BBC Live Lesson Set for McLaren Technology Centre

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A special BBC Live Lesson will be held at the McLaren Technology Centre, marking the end of the first phase of the Terrific Scientific primary science campaign in the U.K. for kids 9 to 11.

On June 19 at 2 p.m., primary schools in the U.K. will have the opportunity to go behind the scenes at McLaren Technology Centre, which includes the McLaren-Honda Formula 1 team, McLaren Automotive high-performance road cars and McLaren Applied Technologies. The special BBC Live Lesson will examine forces such as air resistance and friction. It will be hosted by CBBC’s Naomi Wilkinson and Ben Shires along with science presenter Greg Foot, and CBBC’s Hacker T Dog will go inside McLaren’s state-of-the-art wind tunnel, which tests the aerodynamics of their cars.

Hacker will meet McLaren engineers, experts and drivers to conduct his own wind tunnel investigation and will also get to operate the high-tech driver simulator to learn more about the importance of forces. Schools can watch the Live Lesson for free at bbc.co.uk/livelessons. It will also be followed by a 30-minute Live Lesson Extra, and both programs will be available online as permanent teaching resources.

Since its launch in January, more than 5,000 primary schools have signed up to take part in Terrific Scientific and children across the U.K. have contributed to genuine scientific research run by leading U.K. universities. Five more science investigations linked to the U.K. curricula are planned for the next year.

Sinead Rocks, BBC’s director of education, said, “BBC Live Lessons are about bringing the curriculum to life and providing teachers with great resources. Broadcasting a Live Lesson from the McLaren Technology Centre is an amazing opportunity to demonstrate forces such as air resistance and friction, and the setting itself highlights the overall importance of STEM education, which our Terrific Scientific campaign is focused on.”

Jonathan Neale, the chief operating officer at McLaren Technology Group, added, “What better place to help bring science alive for young people than McLaren! We’re a technology company at heart so not only do we rely on understanding science to do our day jobs but we’re very passionate about inspiring the next generation of budding scientists, software developers and engineers as well. The Live Lesson is another example of how, through our amazing people, McLaren wants to highlight the importance of STEM and help work with leading organizations like the BBC to bring it to life in a powerful way.”