This year National Science Week will be bringing science to you while you shop! Come past Westfield Belconnen, Westfield Woden, South.Point Tuggeranong, Cooleman Court, or the Canberra Centre to discover the exciting science behind growing mushrooms, engineering with Lego, parasites, geology, space, robotics, and much more!
What's On
For a PDF version of the Science in the Centres calendar, click here.
Interested in more Science Week activities happening throughout the ACT? Check out the full weekly calendar here, or search for events anywhere in Australia via the National Science Week website!
Science exhibitors galore!
A variety of hands-on science activities will be on display from 10am to 4pm across the different locations during National Science Week (13th, 14th, 18th, 20th, and 21st of August). There is something for everyone so make sure you check out the schedule above, and the list of exhibitors below, to find something exciting and learn something new!
Come along and take part in some fun Virtual Reality (VR) games and discover more about the science behind game creation with the Academy of Interactive Entertainment.
Discover the fantastic world of parasites through a variety of interactive activities for the whole family. See for yourself what parasites look like, learn where you might encounter one, hear about the diseases they cause, and even uncover some benefits they offer.
As part of National Science Week, the Australian National University’s Research School of Earth Sciences will measure the seismic activity caused by the Viking clap and Raiders crowd celebrations: the so-called “Footy Quake”! We want the Raiders crowd making seismic noise by stamping on the ground when the Raiders score and also during the Viking clap. The goal? Using a seismometer, a device used by scientists to measure real-life earthquakes, they want to measure the biggest recorded “Footy Quake” in the World!
Tickets available at https://giostadiumcanberra.com.au/gio-stadium-event/nrl-2022-rd-22/
Have your most burning questions answered by an Australian astronomer. Practice your astronomy skills through hands-on activities and enter a competition to win a signed copy of ‘Astronomy: Sky Country’ by Karlie Noon and Krystal de Napoli.
The Australian Geospatial-Intelligence Organisation (AGO) is the lead agency for geospatial data, information, and intelligence for Defence and the National Intelligence Community. They collect, analyse, and share imagery and geospatial information to learn more about physical features and activities in the air, on land, in water, and even in space!
Want to know more? Make sure you visit the AGO display at the Canberra Centre on 13 August 2022.
Learn about one of the longest-running science programs for high schoolers: the Australian Science Olympiads (yes, the Olympics — but for science!). Challenge your friends in the Great Pipette Race, win prizes, and hear about how you could go for gold and become a Science Olympian!
Canberra Daleks & Robots will showcase several custom built robots including a Dalek, 3D-printed robots InMoov and Pepper, and Meccano Meccanoids.
Visitors can find out how they were assembled, try out various commands, and learn how they are programmed.
Come along to our stall to discover the secret world of mushrooms! We will have mushroom science experts demonstrating how mushrooms are being used in science. Visitors can explore meat substitutes, natural dyes, and bio-materials made from fungi and there will be plenty of mushroom giveaways.
Have you ever wondered about the origins and evolution of the landscapes and mountains around Canberra and how old they are? The Geological Society of Australia will have a booth at the Canberra Centre on Sunday 14 August with displays of rock types and fossils from around Canberra, including the soon-to-be-adopted ACT Fossil Emblem, a 425 million year old trilobite from a drillhole under the Treasury Building: Batocara michelli.
How did the fossil of a sea creature end up underneath the Canberra Centre? Find out how and see the fossil for yourself at the Geoscience Australia pop-up! You can also see a selection of extraordinary minerals and win some great prizes with a colouring competition. Learn more about Earth Sciences for Australia’s future by visiting www.ga.gov.au.
“What Makes You Unique – Science Storytelling with a Twist” is a book reading with fun and colourful balloon creations. Come and check out cool scientific equipment made from balloons and learn how your DNA makes you unique.
What is a Watt? and other electrifying questions aims to help children and adults grasp basic electrical principles by presenting them in a fun and easily understandable way. By demonstrating that electricity has been used safely, cheaply, efficiently, and mostly unnoticed for decades, participants will be encouraged to appreciate how these same qualities of electricity can be expanded for other purposes — particularly mobility — which will lead to personal, community, and environmental benefits.
Did you know that there are earthquakes on Mars? They’re called marsquakes! Come along to our stall and learn about earthquakes and marsquakes — what causes them, what might be the difference between Earth and Mars, and how different buildings survive. Using a shaker table you can test your building skills against a marsquake — will it survive? They are really strong!
