Gravity Fields Festival 2016 - Education and Schools Programme

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A F E S T I VA L INSPIRED BY SIR ISAAC NEWTON IN AND AROUND GRANTHAM, LINCOLNSHIRE

TS N E EV W NE

E D I S N I

Education and Schools Programme for ages 3 to 18 Education, information ... and fascination

Box office: 01476 406158 www.gravityfields.co.uk

Welcome...

The Gravity Fields Festival is back - with a packed education programme to amaze and inspire.

This September’s programme has an exciting range of curriculum-related science, human science, arts and history events and visits – and it’s here in Lincolnshire.

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Get involved, both during the festival and before.

PLUS: Gravity Fields offers pre-festival arts participation workshops leading to ‘Take Part In’ events on Saturday 24 September. Book now for free ‘Take Part In’ arts and performance workshops which begin in June.

Festival Week Education Highlights: • huge schools’ science show: The Ministry of Science • fascinating workshops: Teen Tech • aerial spectacular: Ockham’s Razor’s Triple Bill – don’t miss this awe inspiring aerial theatre show inside St Wulfram’s Church • Exciting astronomy and space event • wide range of speakers including experts in physics, maths.... and more!

• Take Part In outdoor spectacles and processions Festival Background Gravity Fields Festival takes place in and around Grantham in South Lincolnshire and celebrates the area’s close connection with Sir Isaac Newton through a mix of science, arts, heritage, education and participation events. Newton was born and brought up at nearby Woolsthorpe Manor and attended the King’s School in Grantham.

2 www.gravityfields.co.uk Box office: 01476 406158

Newton is one of those seeking the safety of his home at Woolsthorpe.

Box Office Festival Events Bookings: 01476 406158 Take Part In Workshop Bookings: simon@mrholly.co.uk

PLAGUE DAYS SCHOOL EVENT WOOLSTHORPE MANOR WEDNESDAY 21/ THURSDAY 22/FRIDAY 23 SEPTEMBER 9.45am to 12noon

It’s the long hot summer of 1665 and the Plague has driven many out of the cities and into the English countryside. A young Isaac

In these interactive mornings students can re-live the Plague as it happened and learn at first-hand what those times were like from experts and actors in role play.

Plague days will be delivered

by Greenwich and Lewisham Young People’s Theatre and were originally commissioned by the National Maritime Museum in 2015. £4 per student with free teacher places for every 10 tickets booked.

Suitable for ages 7 to 11

MINISTRY OF SCIENCE

WEDNESDAY 21 SEPTEMBER THE MERES LEISURE CENTRE, GRANTHAM 1.30pm and 6.30pm We believe there’s a scientist, engineer or inventor in all of you!

Ministry of Science Live is not your ordinary science show – it comes with a bang. It comes with a whoosh. But most of all it comes with a hovercraft built on stage…. oh, and a human cannon too!

This new production takes a rebellious approach to science communication whilst looking at the inventors and engineers who shaped and inspired the modern world that we live in.

It takes us from liquid nitrogen frozen flowers to hydrogen bottle rockets, from Buzz Aldrin to Virgin Galactic, from a cat food tin to the hovercraft, the discovery of methane to the invention of the battery. Join the super talented presenters and the

voiceover from X Factor’s Peter Dickson as they take you on a journey using brilliantly designed demonstrations with a few loud bangs to lead the way. Fingers in ears advised.

Curriculum links to some of the topics covered include: • energy changes and transfers motion and forces • chemical reactions – combustion states of matter • periodic table energetic – exothermic reactions • sound waves and KS2 sound particle model £9 per student with free teacher places for every 10 tickets booked Suitable for ages 7 to 16.

Box office: 01476 406158 www.gravityfields.co.uk 3

WEDNESDAY 21 SEPTEMBER SPEAKERS AT WOOLSTHORPE MANOR Suitable for ages 14 +

1PM

Alex Through the Looking Glass ALEX BELLOS From triangles, rotations and power laws, to fractals, cones and curves, bestselling author Alex Bellos invites you on a journey of mathematical discovery with his signature wit, engaging stories and limitless enthusiasm. As he narrates a series of eyeopening encounters with lively personalities all over the world, Alex demonstrates how numbers have come to be our friends, are fascinating and extremely accessible, and how they have changed our world. £3

2.30PM

Half Life: The divided life of Bruno Pontecorvo, physicist or spy PROFESSOR FRANK CLOSE Bruno Pontecorvo was the father of neutrino astronomy and a brilliant nuclear physicist who disappeared through the Iron Curtain at the height of the Cold War. Why did he flee so suddenly, was he a brilliant spy as well as a physicist, and what secrets did he take with him to the Soviet Union?

