BBC Live Lesson to come from McLaren Technology Centre

There will be a high octane finish to the first phase of the BBC Terrific Scientific primary science initiative as they go behind the scenes at the iconic McLaren Technology Centre for a special BBC Live Lesson all about forces.

On the 19th June at 2pm, primary schools all over the UK will have a chance to see inside the home of McLaren, which includes the McLaren Honda Formula 1 team, McLaren Automotive high performance road cars and McLaren Applied Technologies, with a special BBC Live Lesson examining different forces, including air resistance and friction. The lesson will hosted by CBBC’s Naomi Wilkinson and Ben Shires, and science presenter Greg Foot.

Helping them will be CBBC’s Hacker T Dog who will be going where no animal has ever gone before – inside McLaren’s state of the art wind tunnel, designed to test the aerodynamics of their cars and capable of generating wind speeds well over 100 miles an hour.

Hacker, aged 6 from Wigan, will be meeting a variety of McLaren engineers, experts and drivers to conduct his own wind tunnel investigation and getting his chance to operate the high-tech driver simulator find out more about the importance of force. Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne better watch out!

This special Live Lesson is part of BBC Learning’s Terrific Scientific campaign to inspire 9 - 11 year olds across the UK to discover their inner scientist. In June and July, schools all over the UK will be investigating how different forces work, as well as engineering their own air resistant wacky school race costumes – before uploading their results to a national Terrific Scientific map.

And getting the chance to watch the Live Lesson being filmed at McLaren and take part in the programme will be pupils from two local schools, Ongar Place Primary School and Pyrford Primary School.

Sinead Rocks, BBC Director, 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, Chief Operating Officer, McLaren Technology Group said:

“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 organisations like the BBC to bring it to life in a powerful way.”

Schools can watch the Live Lesson for free at bbc.co.uk/livelessons where there are resources provided for teachers to use in the classroom. It will also be followed by 30-minute ‘Live Lesson Extra’ and both programmes will be available online as permanent teaching resources.