Face to face

The UNE Discovery Voyager has developed a range of activities across all subjects to bring to your schools! We work with scientists and educators from the University of New England to bring you activities that are not only fun and educational, but that align with the NSW school curriculum. Many also extend the Primary Connections and Science by Doing programs.

Our dynamic team can tailor lessons to suit students of all ages and abilities, differentiating their teaching approach and rapidly building a rapport with students. We are passionate about curiosity-driven learning, and our activities are exploratory and play-based. For older students, this includes collecting their own observational and experimental data to answer questions posed in the classroom.  We encourage kids to get outside, get their hands dirty, and direct their own learning – to observe, question, investigate and discover.

Astrometrics

The Universe has captured our curiosity and imagination since time began. In this activity, students work together  to determine how our planets are arranged in our solar system, and their relative distances from the Earth and the Sun. Using inflatable models and broad scale mapping, we uncover the importance of measurement, as actual relative distances between objects, stars and planets are revealed. Click here to find out more.

Busybots

In our digital age, new technologies are changing the way we live, communicate and work, and coding is key to understanding, navigating and manipulating this new world around us. From the dials on your dishwasher to the phone in your pocket, coding works behind the scenes to make our everyday lives more seamless, convenient and efficient. Click here to find out more.

Creative Chemistry (primary and secondary activities)

Ever wanted to tap in to your inner chemist? Here is your chance! In this activity, students will don lab coats and mix liquids, making bubbling concoctions and colour changing creations to investigate the ins and outs of different chemical reactions, and how they relate to our every-day lives. Click here to find out more.

Dynamic Bodies

In this active sports science session, students discover what makes a successful sportsperson by exploring the relationship between physiology and performance. Utilising clinical state-of-the-art equipment, we measure a range of biomotor abilities, including speed, agility and strength to determine performance indicators and learn how different sports and athletes require different training targets. Click here to find out more.

Living Latin

There are millions of plants and animals on our planet, and scientists organise living things into different groups based on physical similarities to make sense of their function and evolution. These groups are given standardised names, making it easy for scientists all over the world to identify and properly classify plants and animals no matter what language they speak or where in the world they live. Click here to find out more.

Palaeontology Puzzles

Bones and artefacts buried on our earth tell us stories of the past. They provide us with puzzles and quests to piece together those stories to make sense of history, and tell us a lot about biology, art, geology, evolution and much more. In our activity you’ll search for bones from an unknown animal hidden in kinetic sand, and find out which part of the body they belong to. Make your own fossil imprints and learn just how delicate a job it is unearthing these fascinating pictures. Click here to find out more.

Plants, Poop and Pollinators

Although they are only pint-sized, insects and other invertebrates include some of the most diverse and important groups of animals on the planet. Insects provide essential ecosystem services such as pollination and nutrient recycling, and are crucial to our own survival. This activity explores the physical and behavioural features of invertebrates, and investigates the ecosystem services (and disservices) that they provide. Click here to find out more.

The Power of the Brain (primary)

Get your thinking caps on and learn about the marvellous organ that is the brain. Explore the parts of our brains that allow us to move and breathe every day. Utilising state of the art brain-sensing technologies, students will activate their minds and tap into the sub-conscious to control the body’s response to different stimuli with the aim of understanding how much influence they have over their own bodies. Click here to find out more.

Rocking Through Time

Clues to the past are right beneath our feet and everywhere that we see rocks and rock formations. In this theatrical performance, students will journey back in time with a farmer and a geologist to witness first-hand how various rocks were formed. With the use of sound, props and drama, and some help from student volunteers, we will explore the geological aftermath of volcanoes, ice ages, climate change and more.  We may even encounter some extinct creatures! Click here to find out more.

Think Like a Rock

Rocks are all around us, but have you ever wondered where they come from? Why are there so many different kinds?  Can they tell us anything? In this interactive play-based geology activity, students use 3D landscape models of the New England region alongside real specimens to explore some of the local geological history and how rocks control the way landscapes change over time. Students learn about sedimentary geology, erosion and deposition, volcanoes and igneous geology. Click here to find out more.

Weighing Giants

Open any book on dinosaurs, and it will almost certainly mention their size. Some might even suggest “a T-rex weighed as much as a bus!” Dinosaurs are well known for their enormous sizes, and indeed they include the largest animals ever to walk the earth. But how do we know how heavy they were? Dinosaurs have been extinct for a long time, and only their bones remain. So how can we possibly weigh them? Click here to find out more.