From eating a bacon sandwich in space to making the ultimate paper aeroplane, TV Science presenter Dallas Campbell lifts the lid on amazing feats of everyday engineering in new film.
TV science presenter and STEM Ambassador, Dallas Campbell, explores three stories of amazing everyday-feats of engineering in a new film aimed at keeping young people engaged in STEM while school’s out.
Dallas, who has presented shows including Bang Goes the Theory, The Gadget Show and Stargazing Live, explains how engineers for bra manufacturer Playtex went on to design Neil Armstrong’s space suit (as well as the incredible engineering behind both items of clothing), plus how engineers created a bacon sandwich (with oversight from Heston Blumenthal) that could be taken into space at the request of British astronaut Tim Peake.
He also shares the design for the ultimate paper aeroplane – and which children can easily replicate at home with just a piece of A4 paper, a credit card (or similar) and meticulous folding. Instructions can be downloaded here.
The film is part of a range of home learning resources that have been made available to parents and teachers through STEM Learning – a leading UK non-profit provider of education support in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
To complement Dallas’s video, STEM Learning is highlighting activities including ‘The Great British Space Dinner’ (lessons about food in space) and ‘Space Suit Science’ (creating your own space suit) to enable children and their parents to complete fun activities at home.
Suitable for all ages, from 4-19, STEM Learning has curated more than 300 activities and materials from its bank of over 14,000 free resources to support teachers, parents and carers with home learning, with a particular focus on STEM subjects including science, computing and maths.
Fran Dainty, STEM’s head of education commented: “Engineering is all about recognising a problem and finding a solution – usually combining a mix of maths, science and creativity.
“Engineers create products and solutions that make life better and easier for us – from computer games to chocolate bars. The resources on our site are not just educational, but fun activities for families to do at home.”