Children being entertained by fly puppet, Bugs Alive!
Image: Michelle McFarlane
Source: Museum Victoria
Question: I’ve heard that there’s something going on soon called Science Week at the museum. What is Science Week and what special things are happening for it?
Answer: Science Week is an annual Australia-wide event, consisting of hundreds of different exciting events that get people enthusiastic about science. Running for ten years, it continues to grow. Last year over 1 million people participated! Everyone can be involved, from children right through to professional scientists.
This year Science Week runs from Saturday 15 to Sunday 23 August. At Museum Victoria, we have lots of fun and interesting things planned at Melbourne Museum, Scienceworks and the Planetarium.
As a preview to National Science Week, Museum Victoria presents Science: Fact or Fiction!? On Friday 14 August, a panel of museum scientists and Australian comedians nut out the fact or fiction of the science world, at BMW Edge.
At Melbourne Museum there is lots of opportunity to learn about all things science, both in our exhibitions and at events. We have behind the scenes tours of our science collections and the chance to meet our experts, who will talk about their work and the latest research going on at Museum Victoria. For the littlies, there is dinosaur mask-making, and Minmi and Dinonychus, the dinosaur puppets, roaming the galleries.
At Scienceworks see SCINEMA, our Science film festival, which explores Australia’s scientific talent through film. Aspiring scientists have the opportunity to talk to real inspiring scientists about their ‘ology’ and what a career in their particular field entails. There are also great activities for kids, such as the BASF Kids’ Lab, where they can do fascinating chemistry experiments with real scientists!
The Planetarium at Scienceworks has Discover the Night Sky, which runs every Thursday night in August and, during Science Week, the subject is our own Milky Way Galaxy. You can also see our great new planetarium show, Our Living Climate, which explores Earth’s climate, how it developed, climatic change and how the climate makes life possible on our planet.
Look out for special Science Week activities at the Discovery Centre as well. We’ll host our own SCINEMA throughout the week, with some great films showcasing Australian science and scientists. Have you got any sort of bug, fossil, mineral, photos of birds or mammals or anything else you’ve found that has you stumped? Bring it in to the Discovery Centre on 15 August and we’ll send it to our resident experts, who will help identify your find. Who knows what you will have discovered?
For full details, including dates, times, booking requirements and any costs, check the links to Science Week events.