Prof. Frank Close of Oxford University tells the story from his new book Half Life, and reveals the role of infamous traitor Kim Philby in the affair.

4PM

EM Waves – Guides and Radars PROFESSOR ANDREI ZVELINDOVSKY Andrei Zvelindovsky is the founding head of the School of Mathematics and Physics at the University of Lincoln, and has researched the interface between mathematics and physics. His talk describes ideas of light, from Newton’s concept of colour to the modern description of electromagnetic waves and their multiple applications. Adds a scientific understanding to the Project Sky Cube installation. £5

£5

PIN HOLE CAMERA WORKSHOPS, GRANTHAM MUSEUM

WEDNESDAY 21 TO FRIDAY 23 SEPTEMBER 10.30am to 12noon or 1pm to 2.30pm £3 per student (free teacher places). Suitable for ages 7 - 11 Explore the fantastic world of pinhole photography and create inspirational images without the use of lenses or digital media. Groups will be shown the principles behind the old camera obscura and the science behind silver halide negative images. The science will then be tested when student groups will have the opportunity to create their own negative photographs.

Run by staff and students of Grantham College.

4 www.gravityfields.co.uk Box office: 01476 406158

THURSDAY 22 SEPTEMBER SESSIONS AT 10AM OR 1PM

TEENTECH INNOVATION WORKSHOPS

THE MERES LEISURE CENTRE, GRANTHAM Can you make life better simpler or easier? The TeenTech Innovation workshop will help your students understand how to paper prototype ideas which they can then develop for the TeenTech Awards. The workshop will be led by two app and game designers, Ali and Liz, who will share their own experiences of

turning great ideas into real world projects. Students will work in small teams and be encouraged to take their best ideas forward into the Award programme where they will benefit from on-going mentoring support. So your school could find itself at the final held at The Royal Society, where the winning teams are invited to Buckingham Palace. £3 per student Morning session is more suitable for ages 11-16 and the afternoon more suitable for ages 17-18.

SPEAKERS AT GUILDHALL ARTS CENTRE THEATRE 10AM TO 12.30PM

ASTRONOMY AND SPACE SPEAKERS INCLUDING DR JEN GUPTA AND WOMEN ASTRONOMERS FROM THE UNIVERSTITY OF BIRMINGHAM Want to know more about black holes, gravitational waves, gamma ray bursts and cosmology?

A morning of talks and astronomy activity sessions led by women astronomers from around the UK targeted at Key Stages 3, 4, and 5, with an open invitation to all secondary school science students but a special encouragement to young women interested in science.

The session will include two talks and opportunity for students to engage with astronomy activities.

Please specify key stage when booking.

Presenters include Dr Jen Gupta, astrophysicist and science communicator at the Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation at the University of Portsmouth and young women scientists from the University of Birmingham. £3 Free teacher places

Box office: 01476 406158 www.gravityfields.co.uk 5

THURSDAY 22 SEPTEMBER ALSO WED 21 SEPT 6.30PM, FRI 23 SEPT 7.30PM AND SAT 24 SEPT 1PM

1.30PM

OCKHAM’S RAZOR TRIPLE BILL SCHOOLS PERFORMANCE OF TOP AERIAL THEATRE ARTISTS

ST WULFRAM’S CHURCH GRANTHAM

Ockham’s Razor is a critically acclaimed aerial theatre company, specialising in creating physical theatre on new pieces of aerial equipment.This fantastic triple bill includes three dynamic and touching pieces.Every Action...

Inspired by Newton’s law of motion: a playful look at the bonds that form when people are thrown together. “A little light-hearted classic of constant, feel-good invention” The TimesArc

“Their catches and holds become perilously expressive, and their real vulnerability and strength becomes part of the story.”The Independent Memento Mori “A beautiful duet which will be applauded for a long time to come. ”Le Figaro“It is exquisite.”

The Stage Q&A after the show with the creative team.

Produced by Turtle Key Arts SCHOOLS PRICE £5 Suitable for ages 8 +

SPEAKERS AT WOOLSTHORPE MANOR

1PM

2.30PM

4.15PM

PROFESSOR MATTHEW COBB

DR MIKE FAY

DR MICHAEL MOSLEY

Every day, school students all over the planet learn that genes contain information, but where does that information come from?

