Talks for schools
The Physics Department is committed to increasing the understanding and engagement of people of all ages with physics and science in general. We undertake a wide range of activities such as school talks, public lectures, teacher training, open days, work experience and hands on workshops.
The Physics Department's Outreach Officer, Dr Simon Foster, undertakes a variety of outreach activities on behalf of the department as well as helping postgraduate students and researchers to undertake their own outreach activities.
Dr Simon Foster has a research background in solar physics, specialising in solar variability and climate change, and has previous worked as a teacher at several London schools. As well as running activities for students and adults, Simon is passionate about helping primary and secondary teachers who do not have a background in physics or science, to understand the subject and to help them develop strategies to teach the subject in the classroom.
We are more than happy to chat with you to discuss an activity or an event you may wish to undertake. For further details please see the links below and to book and event, please complete the online form and a member of the outreach team will contact you to discuss your requirements.
Read about our past events.
Tabbed information block
Space and the Atmosphere
| Outreach code | Intended Audience | Title | Speaker |
|---|---|---|---|
| S4 | Yr5 - Yr7 | Gunpowder Workshop: In this practical workshop we look at Rocket fuel and humans early attempts to launch rockets in to space. The students taking part actually get to make gunpowder. | Dr Simon Foster |
| S11 | GCSE-A level | Are we alone? Life on planets around stars | Dr Subhonjoy Mohanty |
| S13 | Jupiter and Saturn. | Prof Michele Dougherty (Space & Atmospheric Physics) | |
| S14 | The Cassini/Huygens mission to Saturn and Titan. | Prof Michele Dougherty (Space & Atmospheric Physics) | |
| S22 | Years 5/6 Primary | The Universe | Prof Arttu Rajantie (Theoretical Physics) |
| S28 | GCSE to A-Level | The Age of the Universe | Dr Daniel Mortlock (Astrophysics) |
| S29 | GCSE to A-Level | The Most Distance Objects in the Universe | Dr Daniel Mortlock (Astrophysics) |
| S32 | Pre-GCSE to A Level | Big Bang and Expanding Universe (Lecture) | Prof Arttu Rajantie (Theoretical Physics) |
| S34 | A Level | Solar Talk: In this talk we investigate Solar variability and climate change. We will look at how features on the Sun’s surface, such as sunspots, can affect the energy output of the Sun and how this can affect the climate on Earth. We will explore how the Sun’s energy has varied in the past, what is currently occurring and how this can affect climate. | Dr Simon Foster |
| S35 | Years 5 - 8 | It IS Rocket Science: Through exciting demonstrations & easy explanations, the audience will look at the first explosive attempts to launch humans in to space and answer questions such as: what is rocket fuel? How do we launch a rocket in to space? How do humans live in space? | Dr Simon Foster |
| S37 | Years 3 - 8 | Space Race: In this workshop, pupils are placed in to teams and challenged with designing and building a rocket capable of launching an astronaut to space and back. However, the fuel used to power the rockets is water and the astronaut is in fact an egg! Pupils will develop their own understanding about gravity, Newton's law of motion, mat erials, forces and air resistance. | Dr Simon Foster |
Light and Energy
| Outreach Code | Intended audience | Title | Speaker |
|---|---|---|---|
| S3 | 6th Form | Solar Cells | Prof Jenny Nelson (Experimental Solid State Physics) |
| S17 | Superconductivity – an extraordinary state of matter | Prof Lesely Cohen (Experimental Solid State) | |
| S18 | GCSE - A Level | Working with Waves - Spectroscopy research demonstrates how light waves can be used to analyse trace chemicals in the air. These same principles can also be applied to sound waves to create interesting remixes of contemporary songs. | Dr Mark Richards (Teaching & Learning) |
Matter and Particles
| Outreach code | Intended Audience | Title | Speaker |
|---|---|---|---|
| S15 | Life as a Quantum Mechanic. (Describes the difference between classical and quantum views of matter, and how we now use the rules of Quantum Mechanics to design the semiconductor devices like diode lasers, which have given us e.g. the internet. Includes saxophone playing, balloon folding and laser water-pistols.) | Prof Chris Phillips (Experimental Solid State) | |
| S17 | Superconductivity – an extraordinary state of matter | Prof Lesely Cohen (Experimental Solid State) | |
| S24 | A Level | How to trap and observe a single atom (Demonstration/Lecture) | Prof Richard Thompson (Quantum Optics & Laser Science) |
| S30 | GCSE to A-Level | Introductory talk on Particle Physics | Dr Mitesh Patel (High Energy Physics) |
| S33 | GCSE to A Level | Creation of Matter | Prof Arttu Rajantie (Theoretical Physics) |
| S38 | A Level | “What Does the Higgs Say?" A talk to explain the experime ntal discovery of the Higgs boson at the LHC, how it fits in the Standard Model of particle physics, and what it tells us about the fundamental laws of nature. | Prof Arttu Rajantie (Theoretical Physics) |
Other topics
| Outreach code | Intended audience | Title | Speaker |
|---|---|---|---|
| S7 | Year 6 | Making Waves: the physics of Music (including demonstrations and experiments with equipment, oscilloscopes etc. provided by Imperial) | Prof Richard Thompson (Quantum Optics & Laser Science) |
| S15 | Life as a Quantum Mechanic. (Describes the difference between classical and quantum views of matter, and how we now use the rules of Quantum Mechanics to design the semiconductor devices like diode lasers, which have given us e.g. the internet. Includes saxophone playing, balloon folding and laser water-pistols.) | Prof Chris Phillips (Experimental Solid State) | |
| S19 | A Level | Sculpting Light | Prof Martin McCall (Photonics) |
| S31 | Pre-GCSE to A-Level | Pathways into Physics (Talk/Workshop) | Dr Mark Richards (Teaching & Learning) |
| S36 | Years 10 and up | When Science Attacks: In this talk we explore what happens when science doesn't play by the rules and decides to attack! We will look at the science behind some of the more amazing headlines in the news and use demonstrations to show the science behind these topics and the human impact of them. | Dr Simon Foster |