Science

There is indigenous plant life in the city, OMG! Come with us on a pleasant evening stroll and you too can meet them.

With fun activities based around plants and a touch of story-telling, you’ll experience the best way to learn about plants: get acquainted and interact with them. By so doing you’ll take some steps towards releasing your inner botanist.

“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food” Hippocrates, father of medicine (431 B.C).

Would you like to know how to eat your way to great health and top performing genes? In the last 30 years, studies have demonstrated what health benefits individual foods can offer and identify the specific nutrients or chemicals associated with these benefits. We now know that the foods we eat can change the behaviour of genes involved in cancer progression, dementia and other diseases. That sounds crazy, doesn’t it?

Many of us enjoy a good drink, but have you ever wondered how your favourite alcohol is made? How are the flavours created, what makes the alcohol and why do bad spirits taste like hairspray? And what happens in your body when you start getting tipsy?

In this class, we’ll learn about the different tipples, the processes behind them and why we end up getting drunk! From beer and wine, to gin and whisky; from fermentation to distillation – all the science of alcohol will be revealed. You might even be tempted to have a go at making and tasting some after the class!

Ever wonder how to start a garden without paying for plants? Join this interactive lesson on how to cut, divide and grow seeds. From the science to the practice, after the workshop you will have the necessary knowledge to propagate any plant you like!

Many of us struggle to remember a new person’s name 5 minutes after being introduced but have that one friend who never forgets a face! And a few special people have phenomenal memories that seem to know no bounds. For example, memorising 884 randomly shuffled playing cards in just 30 minutes!

We’re going to learn from the great brains and discover how to enhance our memory using simple techniques.

Have you ever wanted to make more sense of the night sky? Or see the rings of Saturn for yourself? Whether you’re completely new to astronomy or have some experience, exploring and learning about the night sky is something everyone can enjoy.

Have you ever looked at a plant and wondered what it was? Which of the approximately 1000 local native plants could it be? Or was it a weed?

Whether you are already in touch with nature or not this class will inspire you to know more about the wonderful world of plants. We are going to learn about some of our local natives and how you can figure out, from the thousands of possible plants, what it is you happen to be looking at.

Sex, gender, sexuality, and all the things that go with them are not clear cut. Most of us receive outdated sex education as teens, but where does that leave us now?

We’re going to explore the important issues around vulva anatomy and sexuality, through an inter-sectional feminist lens.

Forget about the boring, reproduction-based sex-ed that you got at school. All genders, sexualities, ethnicities and relationship statuses are welcome.

Ever heard the term ‘pelvic floor’? Everybody has one, but do you know what it is or it’s purpose? Come and learn more about it as well as learning about Ben Wa balls. Ben Wa balls are an an ancient instrument used to improve a woman’s pelvic floor and increase sexual enjoyment… you will learn all about them, even the bits that are not usually disclosed. Learn the truths and the myths and join us for an interesting and fun how-to evening.

Overwhelmed by the amount of nutritional information available? Sick of trying to sift through marketing rhetoric to determine if a food is ‘good’ or ‘bad’ for you? Curious about what ‘eating well’ actually means? Then this is the class for you!