The discovery that genes are made of DNA, the realisation that this contains information, and the suggestion that genes contain a code all took place in 1943. Professor Matthew Cobb explains the surprising interconnections between these ideas, culminating in Watson and Crick’s hypothesis that the structure of DNA contains a genetic code.

A brief history of nanotechnology - the study of a world so small, we can’t see it - and where we are now.

Hear the fascinating story that includes scientists, futurologists, hucksters, terrorists, politicians, the media, and everyone else. How much is the reality swamped by Hollywood plot devices, and what does it tell us about the link between science and the public?

Often being seen as a genius is about being in the right place and at the right time to connect the dots. Hear how Galileo, a middle aged maths lecturer with several illegitimate children, had his big breakthrough thanks to the arrival of a Dutchman in Venice with a crude telescope and the fact that Venice is the best place in the world to cast glass. Michael Mosley is a science presenter and journalist.

LIFE’S GREATEST SECRET

A BRIEF HISTORY OF NANO

£5

HOW TO BECOME A GENIUS

£5

£3

6 www.gravityfields.co.uk Box office: 01476 406158

FRIDAY 23 SEPTEMBER Suitable for ages 14 +

11AM

NEXT BIG THING THE ROYAL SOCIETY WOMEN SCIENTISTS’ DEBATE DR LIBBY GIBSON, DR LAUREN GUILLETTE AND OTHER PANELLISTS THE GUILDHALL ARTS CENTRE Three leading Royal Society Research Fellows present their work in astrophysics, photochemistry and animal psychology and discuss their thoughts on the current state of UK research, women in science and hopes for the future. £4

1PM

THE AWESOME TRUTH ABOUT RAINBOWS DR DAVID FAIRHURST WOOLSTHORPE MANOR Learn the awesome truth about rainbows with David as he demonstrates with water, ethanol and vodka sprays how rainbows can be created, their surface tension and their spherical nature.

David Fairhurst is Senior Physics Lecturer at Nottingham Trent University and an accomplished researcher in the behaviour of liquid droplets. He also received the Vice Chancellor’s Award for Teaching in 2014 in recognition of his inspirational work. £5

10AM - 8PM

SPEAKING TUBES – IOU

ALIVE CHURCH WEDNESDAY 21 - SATURDAY 24 SEPT, FREE ENTRY Speaking Tubes is a sculptural sound installation inspired by the extraordinary sound of vortex rings travelling through the atmosphere at supersonic speed.

Speaking Tubes is a gleaming steel sculpture that spills out a chorus of sound into special listening zones.

Audiences can move around and explore the sculpture and enter the listening zones to make their own sound journey. An interactive area has been created enabling the visitor to create their own soundscape.

2.30PM

VAGABOND MATTER – WHERE ARTS AND SCIENCE MEET ACROJOU AND THE PONTIO CENTRE THE GUILDHALL ARTS CENTRE Join Jeni Barnard from performance company Acrojou and scientists and academics from the Pontio Centre, the new innovation venue at Bangor University where science and art meet. They are developing a show which Acrojou will perform in 2017 in the UK and abroad, and this chaired discussion gives an insight into the development period and how scientific concepts can be presented in contemporary artforms.Blending theatre, acrobatics, bespoke structures and sublime visuals, Acrojou creates contemporary circus productions for events worldwide - seen by hundreds of thousands since their first commission for London’s Trafalgar Square Festival a decade ago. This project, also in collaboration with Innovation Centre, Vagabond Matter, is an experimental production exploring the impact of science on human experience. £5

Box office: 01476 406158 www.gravityfields.co.uk 7

Cambridge University

FRIDAY 23 SEPTEMBER Suitable for ages 14 +

2.30PM

4PM

4PM

DR DAVID ADAM A ROYAL SOCIETY EVENT WOOLSTHORPE MANOR

GUILDHALL ARTS CENTRE

DR HUGH HUNT WOOLSTHORPE MANOR

THE MAN WHO COULDN’T STOP

Ever had a strange urge to jump from a tall building, or steer your car into oncoming traffic? You are not alone.

In this captivating fusion of science, history and personal memoir, writer David Adam explores the weird thoughts that exist within every mind, and how they drive millions of us towards obsessions and compulsions. David has suffered from OCD for 20 years, and The Man Who Couldn’t Stop is his unflinchingly honest attempt to understand the condition and his experiences; a book that will challenge thoughts of what is normal, and what is mental illness. Dr Adam is a writer and editor at Nature, one of the world’s top scientific journals. £3

NEWTON’S SCIENCE THE GENIUS ENGINEERS OF WW2 PROFESSOR VALERIE GIBSON Sir Isaac Newton is considered by many as a ‘Giant of Science’. His extraordinary talent was built on work done by his predecessors, to which he added profound contributions to many topics including optics and gravity.

