Department of Mathematics

Primary Schools

The activities below are designed to introduce how mathematics, physics and astronomy form the day-to-day world around us. Tailored specifically for primary school level, they emphasize learning through activity and demonstration.

Please note: Due to the demand for our outreach being much greater than we can supply, we are now focusing our delivery on older students (year 8 & above). However, we are able to arrange activities for primary schools who are able to visit us at the university of Sussex campus in Falmer.

Planetary Workshop (1 hour, KS 1/2)
Primary school students holding inflatable planets

This interactive demonstration gives KS1/2 students the oppourtunity to get "hands on" with the solar system using our inflatabale planets workshop. During the session, students will see the parts of the solar system and learn the basic physics of how it works.

The Infrared Universe - Seeing "Hot and Cold" (1 hour, KS 1/2)

Primary school students learning about heat using a thermal cameraThrough the use of an infrared camera, your class can view and understand this usually invisible part of the electromagnetic spectrum.

The Infection Game (1 hour, KS 1/2)
Infection game activity

A fun game introduces children to the mathematics of infections and how they can spread across cities, countries and even the world. This involves plotting basic graphs and multiplying by zero.

Penrose Tiling (1 hour, KS 1/2)
Penrose tiles

Students learn about symmetry, tessellation, and two-dimensional geometry. Activity involves making tessellations of two polygons, learning about Penrose tiling, exploring geometric transformations, and investigating different properties of polygons. Students use geometric shapes to sort, classify, and create patterns.