By Orna Herr, Communications Officer (Education) at the British Science Association

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The theme of the British Science Week activity packs for 2025, ‘Change and adapt’, covers myriad topics from animal adaptations to minimising microplastics to designing the perfect cup of tea.

Some of the changes people make are purposeful, yet some change happens around us out of our control – that’s when we have to adapt to our changed circumstances.

A sub-theme running through all four activity packs - Early Years, Primary, Secondary and Community - is changes and adaptations that, in one way or another, keep us safe.

The packs are available to download free now, and are perfect resources to use in the run up to British Science Week on 7-16 March.

Get children, young people and community group members thinking about the changes that keep us safe, and changes we might need to make in the future – this could provide a topic for a school assembly, a roundtable discussion or inspire ideas for the British Science Week poster competition.

Be seen be safe

‘Be seen be safe’ in the Early Years pack, adapted from a CREST Awards Star activity, encourages young scientists aged 5 and under to explore reflective materials and think about how they can help to protect us from accidents in the dark.

This is an interactive, low-resource activity to run with little ones; all you need is a selection of materials such a fabric, tin foil, different types of paper etc, a torch and a dark space to do the testing!

Children will shine a torch on the materials to discover how they behave differently, and this can spark a discussion about why it might be important to wear reflective materials when outside at night, especially near roads. Should we change what we wear to stay safe?

Antibody adventure: memory challenge

Vaccination has always been part of the cultural conversation; anti-vaxxers didn’t come into being with the COVID-19 vaccines. But vaccination, how it works and whether we’re beholden to get vaccinated, was propelled further into all of our consciousnesses by the pandemic.

‘Antibody adventure: memory challenge’ in the Primary pack, created in partnership with the British Society of Immunology, is a fantastic resource for demonstrating to children aged 5-11 the changes that happen in our body when we’re injected with a vaccine, and how it protects us from getting ill.

Antibody adventure is a game which has pupils memorising cards showing antibodies and antigens in order to pair them up, learning how antibodies remember and fight off antigens, keeping us safe from viruses.

Defeat the tumour

It’s estimated that one in two people will be diagnosed with some form of cancer in their lifetime; it will impact us all one way or another. Understanding how cancer changes and adapts in the body, and how different treatments work, could help us cope with the inevitable.

‘Defeat the tumour’ in the Secondary activity pack, an activity created in partnership with The Institute of Cancer Research, allows students aged around 11-14 to take part in an interactive activity that shows them how tumours grow, and how different treatments kill or remove cancerous cells.

As medical technology evolves, so to will approaches to battling cancer. The next generation of doctors and researchers, who are sitting in secondary classrooms today, will shape the outcomes of future cancer diagnoses for the better.    

Using amateur radio to conduct international climate change research

STEM activity packs on the topic of change wouldn’t be complete without exploring the climate crisis.

The Community pack, designed to be used in community group settings that may be just adults but can include children too, includes ‘Using amateur radio to conduct international climate change research’, created in partnership with the Radio Society of Great Britain.

Community members will use a Digital Mobile Radio to contact people from across the world and ask how the climate crisis is affecting their country.

Key questions will be ‘How is your country preparing for change?’ and/or ‘What steps are being taking in your country to mitigate the crisis?’ Countries cannot tackle the climate crisis in isolation from each other, changing our behaviours must be a global effort.

British Science Week is a fantastic opportunity to explore STEM from lots of different angles, and think about the role it plays in our everyday lives. The activity packs provide children, young people and adults with great resources to have fun, connect and prompt fascinating discussions.

Thanks to all the British Science Week 2025 activity pack partners.