SciFest 2026

Join Cassy Polimeni as she reads the final instalment of the Ella series; Ella and the Call of the Wild.

“Did you know every frog species has its own call? It helps them find each other in the wild. Mostly they sing love songs to find friends or partners. Sometimes they use their voice as a warning…”

Join us for Rakali of the Riverbank read by author Stephanie Owen Reeder. Explore a night in the life of a rakali, an Australian native water rat – recently voted Australia’s most underrated native animal.

As the sun sets, Rakali prepares to patrol the riverbank. He’s on a mission to fill his belly, protect his pups and keep his home safe. But he must face feral foxes, disease-carrying black rats and toxic cane toads. Will he make it safely back to his burrow before the sun rises?

Join author Julie Murphy for a reading of her book Cheer Up, Blobfish!

It’s the Festival of Fish – the biggest party of the year! Everyone seems to be having a great time … except for Blobfish. The clownfish tells some jokes, the sawfish does magic tricks and the dolphin swims loop-the-loops. So why is Blobfish not smiling?

Cheer Up, Blobfish! is a celebration of difference starring one very misunderstood sea creature.

Join a scientist from the Australian Museum to discover the incredible diversity of Australia’s frogs and why frogs are so important for our environment. You’ll also be introduced to FrogID, the Australian Museum’s free citizen science project that has collected 1.5 million frog call records from people across Australia.

Whether you live in the city or the bush, you can make a real contribution to protecting Australia’s frogs.

Join Sydney Zoo online this Science Week for a close-up encounter with five incredible Australian animals! Meet frogs, turtles, sharks, Eastern Quolls and koalas as we uncover their amazing adaptations, surprising behaviours and important roles in our environment.

Discover fascinating facts, learn how Eastern Quolls are making a remarkable comeback, and explore the ways you can be a citizen scientist in your own backyard.

Join an extraordinary panel of Olympians who are just as passionate about STEM as they are about their sport.

• Ria Thompson OLY – Rower
• Patrick Holt OLY – Rower
• Blake Cochrane PLY – Swimmer
• Rhiannon Clarke PLY – Athletics

Discover how a background in science fuels elite athletes and learn how your students’ own passions can pave the way to an extraordinary career.

Dive into the science of the sea with this show all about the deep blue! Join us in exploring what our ocean is like, how living things have adapted to it, and the threat that it’s under.

Join Fizzics Education as we look at the crushing pressure of the deep, the wonder of bioluminescence and the peril of ocean acidification!

Like all coral reefs, the Great Barrier Reef is under pressure from a variety of threats.

Join the Reef Authority’s Chief Scientist, Dr Roger Beeden, to learn more about these threats, how they are impacting our Reef and what we can do to address them.

Looking for a way to bring science to life in your classroom? Join the National Portrait Gallery for a special National Science Week online session designed for Years 4–8, where art, history and hands-on science experiments come together.

Meet the Governor General, explore how seeds move, and design your own wind-dispersed seeds from your classroom!

You’ll get to practice designing, making, testing and observing while making your very own prototype seed carriers.

Inspire your students to make a difference this National Science Week!

Meet amazing marine scientists from Seabin Foundation’s Ocean Health Lab and help them to complete a real science experiment from beginning to end.

Presented by the Seabin Foundation and the Australian National Maritime Museum.

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

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! They will be offering two different topics:

Explore this year’s theme, ‘Seeds of science: Nurturing knowledge for all’ focusing on cultivating curiosity and growing understanding in STEM, highlighting agricultural science, sustainability, and how knowledge takes root to benefit the community.

Classes can submit questions before the event or ask them live, and Dr. Karl and the curriculum teams will answer throughout the session.

Meet children’s author, climate communicator and science presenter, Lee Constable!

Dive head-first into the world of rubbish – what happens to our rubbish? Is recycling really important? Why should we care about waste management? After a whirlwind training session, put your rubbish knowledge and creativity to the test: design your own eco-superhero!

Future You & National Library of Australia. Join Professor Lisa A. Williams, astronaut Katherine Bennell-Pegg, and aerospace engineer Renee Wootton for an interactive session exploring diversity and personal strengths in science.

This engaging workshop features hands-on activities aligned with the Australian Curriculum V9 – Science as a Human Endeavour.

Not all boats move in the same way; some use wind, others have an engine.

Dive a little deeper and we’ll explore life under the surface. What does the movement of fish have in common with a modern submarine? How does the temperature of water affect the movement of boats and aquatic animals?

In this jampacked hour of live demonstrations, find out about anything and everything* that moves in the ocean! *well not quite EVERYTHING…

Join award-winning scientist and author Lisa Harvey-Smith, and Future You Pathfinder and playground designer Tessa Grayston, to celebrate National Science Week.

Students will explore the science of playgrounds and lean in to their curiosities, creativity, and collaboration as they design play spaces of their own.

Strap in, and journey to the deep this National Science Week.

Through live demonstrations and interactive elements, we’ll investigate each layer of the ocean and explore its environmental conditions, the species that have adapted to survive there and the technologies used to explore it.