Resources for teachers and adults

Download a selection of resources that you can use before or after your outreach sessions. For videos of some of these experiments – and some extra ones you might like to try – visit the Discovery Channel’s ‘The Big Experiment’ website.

Kitchen Science

Science does not just have to be done in a laboratory. You can try all of these demonstrations yourself – with everyday ingredients from the supermarket or chemist. Please try this at home!

Kitchen Science 1

5 fun demonstrations, including home-made rockets and a stupid egg trick… Check it out!

Kitchen Science 2

5 more exciting demonstrations, including gravity-defying water and the Science Museum’s secret recipe for making the biggest bubbles ever… Check it out!

It Takes Guts

Magic Milk

Cream-cakes, burgers, chips, chocolate and milk – foods that all contain a lot of fat. This greasy goodness is broken down in the small intestine… with the help of chemicals called bile salts.

We can demonstrate this using some simple items found in the kitchen… Check it out!

The Fat Test

Fat. Our diet should contain a little… but definitely not a lot. But how can we tell how much is in our food?

Find out how with this greasy extraction plan… Check it out!

Starch Search

Carbohydrate – in the form of starch – is the fast-acting fuel that our bodies depend upon for energy.

You can test for the presence of starch with a colourful chemical called iodine… Check it out!

Starch and Spit

Bread, pasta and crackers – all savoury… but chew them for long enough, and they’ll start to taste sweet!

The secret is in your spit… Check it out!

The Heavy-Metal Breakfast

There is enough iron in your body to make a 10 cm nail – but how does it all get there?

This experiment takes a closer look at the iron filings found within your bowl of cereal. Check it out!

Peanut Power

Nuts: popular in pubs; a squirrel’s favourite snack; an excellent source of energy… good fuel for fires!?

This experiment will tell us exactly how much power is in each and every peanut… Check it out!

Egg Teeth

Rocks, bones, seashells, snail shells, eggshells… and your teeth – what do they all have in common? Answer: they are all made up of roughly the same stuff…

We can use this fact to investigate the effect of various soft drinks on the state of our pearly-whites.… Check it out!

Sugar Pop

Do you have a sweet tooth? Are you fond of a fizzy drink? Partial to a can of pop?

This demo will show you just how much sugar is in every can that you drink… Check it out!

Eggy Enzymes

Foods like fish, chicken and eggs all contain proteins – which are the building blocks of our bodies.

They are broken down mainly in the stomach – using the combined powers of some very special chemicals. This experiment shows you how… Check it out!

Tummy Tunes

Growling belly before dinner? Rumbling tum afterwards? What’s going on down there in the depths of you digestive system?

Let’s have a listen and find out… Check it out!

Balloons, Bottles and Bottom-Burps

Wind. We all get it… and we all have to get rid of it eventually. But where does it come from?

Let’s take a look… and make some bogus burps and artificial farts… Check it out!