Sydney Science Trail
Sydney Science Trail offers a jam-packed program of excursions for primary and secondary students.
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Cost
$18 (incl. GST) per student -
Location
Australian Museum and Royal Botanic Garden Sydney
Sydney Science Trail for schools: 15 - 19 August 2022
The Australian Museum and the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney are bringing you and your students a jam-packed science experience to celebrate this year's National Science Week.
Returning live and on site, the week-long science festival for schools will feature talks by scientists, science shows, panel discussions, interactive workshops and our ever-popular Expo for both primary and secondary students.
This year, teachers are invited to book a full-day excursion that includes the Sydney Science Trail Expo, a workshop, and their choice of a science show or panel discussion.
Check out the program and pick your activities – these events will book out fast!
Secondary days: Years 7 - 11
Monday 15 - Tuesday 16 August
Primary days: Years 3 - 6
Wednesday 17 - Friday 19 August
Full program
Date: Monday 15 - Friday 19 August
Ages: Primary and secondary students
Location: Hintze Hall, Australian Museum
Celebrate National Science Week and have your students’ burning questions answered by experts from 20 research organisations and universities! Wander through our Science Expo stalls and chat citizen science, frogs, fossils, medical research and more – even ask our scientists about their career paths. Ignite your students’ love for science by giving them the rare opportunity to touch base with real-life scientists, undertake experiments and get hands-on with cutting-edge innovations.
Panel discussions
Date: Monday 15 August
Ages: Secondary students
Location: Australian Museum Theatre
Hear from inspiring and insightful thought leaders about not only the impacts of climate change on Sydney and our health, but what we can do about it.
Speakers include Dr Jenny Newell, Curator, Climate Change at the Australian Museum; Professor Philip Hansbro, Deputy Director Centenary Institute and Director Centenary UTS Centre for Inflammation; and Dr Alexandra Thomson, Faculty of Science, UTS.
Date: Monday 15 August
Ages: Secondary students
Location: Australian Museum Theatre
Hear from women leading in their fields of STEM research, and find out about the career journeys that have brought them to where they are today. You’ll learn about their inspiring fieldwork adventures, from supporting community-driven archaeological projects, to exploring the vulnerability of native plants to climate change and describing new fossil species.
Speakers include Dr Marissa Betts, palaeontologist and geologist at University of New England; Dr Amy Mosig Way, archaeologist at the Australian Museum; and Phillippa Alvarez, Seed Ecologist PhD Candidate with University of Technology Sydney and the Australian Institute of Botanical Science.
Date: Monday 15 August
Ages: Secondary students
Location: Australian Museum Theatre
There’s never been a more important time for science communication and finding creative and exciting ways to engage everyone in science. Join our panel of passionate science communicators to hear about their career journeys and be inspired by their contagious enthusiasm to make science accessible for all.
Speakers include Professor Kris Helgen, Chief Scientist and Director of the Australian Museum Research Institute; Dr Mitchell Gibbs, researcher in Indigenous practices for shellfish and coastal management; and Associate Professor Alice Motion, Chemist and Science Communicator. Moderated by Dr James Clugston from The Royal Botanic Garden Sydney.
Science shows
Date: Tuesday 16 August
Ages: Secondary students
Location: Australian Museum Theatre
Get fired up for some seriously explosive science with Street Science! Experience a range of roaring reactions as we investigate fuels – past, present and future, before dropping the temperature with the mind-bending properties of liquid nitrogen.
Date: Wednesday 17 August, Thursday 18 August, Friday 19 August
Ages: Primary students
Location: Australian Museum Theatre
This 'science sampler' stage show explores a range of science concepts through visually exciting and engaging experiments. See giant bubbles, fireballs, flying toilet paper, hair-raising electricity, coloured shadows, liquid nitrogen and more!
Date: Wednesday 17 August, Thursday 18 August, Friday 19 August
Ages: Primary students
Location: Royal Botanic Garden Sydney
Witness some truly ‘cool’ experiments using liquid nitrogen, see a brave volunteer put inside a giant bubble, and be dazzled by science in this engaging and interactive live science show that covers a range of different scientific topics.
Workshops
Date: Monday 15 August – Friday 19 August
Ages: Secondary and primary students
Location: Royal Botanic Garden Sydney
Discover the culinary delights that can be found in a native garden! In this workshop led by a First Nations guide, students will tour the Cadi Jam Ora garden to explore different types of plants used and eaten by Aboriginal people of the Sydney region and learn how they prepare them.
Date: Monday 15 August, Tuesday 16 August
Ages: Secondary students
Location: Royal Botanic Garden Sydney
Explore what it’s like to be a forensic investigator and use science to solve crimes. Students will participate in a mock case and learn how to dust and collect fingerprints, analyse bloodstain spatter and manage a crime scene, with the aim of building a solid case for the court of law. This interactive workshop is facilitated by the University of Technology Sydney, Faculty of Science.
Date: Monday 15 August, Tuesday 16 August
Ages: Secondary students
Location: Royal Botanic Garden Sydney
Dinosaurs are well known for their enormous sizes, and indeed they include the largest animals ever to walk the earth. But how do we know how heavy they were? This activity combines palaeontology, mathematics, physics and biology, using an age-old technique to estimate just how large these amazing animals once were! This interactive workshop is facilitated by the University of New England’s Discovery Program.
Date: Wednesday 17 August, Thursday 18 August, Friday 19 August
Ages: Primary students
Location: Royal Botanic Garden Sydney
What do an earthworm, a clam, an octopus and a butterfly have in common? None of them have a backbone! Explore the diversity of invertebrate animals and learn how and why scientists research and classify them.
Led by Australian Museum educators, students will gain an insight into the Museum’s vast invertebrate collection, engage in the complexity of life cycles, and discover how the environment can affect the growth and survival of invertebrates around Australia.
Date: Wednesday 17 August, Thursday 18 August, Friday 19 August
Ages: Primary students
Location: Royal Botanic Garden Sydney
The Sydney area hosts over 200 amazing native bee species, vital for pollination and keeping our ecosystem healthy. Learn about these amazing pollinators before getting hands-on in a workshop creating your own bee- hotels for your school.
Date: Monday 15 and Tuesday 16
Ages: Secondary students
Location: Royal Botanic Garden Sydney
Tree-gonometry, anyone? Numbers are everywhere in science and horticulture! Students will apply maths and science to the outdoor classroom of the Botanic Garden and discover how these skills are useful in science and horticultural careers.
Date: Wed 17, Thurs 18 and Fri 19 August
Ages: Primary students
Location: Royal Botanic Garden Sydney
Examine a range of plants in contrasting rainforest and arid environments and learn about the amazing adaptations that allow them to grow and survive. Students will conduct a scientific investigation to connect the physical conditions in which plants live and their ability to thrive.
