our skin from too much UV … Continue reading “Staying Safe in the Sun – A UV Bead Investigation for Kids”

When you’re feeling warm and sticky, a hot drink probably isn’t top of your list, but it can actually cool you down faster than a cold one under the right conditions. How does a hot drink cool you down? If you’re already feeling warm and your body detects additional heat from a hot drink, it … Continue reading “Does drinking hot drinks cool you down?”

If you’re in the middle of a heatwave or just generally need to cool off, I’ve got five easy hacks to help. When the temperatures soar, and you don’t have air con, it can get pretty uncomfortable. I currently have a fan pointed at me, the curtains closed, and a big, icy drink, and I’m … Continue reading “Beat the Heat with Science – Five Science Hacks to Stay Cool”

If you’re feeling the heat this week, a DIY sprinkler is a fun way to cool down. All you need is a plastic bottle and some water. This fun backyard science activity is a fantastic demonstration of gravity and air pressure. How can tightening the lid of a bottle stop water from flowing out of … Continue reading “Easy DIY Water Sprinkler”

Do you know that adding carbon dioxide to water makes it more acidic? We used red cabbage indicator to test the pH of tap water and carbonated water from a Sodastream. The tap water was slightly alkaline, and the fizzy water was acidic! This is another great way to demonstrate the effect of carbon dioxide … Continue reading “The Secret Chemistry of Carbonated Water”

Fish live in water, but do they feel thirsty, and how do they drink water safely if they live in the sea? Of course, we don’t know what a fish actually feels, but they do need water to stay alive. Fish take on water either by drinking or absorbing water through the skin and gills … Continue reading “Do fish feel thirsty?”