Sound Science

Sound Science aims to engage schoolchildren aged 11-14 with the science curriculum and get them thinking about STEM careers. We want to stimulate and inspire Science Communication and give scientists the tools they need to go about it. We aim to:

Aims

Engage children with Science by:

- Getting children excited about science
- Linking exploration, imagination and fun with science in the minds of children
- Engaging children long-term with the science curriculum
- Explaining core principles in science, using a new and exciting method
- Motivating children to study Science beyond 16, with a particular focus on the gender disparity in Physics at A-Level and beyond
- Supporting teachers in delivering curriculum

Engage children with STEM careers by:

- Sparking children's interest in science careers
- Linking the curriculum to frontier research
- Demystifying science and routes into STEM careers
- Combating stereotypes surrounding science and STEM careers
- Presenting and promoting female role models in science
- Initiating relationships between schools and ScienceGrrl scientists
- Offering mentoring and work experience opportunities through ScienceGrrl schemes
- Supporting schools in delivering careers advice

Stimulate and encourage Science Communication by:

- Inspiring scientists to communicate their research to the public and educating them on how to go about it
- Giving scientists tools to work with young people and facilitate workshops
- Developing now>press>play's ability to work with experts to communicate complex scientific ideas to young people
- Ensuring rigour in now>press>play's presentation of frontier scientific research and complex ideas
- Developing a model for science communication which can be developed, built upon and repeated nationally

Resource Dissemination

The two key documents produced through Sound Science include the Schools Resource Pack, and the Science Communication Handbook. Both of these will be made freely available online and will be disseminated through both the extensive now>press>play and ScienceGrrl networks of teachers and scientists. We will also use our large social media following to advertise the project.

Working with a Range of Organisations

In order to widen the benefits of the experiences created through the Sound Science project, we are already in discussion with other organisations that might benefit from receiving the experiences. The Science Museum has expressed interest in hosting workshops as part of their education work, and we will continue to look for opportunities to work with museums, science festivals and other educational organisations.

Final Workshop

At the final evaluation workshop we will present our experiences to key project stakeholders. This will be an opportunity to consolidate our learning, reflect on the experience as a whole, and make plans for the future. The aim of this workshop is to act as a launchpad for stakeholders to foster new relationships and find new opportunities to continue to work together. We want to ensure that the relationships and learning fostered through Sound Science have an impact long beyond the end of the funding.