Dive into discovery this half-term, with our brand-new live show and hands-on lab activities, your family will take a deep dive Under the Sea to explore the wonders and worries of our oceans.
Together, you’ll investigate what’s happening beneath the waves, carry out experiments, and tackle real-world challenges faced by marine scientists. It’s a fun and fascinating way to learn more about the health of our seas – and explore how we can help protect them and the wild-life that lives within.
Our Show: Under the Sea
We investigate the health of the Earth’s oceans with a visit to A&E, sampling and lots of investigations. How are they doing? Let’s do the tests and see!
Each day we will be exploring one of the Lab activities outlined below:
Plankton challenge: See if you can get your “plankton” to float at just the right level in the ocean – and try not to get too wet!
Off the hook: Create an engineering solution to the problem of unwanted marine life associated with commercial fishing.
Follow the fish: Use pattern recognition to gain an understanding of real life research being carried out by marine biologists to track the movement of marine animals.
29 May – Special Session
With Simon Crowhurst
We can use tiny fossils of animals that lived in the sea to work out how the Earth’s climate has changed in the past. First we have to get those fossils! We pull out long columns of clay from deep beneath the sea using drill ships that send steel pipes down to the bottom of the sea far away from land. When the pipes come back on to the ship, they are opened up to see the clay inside. We use sieves to separate out the tiny fossils that we study, and we will look at some of the fossils with a microscope today. The oldest fossils are deepest in the clay, so we use long columns of clay from the sea floor to study what the climate was like long ago.
About Simon
Simon Crowhurst has studied the history of climate at Cambridge University for more than thirty-five years. Part of this work was building geological timescales to map out the age of the events that were were found in the history of climate, such as ice ages. In recent years he has worked with colleagues in the Department of Earth Sciences to use X-rays (XRF) to understand the history of climate.
Simon’s talk will take place instead of our daily shows on 29 May.
Throughout your session, you’ll have plenty of time to explore our selection of over 20 hands-on exhibits too!
Our space and activities are most suited for children aged from 5-11 years. Of course, younger siblings are welcome to come along too!
Sessions must be booked.
Capacity: 50