Science without Borders: Digital Events for Curious Minds

Get ready to explore the wonders of science, no matter where you are! National Science Week 2025 is bringing the action straight to your screen with a dynamic lineup of virtual excursions, livestreamed talks, interactive workshops, and on-demand science experiences. Whether you’re a curious student, a lifelong learner, or a teacher looking for engaging content, these online events let you dive into discoveries from the comfort of home or the classroom.

CSIRO Wild Watch

CSIRO Wild Watch calls curious minds – young and young-at-heart – to connect with nature and form a nationwide team of citizen scientists. Young people, schools, community groups and families can head outdoors, observe local flora and fauna, and contribute valuable biodiversity data for Australian research.

Help track Australia’s biodiversity and add your observations to the iNaturalist app.

CSIRO Wild Watch calls curious minds


Virtual Excursions

Virtual excursions offer students access to world-class experiences—no bus required. From behind-the-scenes lab tours and expert panels to live experiments and digital deep-dives into space, technology, and the natural world, this year’s virtual program proves that science has no borders. So grab your device and get ready to connect with researchers, innovators and educators across the country. wherever you are.

SciFest 2025

At 11am Virtual Excursions Australia presents Science Storytime. Authors will join us to read their books and answer questions. This 30 minute live virtual excursion is suitable for libraries, schools, home school groups and individual families.

Click the links to register for each sesson.

Monday 11 August: Dr Vanessa Pirotta Ocean’s in the Night

Dr Vanessa Pirotta is a lead scientist for the citizen science project Wild Sydney Harbour, she connects communities with marine life while promoting the fusion of Indigenous knowledge and Western science.

Oceans at Night showcases the beauty and wonder of life below the sea, so dive deep and discover what happens while you sleep!

Tuesday 12 August: Grant Salmond The wonderful world of deep-time astronomy

Explore the wonderful world of deep-time astronomy with Grant Salmond form the Australian Age of Dinosaurs. Join us as we read and learn together about the history of the universe and the surprising ways stars are connected to the dinosaurs and geology of our home planet Earth.

Thursday 14 August: Dr Stephanie Owen Reeder Peculiar Parents

Peculiar Parents introduces us to 60 Australian animal species, focusing on all things family – picking a mate, making a home, having babies, finding food and looking after one another.

You’ll meet so many amazing Aussie animals.

Friday 15 August: Dr James O’Hanlon Sid and the Very Hard to Find Squid

Sid and the very hard to find squid.
No one has ever seen a colossal squid in the wild, but Sid is determined to be the first. Join Sid on his exciting quest to find this incredibly rare animal.

Look closely and you might just find a cheeky colossal squid too.


At 1pm each day the SciFest Lunchtime Trivia returns. Each day will have a different theme, so you can join in one day or all week. During the 30 minute sessions you can test your knowledge between classes, colleagues or family member, everyone is welcome.

Monday 11 August: Join the Australian National Maritime Museum for an underwater trivia adventure.

Tuesday 12 August: Join Fizzics Education for a rocktastic trivia adventure on rocks, minerals, fossils and more!

Wednesday 13 August: Join the Australian Environmental Education to explore the different areas of science. Test your knowledge of the ologies – a subject of study.

Thursday 14 August: Join Australian Environmental Education to test your knowledge on the Animal Kingdom.

Friday 15 August: Join the Reef Authority to explore the Great Barrier Reef on another trivia adventure beneath the waves.


At 2pm each day there are great variety of have a science programs.

Monday 11 August: Be a shark scientist for a day with Melissa Cristina Márquez Australian National Maritime Museum

Meet marine scientist, shark expert and children’s book author Melissa Cristina Márquez in this special Science Week session! Melissa will discuss her work as a shark scientist and explain why sharks are so important to healthy oceans. She’ll also touch on the threats sharks face today and how we can all help protect these fascinating creatures.

Tuesday 12 August: Did Dinosaurs do Math? Australian Age of Dinosaurs

In this lesson we will explore the mathematics of dinosaurs! What can maths teach us about dinosaurs, and can dinosaurs teach us anything about maths? We’ll look at how dinosaurs moved, what speeds they may have run at, and, how dinosaurs may even teach us new ways to use maths.

