9:00am-3:00pm on Thursday 31 March
Times shown are in GMT (UTC +0) up to the 26th March. For events on or after 27th March times are in BST (UTC +1).
Target group - Primary Schools (KS2)
2 or 3 schools to be selected (in need of science enrichment)
Workshop leaders:
Dr Helen Mason OBE, DAMTP, University of Cambridge
Dr Matt Bothwell, Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge
In person workshops (if possible)
Creative SunSpaceArt Astronomy Workshops will be run at two or three primary schools during the weeks leading up to the Cambridge Festival 2022. These will be led by Dr Helen Mason (DAMTP) in collaboration with Dr Matthew Bothwell (IoA), together with participation by visual artists and young researchers. Photos of the artwork produced by the schools will be made available for display at the Cambridge Festival.
The SunSpaceArt, SSA, project is a diverse team of artists, scientists and educators, led by Dr Helen Mason (sunspaceart.org). They have run STEAM (STEM + Arts) workshops in over 150 schools throughout the UK, during the past five years. The SSA project is funded by STFC (Science and Technology Facilities Council) and the workshops are free at the point of delivery. The feedback from teachers and children has been very positive: ‘Today I loved this lesson because the science and art inspired me’ (child, London). In June 2021, the SSA team were the proud recipients of the Sir Arthur Clarke Team Award for Space Achievement in Education and Outreach.
Dr Matt Bothwell is a well known and highly regarded astronomy outreach officer, based at the Institute of Astronomy and the Kavli Institute for Cosmology, University of Cambridge (https://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/people/Matthew.Bothwell). He has worked extensively with schools in Cambridgeshire and East Anglia, both primary and secondary.
The aim of this festival event is to inspire children using the context of astronomy and space science. Our focus will be on school children from diverse backgrounds most need of science enrichment (both within Cambridge, possibly Arbury (?), and in more rural locations, eg the Fens). The SunSpaceArt team with Matt Bothwell aim to reach schools which do not usually engage with the Cambridge Festival. Hence we feel it is important that these workshops come under the umbrella of the Cambridge Festival. We shall liaise closely with the Cambridge Festival school outreach team.
Website: sunspaceart.org
YouTube: SunSpaceArt
Email: info@sunspaceart.org
Twitter: helen_hm11
