Curious About Science (Primary Schools)

Have you ever been curious about how minibeasts are able to exist almost all over the world, not just in our houses and gardens? Just how do they manage it?

Individual in focus: Margaret Collins, whose curiosity about termites completely changed our understanding of social insects.

Have you ever wondered how plants are able to make their own food? We can’t – no animal can (it’s what makes a plant a plant). So just what is going on?

Individual in focus: George Washington Carver, whose curiosity about how plants make their food changed the way farmers work all over the world. Not bad for a boy born into slavery!

Has it ever crossed your mind that bridges are built from all sorts of materials – for all sorts of reasons? What are the advantages and disadvantages of these materials – and do bridge builders have any preferences?

Individual in focus: Alice Perry, whose curiosity about the way things work led to her becoming Europe’s first woman engineer – and one of the first women engineers in the whole world!

Have you ever been curious about how cars move? Not their engines – but how they cope with a whole array of different forces acting on them? It’s quite a feat!

Individual in focus: Ralph Braun, whose curiosity about why there were no vehicles adapted for wheelchair users like himself, saw him designing and inventing such vehicles himself – and founding a business to support other people with disabilities.

Have you ever wanted to know why scientists go to so much effort to classify animals and plants? What do we mean by “classification keys” – and how do we use them?

Individual in focus: John Edmonstone, who went from a life of slavery to becoming one of the most influential Black British scientists ever. So influential that he even taught Charles Darwin.

Have you ever wrinkled your brow wondering about the early days of the Space Race? We all know Neil Armstrong was the first human on the moon – but what were the innovations that led up to this?

Individual in focus: Mary Jackson, whose curiosity about the challenges of space travel saw her becoming NASA’s first Black woman engineer, working on the Gemini programme that paved the way for the Apollo missions.

Have you ever wanted to know how (and why) electricity and the cardiac system go together like a horse and cart? And what happens if the electrical circuits are disrupted?

Individual in focus: Otis Boykin, whose curiosity about ways of making electricity safer to use enabled the invention of the pacemaker – an invention that saves tens of thousands of lives each year