Science on your doorstep
British Science Week 2015 school competition
www.britishscienceweek.org
Look around you. Look out of a window. What do you see? Where did these
things come from?
How were they created? Where were they invented? Were their origins near to you? This year’s
school poster competition is all about finding out about science on your doorstep. We all either
live near someone who has made a contribution to science or to something that is only here
because of science. You may look at the science that is your own home or even on your actual
doorstep. We take most of the things around us for granted and never think about how they
came to be or the scientists, technologists, mathematicians, engineers, designers and innovators
who were involved in their creation.
Using your investigative skills find out about the science on your doorstep. Look at
street names around you or the name of your school. Some roads and schools are
named after people that have a historical link to your area, try to find out who they
were and create an interesting poster about them and their achievements. Look at
local buildings, bridges, roads, what are they made from? Where did materials come
from? How were they built? Do you have pets or live in a rural (countryside) area?
You could look at the adaptations of wild animals, your pets or livestock and explain
how these help them to survive where you live.
Your Task: Collect information and use science to create an original poster that shows how it is
relevant to your area and why it is important to you, your region and Britain.
The only rule is that your poster must be 2D (flat). It can be in any format you like so it could
be a hand-drawing, a painting or done with a computer. Here are some ideas you might like to
think about (you don’t have to do these though):

Drawings: you could use geometry (shapes) as part of your drawing
http://tinyurl.com/pl4q45h. why not make it interactive with 2D pull out tabs
http://tinyurl.com/p5g34b6 or make a pop-up poster http://tinyurl.com/pzl7k92 -it
would still be flat until you opened it..

Paintings: There are lots of different styles of painting and types of paint that you could
use. Could you make your own paint to create your pictures? http://tinyurl.com/q6csl27.

Graphic designs/art: Graphic design is all around you. Look at the posters around your
school, at bus stops, railway stations and along the road. Many of these are designed by
graphic artists. There are many (in)famous graffiti artists whose work you might like to
Find more activities for British Science Week at www.britishscienceweek.org/plan
The British Science Association is a registered charity no. 212479 and SC039236.
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use for inspiration.

Photos of 3D models: be as creative and innovative as you can by using a local material to
construct the model.
These are just ideas, you do not have to use them, be creative and do something different,
unusual and innovative.
To get you started, here are a few themes, ideas and facts about people, places and inventions
that are all British. You can use these themes, or your own investigations, as a starting point to
begin researching for your poster.
Chocolate
It’s the world’s favourite confectionary. Cocoa originated from South America
and has been loved by people for thousands of years. Until the 19th century
chocolate was enjoyed as a drink or in desserts only. The first solid chocolate
bar originated in Britain. Was it near you? Did you know chocolate contains
crystals? You could find out about the chemistry of chocolate. Perhaps you
could even use chocolate in your poster – can you make paint or crayons from
chocolate?
The light bulb
You’re probably sitting underneath at least one of these right now, but where and
when were they invented? Was it in your region? Imagine your life without light
bulbs (some people spend most, if not all their lives without them). Have you just
had a light bulb moment for a poster that tells the history of the light bulb and how
it has changed the world? How do modern light bulbs differ from the original
invention? Can you create a simple circuit on your 2D poster that uses a small flat
light to tell your story?
Television
There are about 1.6 billion TVs in the world and 96 per cent of households in the
UK have a TV. In Britain we watch on average four hours of TV a day, does that
sound like you? That’s a lot of TVs and time spent watching them, but when and
where in Britain was the first TV invented? How is the picture on a screen
produced? Could you use this idea to create an original poster that applies this
idea? What else uses visual displays? What’s your favourite science TV
programme(s)? Imagine your life without a TV, what would you do instead?
Find more activities for British Science Week at www.britishscienceweek.org/plan
The British Science Association is a registered charity no. 212479 and SC039236.
2
The internet
The world wide web has been around forever! Think again, it’s much younger than
you think. I bet some of your teachers will remember the days before the
internet. What did they do before the internet? The internet may stretch
around the planet and link you to almost anyone anywhere but it began in the UK,
was it near you? How do you use the internet? What would the internet look like
if you tried to draw it?
Computers
What have German wartime codes and modern day electronic programmable
computers got in common? More than you may know. Where was the first
electronic computer made? How does a computer work? What is a computer
programme? Do you live near to the birth of modern computing or near somewhere
where computers are used to do something amazing; maybe explore the universe?
Sewage system
Every day 11 billion litres of waste water are treated in 9,000 sewage
treatment plants around the UK. Imagine your life without these. Where
does your sewage go to, to be treated? What happens to all that waste?
Where does the water go to once it’s been treated? Where does the water
you drink and cook with come from?
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Find more activities for British Science Week at www.britishscienceweek.org/plan
The British Science Association is a registered charity no. 212479 and SC039236.
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British Science Association is a registered charity No. 212479 and SC039236.
Find more activities for British Science Week at www.britishscienceweek.org/plan
The British Science Association is a registered charity no. 212479 and SC039236.
4