Newton's Summer of Discovery

Making rockets at Woolsthorpe Manor, Lincolnshire | © National Trust Images/Paul Harris

Running throughout the school holidays, Woolsthorpe Manor is launching Newton's Summer of Discovery. A summer full of activities from Isaac Newton’s childhood home to inspire curiosity and creativity in children of all ages.

Today, Newton is remembered as a grey-haired old man but he was once a curious young boy. Newton’s mother's complaints may seem all too familiar to modern parents: he drew on the walls, fought with his siblings, forgot to do his chores, and managed to find danger and hurt himself in pursuit of what he loved doing.

This summer, the famous scientist’s work and the revolution he sparked will inspire children of all ages to keep asking questions. Families can join in at Woolsthorpe Manor or at home via hands-on online content.

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Astronaut Tim Peake launches Summer of Discovery at Woolsthorpe Manor

British astronaut Tim Peake visits Woolsthorpe Manor in Lincolnshire to launch a summer of family-friendly science experiments. Find out how he feels as he follows in the footsteps of Isaac Newton, and why he thinks encouraging curiosity is crucial.

What’s happening at Woolsthorpe Manor?

To celebrate Woolsthorpe Manor’s history as Isaac Newton’s childhood home, the experiments at the property honour the discoveries of the great wonderer in the hope of sparking inspiration in the next generation of big thinkers.

Available from 20th July, the new interactive experiments on site will include the below activities.

Newton’s Cradles

A Newton’s Cradle consists of five balls in a straight line, suspended by threads so the balls just touch each other. This activity is all about momentum, you’ll see how moving just one of the balls in the Cradle makes all the balls move. We’ve got lots of different Cradles to show how the size or weight of the balls doesn't matter, momentum affects them all the same.

Newton’s Tower

Stack the boxes and get ready for action. Newton said objects stay put or keep moving unless something happens to them. Give the blocks in the tower a big push and watch what happens. The block you push will fall out of the tower, but gravity will keep the others stacked.

Optics Cabin

See what happens when light of different colours is mixed together and how your shadow can change colour when you move in multi-coloured light. Did you know, light coming through a window can make a rainbow? Newton showed the world that colourless light could make the seven colours of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. Use your own shadow to create the colours.

Rockets

Launching rockets is a great way to learn about Isaac Newton’s ideas on forces and motion. A force can be a push or a pull. In this experiment, you'll find out how far your air-powered rockets can fly. Place each rocket in a slot and stamp on the air pump until they take off.

Sand Pendulum

This simple pendulum leaves a trail of sand so you can see how it moves. This activity shows that things can’t start, stop or change direction on their own. A pendulum is a great example of this. The pendulum continues to swing unless you stop it. First put your apron on and then carefully fill the bottle with sand or paint. Stand back and swing the bottle to create your own masterpiece.

Speedy Cars

See how gravity and different surfaces affect the cars and their cargo. Explore how height and speed affect how fast the car goes. Place different items on the toy cars at the top of the ramp and see how long it takes for each to reach the bottom. When you change the ramp height and the items on top, you'll see how speed is changed by weight and gravity.

Telescope

Telescopes make things that are far away look bigger and closer. Newton created the reflecting telescope, using this one, can you find the picture we’ve hidden at Woolsthorpe Manor?

Tower Drop

Galileo was an Italian scientist, who lived before Isaac Newton. A popular story tells how Galileo dropped balls of different weight from the Tower of Pisa. Isaac Newton is most famous for his discovery of gravity, at Woolsthorpe Manor. Gravity can be seen in action in how it brings objects back down to Earth and keeps our feet on the ground. Climb the stairs of the Tower and try dropping items from different heights to see how gravity affects them.

Take part in the Summer of Discovery at home

You can take part in Newton's Summer of Discovery from anywhere. The experiments are also available online, ready for budding scientists to recreate at home. Inspire curiosity and creativity in children of all ages, no matter where you are this summer.

You can get hands-on making your own pendulums, creating your own Newton’s Cradles or making a mess shooting rockets into the air. Keen to explore more? Download the PDF to inspire future Newton’s at home.

Create experiments at home