Tuesday 12 August at 2:00pm: Meet Deep Sea Engineer Tim Macdonald

Meet Deep Sea Engineer Tim Macdonald

Join Tim Macdonald, an accomplished engineer who has travelled to the deepest part of the ocean. This unique opportunity will allow students to gain first hand insights into the fascinating world of underwater exploration. Don’t miss out on this chance to learn from a true expert in the field and ask him all your burning questions!

Tuesday 12 August at 2pm: Q and A with Dr Karl – Decoding the universe

Ever wondered why the sky is blue, how black holes work, or what quantum science even means? Join the one-and-only Dr Karl Kruszelnicki as he unpacks the mysteries of the universe in this exciting National Science Week event: Q&A with Dr Karl – Decoding the Universe.

Wednesday 13 August: Careers in STEM

The Careers in STEM panel is a 60-minute online session is designed for students exploring career pathways and future opportunities in STEM fields.  

Your passion and interest now, could be your future career.

Wednesday 13 August at 2pm: Pollution Detectives

Learn about ocean plastic pollution and put your detective skills to the test! Discover how Seabin Foundation remove plastic pollution from our waterways and explore some of the surprising rubbish they have found. We’ll work together to trace the mysterious plastic pollution back to its source and brainstorm ways that we can help to combat the plastic pollution problem.

Thursday 14 August: Sydney Zoo

Decoding the wild: animal communication at Sydney Zoo. Do you know what animals are saying? Join the Sydney Zoo education team as they dive into the many ways animals communicate and navigate.

Thursday 14 August at 2pm: Deep sea habitats and adaptations

Dive in deep as we explore each of the five ocean zones and discover what makes them a unique habitat. We’ll investigate each layer of the ocean and discuss its environmental conditions, the species that have adapted to survive there and the technologies used to explore it. 

Friday 15 August: Be a Marine Biologist for a Day Reef Authority

Interact with the Reef Aquarium education team during the introduction to the Be a Marine Biologist for a Day program. Develop your knowledge of marine life identification and reef monitoring techniques as we explore reef health indicator species and discuss their importance on the Great Barrier Reef.

Friday 15 August at 2pm: Our ocean, our future

Dive into the science of ocean environments in this interactive virtual excursion from the Museum of the Sea. The ocean is a unique, irreplaceable environment that is home to many living things. We’ll discuss the pollution problems facing our ocean, learn about real life examples of sustainability and brainstorm achievable ways to help the ocean in our everyday lives.


There are more great virtual excursions available for National Science Week

Questacon National Science Week Webinars

Want to find out how to make a world record breaking paper plane?

Ever wondered what maths and sunflowers have to do with each other?

Considered what makes a coral reef a coral reef?

If you answered yes to any of the above, then you should check out Questacon’s free webinars this National Science Week! We will be offering three different topics:

  • Foldable Flight (60 mins, grades 3 to 6)
  • Under the Sea: Coral Reefs (60 mins, grades 4 to 6)
  • Living Maths (30 mins, grades 7 to 10)

11am & 1.30pm on Tuesday 12 Aug – Thursday 14 Aug

Wednesday 13 August at 10am: Peculiar, Caring and Creative: Discover the wonderful world of Australian animals 

This Science Week, learn about the features, habitat and behaviours of some truly peculiar Australian animals. In this interactive online learning session, your students will join author Stephanie Owen Reeder and illustrator Ingrid Bartkowiak as they discuss their new book Peculiar Parents.

Tuesday 12 & 19 August at 9.15am: Portraiture: Drawn to discovery

Sketches of inventions. Photographs of galaxies. Portraits of scientists. These are all art. Join the National Portrait Gallery for an interactive and engaging program as we will visually analyse three portraits of prominent Australian scientists. Students will brainstorm and draw their ideas, then end by drawing a portrait of themselves as scientists.

Thursday 14 & 21 August at 9.15am & 2pm: Scientist Portraits: Story and spectacle

Learn how storytelling meets science in this special program presented by the National Portrait Gallery and Questacon for National Science Week. Join legendary science journalist and broadcaster Robyn Williams AO as he explores stories of Australia’s greatest scientific minds through their portraits. Additionally, an educator from Questacon will deliver an associated experiment, allowing students to experience with the scientific concepts presented.


There are some many more online events to discover this National Science Week. Check out the Website for more.

www.scienceweek.net.au/find-events


Feature Image: Students watch live interactive virtual excursions – AI generated