The forces of fun! New workshop teaches kids the physics behind park attractions

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Teachers and their children were blown away by Professor Blast’s Learning Lab at a sneak peek of Paultons Park’s unique schools' science experience.

From swings to cogs, weights to wheels, elevation to electricity, they had the chance to get hands on with the science that makes the park run – before going out onto the rides to feel the force of physics in practice.

And they became techies for the day, bringing their own mini ride to life by the power of computer programming.

The industry professionals, heads of science and ICT, headteachers and their families from across Dorset and Hampshire were welcomed to the family attraction in Romsey over the weekend of September 6 and 7 to experience its new interactive workshops.

Professor Blast’s Learning Lab uses the physics behind the park’s attractions to bring science vividly to life for children and is exclusively available for schools and uniformed groups, such as Brownies and Cubs.

With the quirky professor and his research assistant, Peter Petri, overseeing the lab, kids love the exciting mix of UV lighting, bubbling test-tubes, smoke and special effects.

Paultons Park Education Officer, Andy Chapman, said: “It was so much fun for the teachers to see their own children buzzing with excitement when they were doing the activities – and now they can’t wait to come back with their pupils.

“We’re really proud to see Professor Blast’s Learning Lab in action and we’re looking forward to welcoming school groups. 

“What makes it such an exciting ‘edu-tainment’ experience is that children can learn all about the science behind our rides before going into the park to experience them in practice.” 

With the capacity to host 35 children and their leaders, Professor Blast’s hands-on Science Explorer workshop explores forces and energy transfers, allowing children to investigate the dynamics of the park’s attractions.

And the Ride Programming – Control IT workshop offers a new understanding of how rides are technically programmed. The workshop is designed to develop IT skills and provides children the chance to programme their very own motorised Sky Swinger.

Professor Blast's Learning Lab mainly targets key stage 1 and 2. It will be used as a base for a number of school trips and educational workshops, where children will be able to book the interactive lab for a session as part of their school visit.

About Paultons Park
Paultons Park has more than 60 theme park rides and attractions – including the world’s only Peppa Pig World – but education is an important part of its remit, which has earned the park a Learning Outside the Classroom quality badge.

The Park has this year been voted in the top five UK school trips destinations, alongside the National History Museum and Edinburgh Zoo, as voted for by the readers and subscribers of UKedchat magazine.

The amazing mix of rides, birds and animals provides plenty of stimuli for learning on a range of subjects with an experienced education team on hand to guide learners through a full day of curriculum-based workshops. 

A day at Paultons Park
10am: School groups arrive, parking in the large-free car park. Tickets are issued and students head into the park.

10:15am: Head into the park, under the supervision of accompanying teachers. Experience the rides, or visit the many species of birds and animals. Staff can download the free resources from the Paultons Park website to support learning, or use the time for recreational purposes.

11.00am: Attend a pre-booked workshop in Professor Blast’s Learning Lab. Let the education team lead a hands-on exploratory session in its fully-themed lab. All of the interactives are based on rides in the park, allowing clear scientific links to be made between the workstations and the rides. Worksheets are provided to further focus the learning.

12:00pm: Visit the penguins for an informative and fun talk on the Park’s collection of Humboldt penguins.

12:30pm: Lunch in one of its numerous undercover picnic areas.

1:30pm: Continue to explore the park, under the supervision of accompanying teachers. Experience the rides, or visit the many species of birds and animals. Staff can download the free resources from the Paultons Park website to support learning, or use the time for recreational purposes. Alternatively, book another workshop in Professor Blast’s Learning Lab.

Other workshops and presentations
The new Learning Lab activities complement existing schools workshops. In the Feel the Force workshop, children can tour the park to explore the forces acting on their bodies and how they affect the rides. 

For older students, Paultons run a range of presentations looking at different aspects of the business. Marketing covers the main techniques Paultons Park uses to attract customers, and who they market to. Students can also learn about customer service at the park, covering information about its customers, how Paultons meets their needs, measures their satisfaction and communicates with them.

And the Paultons Business Programme includes information on the history of Paultons, its mission statement and core values, management structure, stakeholders, functional areas and responsibilities, customer information, how it communicates with its guests and the marketing mix.

“With all the excitement of a theme park all around them, children love learning how we work – and, of course, they get to enjoy the rides as well,” said Andy Chapman.

“We’re passionate about education, which is why we don’t just offer exciting workshops and experiences for children, but also run inspirational teaching events, giving teachers creative ideas to ignite their pupils’ imaginations.”

Teachers are encouraged to book a pre-visit in advance of a trip, where Andy will give them a tour, answer all of their questions and show them the Learning Lab.

For more information, visit www.paultonspark.co.uk.  If you are a teacher or education blogger and would like to preview Professor Blast's Learning Lab at Paultons Park - please email education@paultons.co.uk. 

Press enquiries to:
Lisa Barry, Liz Lean PR, Tel: 01202 701828, E: lisab@lizleanpr.co.uk

Would Prof. Brian Cox rather be Neil Armstrong or Yuri Gagarin?

