Here at UNE Discovery, we’re always interested in finding different ways of communicating and learning. Perhaps your students or children like to listen to audiobooks or learn better by listening rather than reading. If you think podcasts might also ignite a little curiosity, then we’d love to share some of our child-friendly podcasts with you!

• Smologies: a child-friendly version of Alie Ward’s Ologies podcast. Alie is a science educator, and each episode is a Q and A session with an “Ologist” e.g. She has a Cat episode with Dr. Mikel Delgado, Happiness with Dr. Laurie Santos, and Trains with Matt Anderson. Her main podcast is more suitable for older students, due to some of the topics discussed and the language used. We love the way that she treats each topic as fun and exciting and treats every expert with the same level of respect, regardless of education. Perhaps some of the “Ologies” she looks at aren’t quite so scientific, but we definitely uncovered a new respect for topics that might not be to everyone’s liking (There’s an episode about toilets!) Smologies — alie ward
• Common Descent: a Palaeontology and Evolutionary History podcast by palaeontologists and science communicators David Moscato and Will Harris. Each episode focuses on a single topic, e.g. flight, and talks about the groups of animals (and plants!) that have that feature currently and then organisms in the fossil record that have the feature/adaptation/etc. They also have a section at the start of each episode talking about four papers recently published within the realm of Paleo, Evolution, and Biology. Younger students may find it very long winded. They also have a mini-series called Spook-Ewhere they discuss, using the rules of evolution, how different monsters or mythological creatures could exist. The Common Descent Podcast – Join David and Will as they explore the paleontologists’ perspective on various topics in life and earth history.
• Ask Dr. Universe: we haven’t personally listened to this one, but we’ve have heard great things. “Join Dr. Universe and her friends at Washington State University as they investigate science questions from kids around the world.” Ask Dr. Universe Podcast – 10 Best Episodes

Science podcast ideas | Science by Doing also has a list of some Australian Science podcasts that would be worth looking into. Look at Me and The Pop Test might also be really fun! ABC also have a list of “Podcasts for the Classroom” Podcasts for the classroom – ABC Education

We hope some of our parents, guardians, and teachers might find some of these podcasts of interest for their avid science learners!