Children love films, TV shows, computer games and books. If you pick the right ones, they can also teach children a lot about the world. Or at the very least inspire kids to find out more.
Science, in particular, permeates popular culture – especially with the current popularity of superhero and dystopian genres. Of course, the writers use a great deal of creative licence in these films, TV shows, books and video games, but look past that and you’ll see links to a wide range of science topics.
This project aims to highlight some of those links. Although mainly science-based, the activities are cross-curricular in nature and can be used with pupils in Key Stages 2-4. A few activities are appropriate for use with younger children also.
Project Overview
Engineering, extinction and ethics
Activity 1: Extinct and endangered animals
Activity 2: The impact of extinction
Activity 3: Conservation or de-extinction?
Intelligent animals
Activity 4: Hyena focus project (and Savannah food web)
Activity 5a: Classifying animals (KS1/2)
Activity 5b: Classifying animals (KS2/3)
Activity 6: Intelligent animals
Activity 7: Our closest relatives?
The future of technology
Activity 8: Can Science give us utopia?
Activity 9: Futuristic fuels
Maths and science combined
Activity 10: Making mazes
Inheritance
Activity 11: Design a human
Early humans
Activity 12: What happens next? Writing a story
Activity 13: Timeline of human ancestors
Activity 14: How do we compare?
Activity 15: Caveman maths
‘Hairy man’ legends
Activity 16: Tracking the orang pendek
Activity 17: Mapping the mysteries
Activity 18: The missing link?
The resource packs that accompany each activity include detailed instructions, worksheets, information factsheets, research resources, PowerPoint presentations, images and more.
