Element Explorers Lab

06/10/2026

Can you guess this month's element? 👀⚛️

How many clues did you need?

This element takes us from volcanoes and hydrothermal vents to proteins, air pollution and acid rain.

We'll be exploring much more of its chemistry over the next few weeks.

23/09/2026

Your empty drinks can could have a whole new life.

Aluminium can be collected, sorted, melted and made into something new, using around 95% less energy than producing aluminium from raw materials.

Swipe to follow the recycling journey.

And look out for the final slide to see a recycled aluminium product we've included in this month's box.

18/09/2026

🧪 Are children getting enough hands-on science?

The Royal Society of Chemistry’s 2026 Science Teaching Survey found that only 26% of teachers in English state-funded schools reported doing hands-on practical work at least once a week with younger secondary pupils.

In Wales, the figure was 28%, compared with 74% in Scotland.

Practical science is about much more than following instructions. It gives children the chance to:

🔍 observe real changes
📏 measure and compare results
🧠 make predictions
📝 collect evidence
💭 work out what their results mean

This is one of the reasons I created Element Explorers Lab. Each box gives children aged 12+ the equipment, materials and guidance they need to carry out meaningful science experiments at home.

For home-educated children, the boxes provide structured practical science as part of their learning. For children attending school, they offer additional opportunities to investigate, question and discover science for themselves.

Because science is not just something to read about. It is something to explore.

Would your child enjoy doing more hands-on science experiments at home?

Explore the boxes at elementexplorerslab.com

16/09/2026

Science you can actually hold.
Element Explorers Lab isn't just about completing an experiment and putting everything away.
As you explore different elements, you can build your own collection of elements, minerals and models.
This month, subscribers receive their own aluminium cube to examine, handle and use as part of their investigations.
Over time, those individual samples build into a collection that brings the periodic table off the page and into their hands.
Collect it. Investigate it. Understand it.
🧊Want to start building your own collection?
Get this month's Aluminium box.

15/09/2026

I love getting messages like this from subscribers 🩵

The feedback came after trying Experiment 4: Block the Sun from the Zinc Box.

In this experiment, young scientists use UV-sensitive beads to investigate how zinc oxide affects the amount of UV light reaching them, linking the use of zinc compounds in some sunscreens.

It’s one thing to read that zinc oxide is used for UV protection. It’s much more interesting to investigate it for yourself and actually see the difference.

That’s exactly what I want Element Explorers Lab to be about: getting hands-on with science and connecting what you’re learning to the real world.

☀️Would you have expected zinc to have a role in sun protection?

14/09/2026

How much science can you discover from one element? 

Quite a lot!

This month’s Element Explorers Lab box is all about aluminium, with hands-on investigations exploring the metal, its properties and its compounds.

⛵ Build an aluminium foil boat and investigate how much it can carry.

🌡️ Explore heat transfer and discover how aluminium affects cooling.

💧 Clear cloudy water using an aluminium compound and discover the science of coagulation and flocculation.

💎 Grow alum crystals and explore an aluminium-containing compound in a completely different form.

🧊 Investigate a real aluminium cube and discover more about the properties of the metal itself.

Together, the experiments connect aluminium to chemistry, materials, engineering and real-world applications.

It’s not just learning facts about aluminium. It’s investigating the science for yourself.

🔬 Get this month’s Aluminium box.

24/08/2026

This month's Element Explorers Lab is all about carbon – an element that can take some surprisingly different forms, from soft graphite to incredibly strong graphene.

Inside the box you'll discover:

✏️ Graphite Power – investigate the properties of graphite and why it can conduct electricity.
🧲 Graphene Peel – use sticky tape to explore how incredibly thin layers can be separated from graphite.
🖤 Carbon Clean-Up – investigate how activated carbon can remove substances from water.
🕯️ Smoke & Soot – collect soot from a candle flame and discover what incomplete combustion can produce.

Plus you'll receive:

📖 A 16-page information and activity guide
📝 Four experiment cards
⚫ Carbon samples to investigate
🧪 Chemicals and reusable science equipment

Designed for ages 12+ with adult supervision.

Which experiment would you try first? 👀

14/08/2026

Mineral Riddles 🎯

Answer: Diamond 💎

22/07/2026

🟢 What's inside the Zinc Box?

This month's Element Explorers Lab is all about zinc – a metal that protects steel from rust, powers batteries and even helps protect our skin from the Sun.

Inside the box you'll discover:

🧪 Who's Most Reactive? – compare zinc, iron and copper.
🛡️ The Zinc Shield – investigate galvanising and sacrificial protection.
🔋 Build a Voltaic Pile – make one of the world's first batteries.
☀️ Block the Sun – explore how zinc oxide helps reduce UV exposure.

Plus you'll receive:
📖 A 16-page information and activity guide
📝 Four experiment cards
🧊 A real zinc cube
🧪 Chemicals and reusable science equipment

Designed for ages 12+ with adult supervision.

Which experiment would you try first?

08/06/2026

This links into one of the experiments in this month's calcium box

Today is , so here's a graphic which looks at the ocean acidification caused by rising atmospheric carbon dioxide levels and how this affects the ocean habitat 🌊 https://www.compoundchem.com/2017/01/18/ocean-acidification-co2/