The National Science Week Bite of Science will be a family-fun day of workshops and activities for all, where the exciting world of science in the NT will be showcased by schools, researchers, and practitioners alike.
A range of free activities and experiences are available for all ages including blacksmithing demonstrations, a jumping castle, an arcade, and more.
For those keen to learn a new skill, there are also a number of workshops on offer.
The events, experiences, and workshops are all free - however, workshop places are limited. Please register for individual workshops early at Eventbrite to avoid disappointment.
Workshops Requiring Registration:
Florilegium Craft for Kids - Booking Required at Eventbrite
Children will create ornaments, painting NT native plants on circle postcards. The images will be created with masking fluid markers and granulated watercolour. The children learn native plants, while observing, drawing and painting them. They also find out important information and memorise the most interesting facts, by writing them on the postcards. The kids also enhance their art and craft skills.
Solar Car Challenge - Booking Required at Eventbrite
Build and race a solar car and see if you can beat the NT’s fastest time! Using a kit provided, and in the time allowed, you will work with a partner and build a solar car to race down a 10m track, testing your skill in following a design specification.
Augmented and Virtual Reality - Booking Required at Eventbrite
Experience VR inside Pico Neo 3 Pro world class headsets, creating 3D artwork in MultiBrush, or exploring the human body through 3D Organon, a medical & healthcare education platform for teaching and learning anatomy across virtual reality.
Youth (ages 10+)
Immerse yourself with Drones - Booking Required at Eventbrite
A series of Interactive drone flying workshops will engage young Australians aged ≥10 to spark their interest in science and STEM. Spectacular demonstrations and hands-on activities will encourage critical thinking, creativity and curiosity and provide an opportunity to learn with fun.
Adults (ages 18+)
Communicating Environmental Sustainability through Botanical Art - Booking Required at Eventbrite
This workshop is a mix of environmental and arts education. It includes a talk about mangrove ecosystems and hands on techniques for scientific illustration and drawing. The purpose is to raise awareness of plant biodiversity and environmental sustainability, while understanding how to research and sketch plant species in a scientifically correct form. It also enhances observational and drawing skills.
Pursuit of Hoppyness (strictly 18+) - Booking Required at Eventbrite
evening workshop 7pm @ Mal Nairn
This year, we're turning our attention to hops! Hops are flowers that are used to add bitterness, flavour and aroma to beer as well as act as a natural preservative. So, join us as we explore the science of hops and their role in the brewing process. We'll learn about the different types of hops and how they contribute to the beers you know and love. Continuing our pursuit to make beer with local ingredients, we will also be exploring how to brew without hops and will have tastings of some of the beers we've made using different hops and hop alternatives.
Drop in Activities - no need to book!
Video games are the largest creative industry in the world, larger than the music industry and the film industry combined and multiplied by two! Larrikin Interactive will show you just how easy it is to start making your first game using the industry software Unity, as well as make your own game music! Joining Larrikin Interactive are local devs working on their commercial games - come down, play, learn and chat to the devs about what it takes to be someone who makes video games for a living!
Speargrass Forge
"All that glitters is not gold - and all that's black is not cold." Blacksmithing can be traced back over 3 millenia, from the expansion of Rome through the Industrial revolution, to the modern day; there is a place for the local blacksmith. Here is your chance to ask everything you have wanted to know about this ancient art.
Make your own glow-in-the-dark resin jewellery, DIY shrinkies, sun colour change resin beads and having a blast with the airzooka vortex cannons and smoke machines. At the end of the experience, kids get to go home with super-strong glow-in-the-dark kit.
Under the Microscope (9am-11am)
Discover the microscopic world of bugs and plants in this drop-in session, investigating the creepy crawlies found in your backyard.
Chemistry Spectacular (11am-1pm)
Everything you wanted to know about chemistry. Interact with the atoms through multiple activities covering all aspects of chemistry.
The Menzies-Ramaciotti Centre collaborates with Charles Darwin University for a mix of Art meets Science. This activity presents the processes researchers have used to discover and name new species. Using various activities both visual (fluorescent microscopy, artwork, and digital photography) as well as hands-on activities (artwork, digital microscope, agar plating) we will engage the students.
Puzzle Palace
Build mazes, puzzles and marble runs using recycled materials to challenge kids and their grown-ups.
CSIRO Young Indigenous Women’s STEM Academy
The Young Indigenous Women's STEM Academy gives young Indigenous women the tools and support they need to succeed in an exciting career in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
More activities and workshops TBC….