Discover what the effect of gravity is on different planets in the Solar System. How much would you weigh on Jupiter? What about on Pluto?
Have you ever held a meteorite? What about a satellite? During Science Week, now you can!
Join us for a fun day experimenting with dry ice. It is a cool way to understand more about gases, carbon dioxide, and ocean acidification. We will make fog, blow up gloves, and show how carbon dioxide can change the pH of a solution.
This Science Week, Young Engineers Canberra will be hosting workshops for people to experience engineering and technology in action. Register for one of our free hands-on LEGO Robotics workshops or drop by our stall to explore our advanced robotics models of a sustainable farm, a smart home, or a robotic arm to find inspiration in real-world solutions and discover the possibilities of education in STEM.
Sunday 14 August 2022 @ Westfield Belconnen
1. 10.00 AM to 11.00 AM
2. 12.00 PM to 1.00 PM
3. 2.00 PM to 3.00 PM
https://www.trybooking.com/CBJAO
Sunday 21 August 2022 @ Canberra Centre
1. 10.00 AM to 11.00 AM
2. 12.00 PM to 1.00 PM
3. 2.00 PM to 3.00 PM
https://www.trybooking.com/CBJVA
Science at home with our activity booklet!
Come along to the displays and pick up a free take-home activity booklet to bring some fun science activities home with you. The booklet features themed days for all of National Science Week. Each day will guide you through an activity, introduce a real-life scientist from the ACT, ask some thought-provoking questions, and suggest places to visit. Monday is about exploring the wonders of the human body, Tuesday is for celebrating the technology in our lives, Wednesday is for learning about the weather, Thursday is about exploring the science of taste, Friday is about getting out there and doing some fieldwork, Saturday is all about what things are made of and why, and Sunday is for learning about the maths that is all around us!
For those doing the origami activity from the activity booklet, you might find this YouTube walkthrough helpful!
If the activities in our booklet aren’t enough to sate your appetite for science, check out this page of DIY Activities on the National Science Week website, or the range of space science activities below!
Primary School Activities
Age: Primary School
Satellites orbit the Earth, and help us communicate with people far away – but how does this work? Learn how with this activity sheet!
Age: Primary School
You’ve probably heard of GPS, and how it helps us find our way around unfamiliar places. How does it work though, and just how many GPS satellites are there? This activity, in conjunction with the GNSS View app, will answer these questions and more!
Age: Primary School
Satellites do all kinds of science, but just how many kinds can you think of? This worksheet aims to help brainstorm this very topic!
Age: Primary School
Not only do we need to do our best to keep the environment clean here on Earth, but we also need to keep space clean – otherwise our new satellites could get damaged by fast moving junk from old satellites. How do scientists do this though? This activity lets you work through the same problem, just like a scientist would!
High School Activities
See How GPS Satellites Can Find Your Location
Age: High School
If you’ve ever navigated using GPS on a phone, you’ll notice it does a really good job of figuring out where you are. This is accomplished through a whole team of satellites working together, and with this activity you can work with a partner to figure out just how this works!
See How Satellites Parts Pack into Small Spaces
Age: High School
Everything we send into space has to be able to fit into a rocket. Rockets however are only so large, which means scientists and engineers often need to get creative fitting things in! This exercise covers one way they do this, and involves folding up things like origami.
See How Satellites Discover Worlds
Age: High School
Astronomers now know of over 4,000 planets orbiting stars other than the Sun. Many of these were actually found using satellites, or more specifically space telescopes, by how a star’s gravity affects its planet! This activity shows you how to develop a simple demonstration of how gravity works, all from your own home!
See How Satellites Stay in Orbit
Age: High School
How does gravity work, and why don’t satellites fall down? Check out this activity for a demonstration of how the force of gravity is involved in our satellites orbiting the Earth.
Other activities
Age: 10-13
Satellites are used for all sorts of things in the modern world, from communications and GPS, to monitoring the weather, to even doing astronomy! Putting things into space is pretty expensive though, and anything going to space needs to fit into a rocket. This means that not only must satellites not be too heavy or big, but they also need to not break during launch from all the shaking! If that wasn’t enough, space has no air, and can either be really hot if you’re in the sun, or cold if you’re in Earth’s shadow — so a satellite must be able to survive that too!
This activity will have students working in a group to design and test a satellite, which is similar to the design process engineers use when actually building them.