Festival patron Professor Val Gibson will present, with demonstrations, what she considers to be his top 10 scientific achievements and how they relate to the science of today.

Val Gibson is Head of High Energy Physics at the University of Cambridge. She gained her doctorate degree in Experimental Particle Physics from Queen’s College Oxford and has previously held a physics fellowship at CERN. She has published more than 300 papers on aspects of High Energy Physics.

From the prisoners of Colditz to the bouncing bombs of Barnes Wallis and Hitler’s V3 supergun, WW2 was an era of innovation and rapid development in engineering achievement. The extremes of wartime, whether the military might of the main powers or the desperation of individuals, led to clever and imaginative designs and solutions and perhaps some of this engineering brilliance could tackle the challenges of climate change.

Dr Hugh Hunt is a Reader in the Department of Engineering at The University of Cambridge and a Fellow of Trinity College.

He was the winner of the Royal Academy of Engineering’s 2015 Rooke Award for public engagement. £5

£5

8 www.gravityfields.co.uk Box office: 01476 406158

D N E K E WE IGHTS HIGHL

O.UK IELDS.C F Y IT V A WW.GR AMME VISIT W PROGR L L U F R FO

LIVING WITH WILDLIFE DR SASHA NORRIS SAT 24 SEPT 9.30AM & 12.30PM KINGS SCHOOL, OLD HALL

BODY OF LIGHT FOR LITTLE ONES! DARREN PRITCHARD

FRIDAY 23 SEPTEMBER 10am GUILDHALL ARTS CENTRE – BALLROOM Light, technology and dance combine in this accessible show suitable for tiny people and big people too! Enjoy a fusion of dance and technology as choreography and electronic sounds work in tandem in this presentation

by Darren Pritchard. Get involved in a special ‘Stay and Play’ workshop afterwards. £3 per participant Suitable for babies to age 5

BUBBLES AND BALLOONS SAT 24 SEPT 11AM AT STAMFORD ARTS CENTRE AND 3PM GUILDHALL ARTS CENTRE WHAT WE CANNOT KNOW PROFESSOR MARCUS DU SAUTOY SAT 24 SEPT 11AM GUILDHALL ARTS CENTRE THE SIMPSONS AND THEIR MATHEMATICAL SECRETS SIMON SINGH SAT 24 SEPT 4PM GUILDHALL ARTS CENTRE ALBEE VECTOR SOUND COLLECTOR GREEN LIGHT THEATRE COMPANY SUN 25 SEPT 11AM GUILDHALL ARTS CENTRE PLAGUE DAY AT WOOLSTHORPE SUN 25 SEPT FROM 11AM Storytelling, plague doctors talks, actors in costume and Pepys Diary readings! + A JOSEPH BANKS BOTANICAL THEMED DAY AT HARLAXTON MANOR SUN 25 SEPT FROM 12 NOON, INCLUDING TALK BY RICHARD BARLEY - DIRECTOR OF KEW GARDENS THE FLOWER AND THE ATOM - TALK BY DR HARRY CLIFF

Box office: 01476 406158 www.gravityfields.co.uk 9

JUNE TO SEPTEMBER 2016 Pre-festival dance, light and performance workshops Schools, colleges and community groups’ participation during the festival’s outdoor events

LED Umbrella project with Cirque Bijou An opportunity for experienced dance groups to take part alongside professional directors and choreographers in a spectacular and beautiful outdoor show. The offer is to dance groups from all disciplines. Each group will receive professionally-led choreography sessions during June/July, but must be able to commit to additional rehearsals, especially in the immediate run up to the festival in September and the performance on the evening of Saturday 24 September.

Ages 14+ to Adult

LED Light, Costume & Movement Workshops An opportunity for school & community groups to host

an exciting professionallyled movement, light and costume workshop, leading to participation in the large scale outdoor event across the town centre of Grantham on the evening of Saturday 24 September 2016 alongside Cirque Bijou, local dance groups and other professional arts companies.

One free half day session per school or group for up to 2030 participants during June and July.

