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Celebrate Science
A little girl testing an experiment

Our activities

Discover some of the exciting activities lined up for Celebrate Science 2025.

Group of kids looking at skullsSkeleton Science

Durham University Department of Archaeology

Discover how the scientific study of human remains can unlock stories about diet, health, and life in the past. Explore the human skeleton by labelling bones, examine X-rays and casts to investigate ancient diseases and injuries, and handle animal skulls to learn about diets. Step into the role of a bioarchaeologist and use real evidence to explore how science helps us understand people from the past!

Female person holding a mammal skullExploring Biosciences

Durham University Department of Biosciences

Explore biosciences from something as large as a hippo to the microscopic. Can you identify an animal from the size and shape of its skull? Use augmented reality T-shirts to see inside your body and learn about your tissues and organs. Look at those tissues down the microscope and see how they all are made of tiny cells.

 

NanomachinesBiological Nanomachines

Durham University Department of Biosciences

Explore scientific puzzles and immersive virtual reality experiences that bring protein structures to life and demystify the world of bionanoscience. Discover ways to harnesses nature’s molecular machinery to build nanoscale devices with potential applications in medicine, materials and beyond.

Secret messagesSending Secret Messages

Durham University Department of Computer Science

Have you ever wanted to send a secret to a friend without anyone else learning the message? People have been trying to do just that for over 3,500 years! Learn how to send and read secret messages using different methods from throughout history.

Volcanic eruptionsExploring volcanoes

Durham University Department of Earth Sciences
Do you know how magma is like sugar? Do you know what causes volcanic eruptions, and what are the warning signs? Discover how magma moves deep in the earth's crust, what causes volcanoes to explode, and how scientists know that an eruption is on its way.

Kid with table tennis ballMini-wind tunnel and thermal camera flow visualisation

Durham University Department of Engineering

Discover the force of wind as a renewable energy source. Build your turbine, set it in a mini-wind tunnel, and test different configurations. Experiment and learn how small changes can make a big difference in energy efficiency. Embrace the challenge and contribute to a sustainable future!

Dave says: 3D Augmented reality sandbox.

Neil says: Interactive Sandbox.

Durham University Department of Geography

Explore how landscapes are shaped and how they evolve using the 3D augmented reality interactive sandbox. Build a volcano, incise a river valley or dam a lake, and investigate how slopes direct, channel and store water both in the natural world and the human landscape.

Mimi's Tiny AdventureMimi's Tiny Adventure

Durham Institute of Physics

Mimi is a girl who has lots of questions about absolutely everything. When her granny accidentally shrinks herself down to microscopic size, it is up to Mimi and her friends to explore the world of tiny physics and put together a rescue plan!
Experience this new story come to life! Get hands-on with fun physics experiments for all the family, be creative with arts and crafts activities, and meet our wonderful physicists to find out how some of the smallest things in the universe can make a big difference in our lives.

Stockton & Darlington Railway Big K'NEX Build

Locomotion

Come along, build models with K'nex, join a collaborative big build, and help to tell the story of the Stockton and Darlington railway: The railway that changed the world. On 27 September 1825 the first passenger journey on a public railway happened. Locomotion No1 hauled people, coal and flour from Shildon to Stockton. This engineering changed how goods were transported and people were able to travel, opening the door to places they had never been.

North penninesExploring the North Pennines, past and present

North Pennines National Landscape and UNESCO Global Geopark team

Find out what makes the North Pennines National Landscape and UNESCO Global Geopark a special place, from millions of years ago to the present day and even into the future. Get hands-on with rocks and fossils, find out why peat is important, and discover what creatures make their home here.

Amazing Automata

Beamish Museum

Have a go at making some automata toys. Using a range of materials and tools, get building some moving toys to take away with you.

Experiment!

Durham University Science Engagement and Schools Science Ambassadors

Come and meet these inspiring school students with an enthusiasm for science and a talent for getting people involved in experiments. Engage with their wide range of hands-on activities and be amazed by the wonders of science!

Achieving Net Zero

Durham Energy Institute and Orsted

Poverty, Hunger, Disease, Water, Energy, Climate. These global challenges, and many more, need solutions to make the world a better place for everyone. Join us to explore effective solutions to some of these challenges. You too can be a problem solver and make a difference.

Peak Exercise Performance

Durham University Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences

Test your strength, power, and reaction time! Compare yourself to athletes, each other, or just test your own peak performance!

Painted handsScience and the Senses

Durham University Department of Psychology

A series of fun games for children designed to highlight how important our senses are, and how they work together to help us understand the world. Children of all ages can take part in a series of fun demonstrations involving reaction time tests, a speech warping machine, and the ‘rubber hand illusion’.

Seeing Into Space

Durham University Centre for Advanced Instrumentation, Department of Physics

Can you fix a giant space telescope? Have you ever wondered why the stars twinkle, and why that matters when we talk to satellites in space? Find out all about optics in space and on the ground!

Planetarium

Durham University Department of Physics

Explore the night sky in Durham University's planetarium. Join astronomers on a journey to outer space with stories about the constellations and fascinating facts about stars, planets and what you can see in the sky tonight. Shows last approximately 25 minutes and are suitable for anyone aged four and over. Children should be accompanied by a responsible adult.

Light Entertainment

Durham University Department of Physics

Light and atoms are all around us, but is there more to them than meets the eye? Discover the physics behind the aurora, make your own colour-changing picture and learn how we can use light to identify different atoms.

 

Galaxy Makers

Durham University Institute for Computational Cosmology, Department of Physics

Find out how cosmologists try to figure out what the Universe is made of and how galaxies are made using supercomputer simulations.

 

Fractals

Durham University Department of Mathematical Sciences

Fractals are patterns which look the same however much you zoom in. Many patterns in nature have a fractal structure: trees, ferns, mountains, coastline, nerves, blood vessels ... Help us to build and decorate a giant fractal pyramid.

Medicine bottlesHistory of Medicine

Durham University Libraries and Collections
Feeling under the weather? Try the finest historical cures that two thousand years of history have to offer. Spin the wheel of diagnosis and receive a cure* from one of our historical doctors.**
*Not really a cure  ** Not really doctors
Warning: cure may actually be worse than the disease