For younger students who just want to build something, or for ideas on how to make everyday items look like satellite components, check out these two additional resources:
- https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/build-a-spacecraft/en/
- https://www.ehow.com/how_5006567_make-model-satellite.html
Papercrafting Some NASA Spacecraft and Satellites
Age: all ages
Want to get a 3D look at some of the spacecraft NASA uses to study the universe? Why not make them out of paper!
Papercrafting NovaSAR-1, a Satellite Used by CSIRO that can see through clouds!
Age: all ages
NovaSAR-1 is a cutting-edge satellite that uses radar to study and take pictures of the Earth (even through clouds), which makes it a very useful tool during natural disasters. The satellite is shared between many groups, but CSIRO gets to use it 10% of the time. However, you can make your own and use it all of the time!
Age: 8+
What kinds of satellites are orbiting the Earth right now? Where are they? How fast are they moving? How big are they?
Answer all these questions and more with NASA’s Eyes on the Earth app which visualises all this and more in real time (note requires downloading and running an executable, suitable for PC and macOS)!
Age: 15+
This worksheet goes over how a satellite stays up without falling back down to Earth, and goes over the maths and physics of how this works.
Geoscience Australia Satellite Activities
Geoscience Australia spends a lot of time working with maps and other data from satellites, so they put together some activities for National Science Week that help to explain what they do best!
CSIRO Colouring Sheets for The Dish (AKA The Parkes Radio Telescope)
Age: all ages
The Parkes Radio Telescope is easily Australia’s most famous telescope thanks to it featuring in the iconic 2000 movie, The Dish. It’s done everything from peering at distant galaxies, investigating mysterious fast radio bursts, and even helping NASA communicate with astronauts during the moon landing. It’s just been added to the Australian National Heritage list too, so what better time to bring out your creative side and relax with some Dish themed colouring sheets!
Featured Scientists
As part of our activity booklet for Science in the Centres, we’ve profiled seven ACT scientists who all work on very different — but equally interesting — topics. Read their full profiles below!
Job title and organisation
PhD Candidate at University of Canberra Research Institute for Sport and Exercise
What do you do?
My research looks at how humans adapt to hot conditions like the summer months. Earlier this year I completed my testing of recreationally active adults and next summer I will look to test children aged 10–16 years old.
What’s the coolest thing about your job/research?
Aside from being able to use an environmental chamber which can create a 40°C environment, even when it is 5°C outside, I like being able to take part in everyone’s research, from running in 40°C to looking at the effects of 24 hours of sleep deprivation.
Why did you go into research?
I enjoy learning about how far we can push the human body and if I get to test some of these techniques/strategies out on myself, that is a huge bonus.
What are you most passionate about?
Sport. Whether that be watching Manchester United disappoint me once again or being overly competitive in a simple game of lunchtime basketball.
What subjects did you enjoy the most at school?
Any time spent in PE was perfect in my eyes. If I’m honest I did not particularly dislike any subjects but I do remember not being the greatest at english.
What did you want to be when you grew up?
I think my answer here is going to be very similar to anyone else who grew up in the UK: a footballer, obviously.
What’s something interesting about your job/research that people might not know about?
The misconception that sweating is bad. From a thermoregulatory standpoint, sweating is good and without sweating our bodies would overheat.
What are your hobbies?
A couple of simple pleasures: sport, being outside in the Sun, and consuming enough caffeine to fuel an army.
Job title and organisation
Currently I am a Senior Lecturer in Aeronautical Engineering at UNSW Canberra, however, in late August I will be joining the Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG)
What do you do?
I research how we can make sure that flight vehicles flying really fast remain intact. Structures get very hot when travelling really fast which can lead to material failure and shape distortion if not carefully managed. I use a combination of analytical, experimental, and computer-based tools to better understand how hot high-speed vehicles get and how this affects how well they fly and operate.
What’s the coolest thing about your job?
I get to use high speed wind tunnels where the air travels faster than 2700 m/s or over 9000 km/hr!
What made you want to be an aerospace engineer?
Fast planes, rockets, and space travel! As a small girl, I loved aeroplanes (I still do) and watching the space shuttle take off to go into space. Originally, I wanted to be a pilot, however, I soon learnt that it was much more fun and exciting to use my technical, creative, and analytical skills to create aerospace vehicles rather than fly them. I really set my sights on engineering when I was about 14 and was completing a maths assignment. The task was to create a box with no fasteners, and this really showed me the creativity of maths and science to make complex objects, which is exactly what engineers do.
What are you most passionate about?