Ages 7 to Adult

Plague acting in Woolsthorpe and Colsterworth We are also looking for community performers in the villages south of Grantham around Woolsthorpe and Colsterworth, to take part in re-enactments of plague sufferers (it might also be possible to include a sixth form or college performance group). This is a professionally-led project all about the year 1666

– when Sir Isaac Newton returned from Cambridge to Woolsthorpe Manor because of the Plague. It should be gruesome but great fun!

Please note: you will need to be free for rehearsals in the lead up to the festival and on the mornings of Wednesday 21, Thursday 22 and Friday 23 September and all day on Sunday 25 September.

Ages 16 + To sign your group up to any of these projects, or just to find out more, contact Simon Hollingworth on 01476 406150 or 07795 416149 or email simon@mrholly.co.uk The TAKE PART workshops programme is supported using public funding by Arts Council England

10 www.gravityfields.co.uk Box office: 01476 406158

WHATS ON WHERE FOR SCHOOLS Day

Wednesday 21 Sept

Thursday 22 Sept

Friday 23 Sept

Time

Activity

Place

Cost

Age

9.45am – 12noon

Plague morning

Woolsthorpe Manor

£4

KS 2 Age 7-11

10.30am – 12noon 1pm – 2.30pm

Pin Hole Camera Workshops

Grantham Museum

£3

KS 2 Age 7-11

1.30pm – 2.30pm

Ministry of Science

The Meres Leisure Centre

£9

KS 2 Age 7-11 KS 3 Age 12-16

1pm

Alex Bellos – Talk

Woolsthorpe Manor

£5

KS 4/5 Age 15-18

2.30pm

Frank Close – Talk

Woolsthorpe Manor

£5

KS 4/5 Age 15-18

4pm

Andrei Zvelindovsky – Talk

Woolsthorpe Manor

£5

KS 4/5 Age 15-18

9.45am – 12noon

Plague morning

Woolsthorpe Manor

£4

KS 2 Age 7-11

10am - 12noon 1pm – 3pm

Teen Tech

The Meres Leisure Centre

£3

KS 3 Age 12-16 KS 4/5 Age 15-18

10am

Astronony and Space

Guildhall Arts Centre Theatre

£3

KS 3/4 /5

10.30am –12noon 1pm – 2.30pm

Pin Hole Camera Workshops

Grantham Museum

£3

KS 2 Age 7-11

1pm

Matthew Cobb – Talk

Woolsthorpe Manor

£5

KS 4/5 Age 15-18

1.30pm

Ockham’s Razor Triple Bill

St Wulfram’s Church

£5

KS 2 Age 7 - 11 KS 3 Age 12-15 KS 4/5 Age 15-18

2.30pm

Mike Fay – Talk

Woolsthorpe Manor

£5

KS 4/5 Age 15-18

4.15pm

Michael Mosley – Talk

Woolsthorpe Manor

£5

KS 4/5 Age 15-18

9.45am – 12noon

Plague morning

Woolsthorpe Manor

£4

KS 2 Age 7-11

10am – 10.45am

Body of Light for Little Ones

Guildhall Arts Centre

£3

Pre school & KS 1 Age Under 7s

10.30am – 12noon 1pm – 2.30pm

Pin Hole Camera Workshops

Grantham Museum

£3

KS 2 Age 7-11

11am

Next Big Thing

Guildhall Arts Centre Theatre

£4

Ages 14+

1pm

David Fairhurst – Talk

Woolsthorpe Manor

£5

KS 4/ 5 Age 15-18

2.30pm

Vagabond Matter

Guildhall Arts Centre Theatre

£6

Ages 14+

2.30pm

David Adam – Talk

Woolsthorpe Manor

£3

KS 4/ 5 Age 15-18

4pm

Valerie Gibson – Talk

Guildhall Arts Centre

£5

Ages 14+

4pm

Hugh Hunt – Talk

Woolsthorpe Manor

£5

KS 4/ 5 Age 15-18

*Note: This is just a small selection of the full festival programme - please see www.gravityfields.co.uk for full details.

Box office: 01476 406158 www.gravityfields.co.uk 11

WHAT THEY SAID ABOUT GRAVITY FIELDS IN 2014 “The best thing….. being in the community and walking around in the parade with everyone watching – feeling like a big family and all the lights to brighten up the night” Primary school pupil

“When we were in the procession we felt very proud and important and realised that Grantham is a great place to live” Primary school pupil

College staff member

www.gravityfields.co.uk Box office: 01476 406158

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“My staff and students are still buzzing about it.”