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Prof. Cox at the Education Show

Both apparently, if his interview at this year’s Education Show was anything to go by. 

We were lucky enough to nab a great spot (though unfortunately, not a seat – the theatre was rammed) for the famous physicist’s discussion on making science accessible and exciting. Maisie Gould reports on the highlights of his half-hour interview.

An unexpectedly charismatic man, Brian Cox chatted with chairperson, Charles Clarke, about his own experiences in school, his fleeting career as a pop star, and how he tries to get his five-year-old son to talk with him about anything he’s interested in – whether that be astrophysics or conkers! 

Cox also spoke about his upcoming TV series which he has only just finished filming – in fact, only the day before his interview here in Birmingham, he’d been astronaut training at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre in Star City, Russia. At the training centre, they use full sized mock ups of all major spacecraft developed since the Soviet era submerged in the centre’s massive pool (Brian said it was about the size of the NEC’s exhibition hall where the Education Show was held) to train cosmonauts. Apparently, they’d got Brian in an astronaut’s suit and had him training underwater with a mock up of the International Space Station.

Brian in his space suit. 
(Photo: apolloschildren.com)

“I thought I was really good… really calm and relaxed,” Brian said. “But when I got out, the doctor monitoring me came over and said ‘You really shouldn't be doing that at your age – your ECG was all over the place’, so apparently, I was really stressed and nervous!”

Brian also had the huge privilege of witnessing the Soyuz landing while in Kazakhstan. He and his film crew were actually the first on scene: “It was crazy – the capsule’s really tiny. We just stood there, thinking there’s three guys in there, and what if no one turns up to get them out? Luckily, a few minutes later, a helicopter turned up.”

“They got out a stepladder and literally dragged them out of the capsule and put them in deck chairs!” Brian said with a laugh. “These guys had been on the space station for six months so they couldn't move at all. You've been in space for months, and then when you come home, you’re just dumped on deckchairs in the snow!” 

The Soyuz crew in their deck chairs! 
(Photo: space.com)

The Soyuz landing and Brian’s astronaut training will all be shown in his upcoming series, ‘The Human Universe’, which focuses on our value as humans. A long time ago, people thought we were the centre of the universe – over time, as our scientific knowledge advanced and we discovered just how large the universe is, we realised actually, we’re quite irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. Or are we?

“We believe there are billions of planets in the universe which can sustain life, but advanced civilisations are actually very rare,” Brian explained. Maybe we're a lot more significant than we thought!

Aside from entertaining us with anecdotes, the famous physicist also found time to talk about science in schools. Speaking about the students he teaches, Brian Cox said it's their responsibility to ensure they understand what they're learning. “They come to me saying ‘I'm sorry, I haven’t finished this paper’, and I'm like I don’t care whether you've done it or not. Actually, I'm glad you haven’t done it because then I don’t have to mark it!” 

In all seriousness though, when asked via Twitter about the current content-driven agenda for schools, Brian explained that he wants his students to develop as researchers – and it’s easier for them to do that if they are able to take responsibility for their own learning and have learned how to do this at school. 

He added:“The process of understanding something is where the excitement lies and you will never forget it when you go through that – it’s taking delight and responsibility for your own understanding.”

During the question-and-answer session that followed his interview, the professor reflected on how to get more students interested in science – especially girls. "We are leaving a whole cohort of talent out of this part of the economy by not having enough of them," he said, before adding: “There is a lot of research on this – one bit says we should teach [girls] on their own without boys,” he said. “Whether it is politically palatable I don’t know, but girls do better in all girl classes, not necessarily in all girls schools.”

Brian also proposed an interesting idea – he said he would like more universities to bring teachers in to use their facilities and share academic findings to take back to the classroom. “I’d like to do that myself,” he added. He also said he thinks academics should help teachers have the knowledge to talk about new scientific discoveries in schools, as saying ‘we just discovered this last Monday’ is a great way to get kids excited about science – “It’s new and it’s happening right now,” Brian stressed.

Brian also suggested linking science to things students already find exciting, like the television series, Doctor Who: "You can teach time dilation and the fact moving clocks run slowly. In fact, I did it in my BBC Lecture, ‘The Science of Doctor Who’ – so the fact you can do it on television, which is significantly dumbed down, means you can do it at A-Level physics."

To finish, a local primary school teacher whose Year 2 class is currently studying Neil Armstrong and the moon landing, asked whether the professor would rather have been the first man on the moon, or Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space. 

After much deliberation, Cox decided both would have been equally exciting. He did, however, add that he didn’t think he could have done what Yuri Gagarin did – cram himself into a tiny metal capsule and head off into the great unknown, with no idea what would happen. “I have utmost respect for the man,” Brian said.

And we, you, Professor. In fact, we'd have very much liked to tell him in person (and perhaps get a sneaky pic), if it hadn't have been for the burly security guards steering the famous physicist through his sea of fan girls.

Honestly... you'd have thought Professor Brian Cox was a pop star!

If you missed Brian's interview at the Education Show, you can read an edited version here.