Besides high-speed flight, I am most passionate about ensuring our engineering workforce is representative of society. I am a strong advocate for increasing diversity
in engineering and showing all young people that engineering is for them. We need all members of our society to be represented in engineering as engineers really do shape our world and lives.
What subjects did you enjoy the most at school?
I loved maths, science, and physics — and still do! I love both the structure and creativity of these subjects and really loved learning the science and maths
underpinning our world and how we can use them to make cool things. Science class was always a highlight: I really enjoyed experiments, especially those that didn’t quite go to plan and figuring out why. I found maths really fun and enjoyable and loved learning how maths really is everywhere. Another favourite subject in high school was home economics, which also has a lot of science and maths!
What did you want to be when you grew up?
For a long time, I wanted to be a pilot and fly fast planes. I then thought working on space travel would be exciting. I eventually decided that aerospace engineering was a good option for an exciting career that combined high-speed flight and potential space travel. Aerospace engineering is a big field, and to some extent I am still figuring out what I want to ‘be’, although I have always wanted to use technical, analytical, and creative thinking to unlock high-speed flight — which is exactly what I am doing now.
What’s something interesting about your job that people might not know about?
It is highly collaborative and I work with colleagues and external organisations to advance Australia’s national capability in high-speed flight.
What are your hobbies?
I enjoy keeping active with running and cycling. I enjoy reading and learning about new areas and I love to build Lego.
Job title and organisation
Associate Professor in Indigenous Water Science, University of Canberra.
What do you do?
I am a full-time researcher working to identify opportunities to use Indigenous Traditional Knowledge to influence Western water management as Western ways have not cared for Country.
What are your hobbies?
My family, culture, golf, and building old-school BMX.
What’s the coolest thing about your job?
I have the opportunity to listen to some of the oldest water stories on the planet.
What made you want to be a ground water scientist?
Groundwater is the forgotten cousin of surface water and does not get a fair deal. My interest in it is both scientifically wanting to know more about where and how it moves through the underground, but also culturally in understanding the ancient water that sits under my Kamilaroi Country in the Great Artesian Basin.
What are you most passionate about?
My ambition is to lead in my area of expertise, promote Aboriginal Traditional Knowledge (culturally appropriately), and find commonalities between Traditional Science and Western Science to influence policy and the way we manage the Australian landscape, especially water.
What subjects did you enjoy the most at school?
I wasn’t allowed to do hard science or maths, only biology and geology, so geology was my pick. I was Dux of geology for my year.
What did you want to be when you grew up?
A scientist.
What’s something interesting about your job that people might not know about?
I am one of three Indigenous Hydrogeologists in Australia and the only Indigenous Water Scientist at the University of Canberra.
Job title and organisation
Mycologist (or mushroom scientist) and Director of Fungi Co, a Canberra-based mushroom science education business.
What do you do?
Fungi Co provides education and outreach to schools and other groups interested in fungi, foraging, and growing mushrooms. We cultivate fungi for food, dyes, and textiles and other ‘bio-materials’.
What are your hobbies?
Tai chi, gardening, and growing mushrooms (of course!).
What’s the coolest thing about your job?
The coolest thing about working with fungi is their beautiful dichotomy: the mycelium (thin white cottony root system) is exceptionally fragile but at the same time can aggregate to break through tarmac and consume any number of carbon-based substances.
What made you want to be a mycologist?
I didn’t set out to be a mycologist, it has just been an inexorable relationship, with one thing or another always leading me back to fungi…and I have been inspired by some great mentors in the field.
What are you most passionate about?
Future novel applications of fungi that have not yet been conceived, and educating the public on the role of fungi in our lives, the broader ecosystem, and the future (humans may one day use mushrooms to terraform planets!).
What subjects did you enjoy the most at school?
At school I enjoyed the sciences and fine art — turns out both are relevant, having made paper and ink out of mushrooms!
What’s something interesting about your job that people might not know about?
There are way more than one hundred edible mushrooms, but so few available at the moment in Australia — we plan to change that!
Job title and organisation
Plant Ecologist — but working as an Assessment Officer for the Department of the Environment, Climate Change, Energy and Water
What do you do?
As a PhD Candidate, I looked at understanding why plants can be rare across different ecosystems in the hope to help aid threatened species conservation. As an Assessment Officer, I evaluate development proposals to identify if any threatened species or communities may be impacted by proposed development and identify what can be done to prevent and minimise impacts to threatened species and communities.
What are your hobbies?
