Careers Workshop: Science Writing
Perfect for World Book Day!
I never expected to be a writer. At school, I didn't even know science writing was a proper job. I want to change that for the next generation!
Works best in-person but can also be delivered online
Audience Type: KS1, KS2, KS3, KS4, KS5, SEND, families
Audience Size: ideal = 30, maximum 60
Duration: Online session is approx 40 minutes, with writing to be completed afterwards. In-person session will fill one lesson slot, with writing during the session. Teacher support materials provided.
Venue: Classroom, library or hall - tables needed for the writing task. Students will need access to the internet or library books for their research.
In these "author visit" workshops, students learn about the surprising diversity of science writing. It considers my experience writing a popular science book (The Future of Agriculture, Icon Books, 2025) and work for science centres, learned societies and the children's magazines Whizz Pop Bang and Aquila. I then set them a challenge to produce their own short piece of science writing.
There are two workshops:
KS3, KS4, KS5: Mythbusters researching a topic and creating a class set of quiz cards (approx 100 word student writing)
KS1, KS2, SEND: Animal Facts researching facts about animals to produce fact cards for a classroom display (1-2 sentence student writing)
The workshops were developed with the support of the National Literacy Trust and Linnean Society, as part of their Science Writers In Schools, Literacy for Learning strand. I am extremely grateful for their training and support throughout the process. It was fascinating to think about my work in a different way, and how that can be used to inspire a new generation of writers.
Please get in touch for further details as the cost structure for these is different to a day of science shows.