Are We Nearly Here Yet?

Science, Evolution and the history of you.

Mentored by

Richard Robinson

The science of Evolution and the evolution of Science

Organisation links

Online, On Zoom

Ages: children 7 - 18 · adults 18+ years

awnhy £24

Next date: None - Register your interest

Are We Nearly Here Yet? block mentored by Richard Robinson

A SUMMARY

The true story of the nutty Universe, crazy planet Earth, chaotic evolution and lucky old You! In 12 Zoom sessions, Wednesday March 5 - May 21 from 2.00pm. Sessions 1 hour each or 12 Zoom sessions, Wednesday March 5 - May 21 from 4.00pm. Sessions 1 hour each "Are we nearly there yet?" is what floats out from the back seat towards the end of a long journey. We have been on a very long journey - 14 billion years - and there have been many adventures. We experience the best of them in 12 Zoom presentations. Richard tells the story, chapter by chapter, on Powerpoint. Then there will be Q&A, games, chats and experiments, based around the week's main themes. This telling of the story isn’t packed with facts, but it gives an overview of the processes that formed life, the Universe, and everything. Schools teach the ‘what’ and ‘when’, this will show you the ‘why’ and ‘how’. I've designed it for 8-13 year-old kids who aren't necessarily sciency, but who might enjoy having a rollercoaster ride for 14 billion years, bouncing around space, stars and oceans, and finally exploring the planet, top to bottom. By the end they'll know how the 'rollercoaster' rolls - that'll be the science! (Each chapter is summarised below) You will get your ZOOM instructions each week. This is a family event, and at least one adult is expected to be present - they have an important role to play in explaining some things to the child, and especially in asking questions. (The questions are the best bit!) All family members can participate for the cost of 1 ticket. Coming late? Tickets are £13.78, but the price drops each week, pro rata, so you only pay for the weeks that remain. Check it each week! Catch-up videos are available to all participants. If you haven't received your 'ticket' (Zoom link) by the day before, please check junk folder before contacting Richard on Richard@BrightonScience.com Tickets sales will finish at 7.00 am, before the sessions. --------------------------------------------------------------- Follow on www.BrightonScience.com ................................................................................................................................................................... Full summary of each week's event: Chapter one: YOU, THE BIG BANG AND OTHER DISASTERS The narrative flies through 10 billion years of stars growing and exploding, with you in the middle of them, until you end up, dazed and exhausted, on a giant rock which is too small to become a star (good - nice and safe) spinning round a star which is too small to explode (even safer). The rock is Earth and the star is the Sun. (Theme: how gravity made the Universe) Chapter two : LIFE Early Earth is almost molten. You are on an erupting volcano, two miles under water. This is the perfect place to make life: it's so crazy and chaotic. And so is the thing you become: DNA. You become the first cell; the mother of all cells on the planet animals, plants, fungi, bacteria and everything. Scientists call you the Last Universal Common Ancestor LUCA (Theme: how life began) Chapter three: EVOLUTION You are constantly breaking and re-building your DNA (thats life), but you are pretty chaotic in the way you rebuild, so your copies tend to be different (thats evolution). You evolve the power of movement: you are Flagellate. (Theme: evolution) Chapter four: COMPETITION You and your family of flagellates team up with a sheet of cells and together you become the next big thing: multicellular life. The sheet rolls into a tube; the flagella on the inside waft lunch along the tube, and those on the outside swim you towards supper. You are now an eating machine. Your new name is Worm. (Theme: how multi-celled life evolved) Chapter five: COOPERATION This is a break from the story: the tale of the Portuguese man'o'war, the missing link between single-celled creatures and the complex life we see today. (Theme: natural selection) Chapter six: BECOMING THE BEST Another explosion: the Cambrian Explosion - an explosion of life. You evolve to become Fish. Everyone else evolves a great need to eat you. As you try to escape them you stare wistfully at the empty land at the edge of the ocean, and wonder... (Theme: competition and how the modern body plan originated) Chapter seven: LIFE ON LAND Evolving into a land animal is perhaps the most monumental task, but soon you have four sturdy legs. In no time you are once more on the menu, this time a dinosaur menu. More evolution turns you into Mammal, so you can be awake during the cold nights, while the dinosaurs are asleep. (Theme: intelligence) Chapter eight: HOW TO MAKE A HUMAN Your clever mammalian brain is your secret weapon. Teaming up with other mammals, you combine brains to be come a 'super-organism': a herd or tribe. Soon you are Human, ready for adventures. (Theme: family, cooperation and empathy) Chapter nine: ALL AROUND THE WORLD In just 100,000 years you spread from a corner of Africa to everywhere, coping with all the different climates and conditions by a mixture of evolution and invention. Then you invent farming: another explosion, this time a foodie explosion of your own making. And the rest is history, up to the present day. (Theme: creativity and invention) Chapter ten – HIGH SOCIETY Your tribe grows. Through 'social evolution' it becomes a society. As it expands it meets neighbouring societies. Through conflict and cooperation it becomes a nation. (Theme: the modern world) Chapter eleven – YOU AND THEM You contain two different Yous: your parent's You - a mixture of their shuffled DNA - and the You that was installed in you by society (including your parents): language, clothing, beliefs, biases. Those two are not exactly the same, so sometimes there are arguments. This is good; it's how 'social evolution' works. (Theme: nature and nurture) Chapter twelve – ALL YOUR ODDITIES Your history is written all through you, from the monkey tail at the bottom of your spine, to the flagellum which every cell still retains. Here you will find an answer for all your oddities – yawning, goose bumps, cancer, viruses, ear waggling, sleep falling, hiccups, etc. (Theme: a recap, though with a difference!) Note: Throughout, we dip into quite a lot of curriculum areas - all the 'ologies' - cosmology, geology, biology, zoology, palaeontology, anthropology, archaeology, technology, ecology, sociology, psychology… For those with an allergy to 'ology', I share your pathology! I have learned all that science stuff, but I speak in plain English, nice and clear. You will find, I hope, that complicated ideas can be explained in simple ways. ...................................................................................................................................................................

About your mentor

Richard Robinson

The science of Evolution and the evolution of Science

Science is amazing, though dealing with the lingo is frustrating - a constant barrier between us and the amazement waiting out there for us. My mission is to share the excitement, but simplify the language so we can all do it. I've written 20 books about science, mostly for 7-11 year-olds. Over the past 15 years I have continued to encourage scientific thinking via the Brighton Science Festival, and the Pocket Science Funfair. There's plenty to do: we need to understand a lot of things, from the huge to the tiny (think climate change and viruses). Let's keep on trying.

Learning aims

Aim 1

You will have a overview of all the Universe's history, on which to peg subsequent learning

Aim 3

Understanding the past should help us cope with the present and prepare for the future

Aim 5

You will learn how 'to change what you can change; to accept what you cannot change; and how to tell the difference'.

Aim 2

Learning about mirror neurons, empathy and cooperation will help you realise (in both senses) your potential.

Aim 4

Knowing the way the Earth came to be the way it is will help us respect it.

Pricing information

Ticket namePriceInformation

Ticket nameawnhy

Price£24

Information-

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Where we'll be

Online, Online, On Zoom, Sussex, ZO00OM

Safety

Please note

Please note, it is the responsibility of the booker to satisfy themselves about the adequacy of the safety measures. This platform is merely an introducer and does not verify the items listed here.

Cancellation Policy

No refunds are given except in the case of a cancellation by the Mentor.

My experience consists of a leisure activity, on a specific date(s), and therefore the 14-day ‘cooling off period’ under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 does not apply.

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