I love to read, crochet, and go on slow bushwalks, trying to identify and photograph all sorts of things I encounter, from orchids to giant trees and fungi!
What’s the coolest thing about your job?
As a plant ecologist, the coolest thing is exploring and identifying a variety of plants across different vegetation communities. I love being out in the field, marvelling at all the different plants present. With the data I collect, I enjoy trying to understand the interactions different plants can have or examine how plants respond to their environments.
What made you want to be a plant ecologist?
I have always wanted to be a scientist, and I think this was driven by being curious about the natural world and all the interesting mysteries it holds. Dear Sir David Attenborough describes this feeling in words that I can’t compete with:
“It seems to me that the natural world is the greatest source of excitement; the greatest source of visual beauty; the greatest source of intellectual interest. It is the greatest source of so much in life that makes life worth living.” ― David Attenborough
What subjects did you enjoy the most at school?
Science, geography, and english.
What did you want to be when you grew up?
A scientist, an environmental scientist, and researcher.
Job title and organisation
Senior Research Fellow, Research School of Physics, ANU.
What do you do?
I study the properties and interactions of atoms in crystals using lasers. With this information, I work to develop devices such as quantum memories, which would be used as storage for quantum computers and to synchronise information in a quantum version of the internet.
What’s the coolest thing about your job?
The people I get to work with! Science is such a collaborative enterprise, so I spend a lot of my time working with a bunch of super bright, curious, and interesting people to solve difficult problems.
What made you want to be a physicist and materials scientist?
I’ve always had a bit of a research bent — I loved projects at school where I got to learn things for myself. I also really enjoy teaching and supervising students, so an academic job was a natural fit.
What are you most passionate about?
The part of my job I see as the most important is training the next generation of scientists and preparing them to step out into the world.
What subjects did you enjoy the most at school?
I always particularly liked maths and english. The logical, problem solving approach of maths always appealed to me, and I enjoyed the creative aspect of english writing. Both are really valuable in my job now.
What did you want to be when you grew up?
I never had any idea! I always just chose things to do — at uni and afterward — that interested me.
What’s something interesting about your job that people might not know about?
Our lab is underground and we do a lot of our experiments in the dark. Laser spectroscopy is all about minimising the number of photons you detect that are not part of your signal, so that means lights off!
What are your hobbies?
I’ve always liked making things. At the moment, I’m spending time doing DIY work around the house, sewing, and building up a garden.
Job title and organisation
Associate Professor, Mathematical Sciences Institute, ANU.
What do you do?
As an academic, I divide my time among research, teaching classes, supervising research students, and doing administrative work to keep my professional community running smoothly. My research is in pure mathematics, so a lot of times I’m working with pen and paper, rather than in a lab or on a computer.
What’s the coolest thing about your job?
It’s incredibly exciting to be the first person to understand something new about the world. On days when research is going well, I feel like I’m unlocking the secrets of the Universe.
What made you want to be a mathematician?
I like the challenge of maths — it’s clear there will always be hard problems to solve. But I wasn’t initially sure about doing a PhD in maths because it seemed like such a big commitment and I wasn’t sure if I would like it enough. When I was considering my options, I asked myself what I would do if I won the lottery. I realised that if I never had to worry about earning money again, I might try to see if maths would work for me. Since I could do that and support myself, I decided I should try grad school!
What are you most passionate about?
I want people to know that mathematics is for everyone; there’s not just one type of ‘maths person’.
What subjects did you enjoy the most at school?
I liked most subjects in school. Maths wasn’t my favourite as a kid, but I found it got more and more interesting the further I got into it.
What did you want to be when you grew up?
I was very undecided! At university, I seriously considered Egyptology, neuroscience, and political science before settling on maths.
What’s something interesting about your job that people might not know about?
Research mathematics is an extremely social activity. The stereotype is of a solitary mathematical genius locked in a tower solving equations, but today, you’re just as likely to find three people working together at a chalkboard. Doing mathematics with other people is a lot of fun — I didn’t collaborate much until I was a postdoctoral researcher, but solving a problem with colleagues is one of my favourite parts of the job. On a lighter note, I’ll mention that coloured pens are one of my chief technical tools, since my field of mathematics (topology) requires drawing a lot of pictures. At a conference in Tokyo, a big group used the free afternoon to visit a downtown stationary store because everyone was excited about the pen selection.
What are your hobbies?
I enjoy making things, reading, food, word games, and spending time with friends and family.