Sharing a passion for science: outreach to schools

FLEET shares the responsibility to support students and teachers to increase participation in science, and in particular works towards increasing the number of girls and women participating in physics, chemistry and engineering.

The Centre Launch on 12 June will showcase FLEET’s science outreach programs, educating the public and inspiring a new generation of scientists.

Home Science and FLEET Geeks programs provide science opportunities for young children and adults alike, making science easy, accessible and relevant.

Accessible home experiments encourage kids to give science a try

FLEET’s weekly Home Science activities introduce younger students to easy, fun science experiments using accessible, everyday items. They are ground-tested, and simple instructions are written for a non-science audience, including a description of the underlying scientific concepts.

The FLEET Geeks program sees FLEET members performing science shows at primary schools and kindergartens, demonstrating physics with equipment not typically available to students. The program brings scientists to the students, allowing the kids to ask questions about scientific phenomena seen in the show, everyday science, a career in science or any other burning science questions. Hands-on learning aids with recall, so we involve the students in fun, easy exercises such as investigating static electricity (using a van de Graaff machine), thermal conductivity (the heat of coins) and induction (a magnet dropped down a copper tube).

FLEET focuses significant efforts on science outreach, with the aim of:

  • Increasing the participation of students in science and physics
  • Increasing understanding of and passion for science in the general public
  • Improving the outreach skills of FLEET members
  • Supporting the public discussion of FLEET-specific research

Read more about FLEET’s science outreach programs including homescience experiments and classroom lessons. FLEET also engages in outreach to politicians and the public.

Back to the Launch.