From bridges to black holes

Science, technology, engineering and maths – STEM. These diverse disciplines represent the bleeding edge of humanity’s endeavour to unravel the mysteries of the physical universe. From the tiniest particles to the secrets of black holes, STEM is as practical as it is theoretical. It gives us AI and bridges, medicine and computers. And one day, it’ll help us to reach the stars themselves.

  • Up close with the Big Bang, Switzerland
  • Of rockets, satellites and moon landings, USA
  • Under the hood at the Lamborghini factory, Italy
  • Surveying the stars, Chile
  • Blowing off steam, Iceland
  • Japanese architecture and modernity, Japan
  • A meeting with the megafauna, Mexico
  • Meet the mountain gorillas of Rwanda, Rwanda

Looking for something else?
We can create a bespoke trip or experience to suit any mood – educational or not. Just ask.

PLAN MY FIELD TRIP

STEM about image
CERN class

A private introduction to the mysteries of CERN

For future physicists and engineers
Location: Geneva, Switzerland
Fast Facts: Age 12+ | All year round | Half day

Located in an unprepossessing corner of Geneva, CERN – run by the European Council of Nuclear Research – is home to the biggest and most powerful particle accelerator in the world: the Large Hadron Collider. This monumental machinery peers closely into the behaviour of the smallest particles as they are ‘collided’ together close to the speed of light. This vital work allows scientists to recreate the conditions that occurred directly after the big bang. Together, they are writing the story of the very birth of our universe.

In this exclusive experience, you’ll take an immersive audio-visual tour of the CERN site with your expert guide. The Microcosm and Particle Universe exhibitions will spark questions in minds young and old as you visit the largest science experiment in the world.

This class can be added to any Black Tomato experience in Switzerland. We can also build your trip entirely around it.

Take this class
CERN class

Class Highlights

During this class, you’ll:

  • Visit CERN and receive an immersive audio-visual presentation from your tour guide, which will lead you to both indoor and outdoor locations on site
  • Explore the Microcosm exhibition – discovering CERN’s largest experiments, including the Large Hadron Collider, and hear first-hand from the scientists who built and operate it
  • Experience the Particle Universe exhibition – gaining an introduction to the major questions of contemporary physics

You’ll leave with a rare insight into the workings of the world’s largest scientific experiment, fuelling your passion for the possibilities of physics.

Looking for something else?
We can create a bespoke trip or experience to suit any mood – educational or not. Just ask.

STEM NASA class

A guided tour around NASA’s Johnson Space Center

For future astronauts, scientists and explorers
Location: Houston, USA
Fast Facts: Age 14+ | All year round | Half day

From modest beginnings, NASA has spent more than half a century exploring the planets and stars that surround our planet (and beyond). From the moon landing to the Voyager 1 probe (it’s now some 23 billion kms away from Earth), this mission has carried humanity beyond the limits of our own world. At its heart is the Johnson Space Center, a sprawling facility located in Houston, Texas. This is where missions are planned, astronauts are trained, and where Mission Control does its essential work.

Joining an expert NASA official, you’ll receive a guided tour through the control rooms, training centers, halls and exhibits of this startling institution, including the Mission Control Center and Rocket Park (where the massive Saturn V rocket has its home). With wisdom, insight, and plenty of anecdotes, your guide will shine a light on the unflagging work of these horizon-glimpsing scientists and astronauts.

This class can be added to any Black Tomato experience in America. We can also build your trip entirely around it.

Take this class
STEM NASA class

Class Highlights

During this class, you’ll:

  • Be guided by NASA expert David Cisco (who has worked there for 29 years)
  • Visit the Apollo Mission Control Center and Orion Mission Control rooms
  • Walk the floor of the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility (where astronauts train), visit Rocket Park, and the current Mission Control Center

Leave with an anecdote-rich and enthralling understanding of NASA, its historic mission, and its star-studded goals for the future.

Looking for something else?
We can create a bespoke trip or experience to suit any mood – educational or not. Just ask.

An insider’s insight into the world’s most powerful cars

For future car designers, race drivers and mechanics
Location: Bologna, Italy
Fast Facts: All ages | All year round | Half day

Sporty, powerful, fast. These are some of the descriptors that might spring to mind upon hearing ‘Lamborghini’. Founded in 1963, this enviable Italian institution have been designing, developing and building their iconic sports cars in their iconic shapes ever since.

This experience, an exclusive visit to the Lamborghini factory, is a must for car enthusiasts. You’ll gain insight into the history of the Lamborghini brand and the technology and processes that go into making their cars today. Explore the real-life assembly lines of models such as the V-10 powered Huracán and V-12 powered Aventador in Lamborghini’s new Museum of Technologies, and even try your hand at driving in the car simulator.

This class can be added to any Black Tomato experience in Italy. We can also build your trip entirely around it.

Take this class

Class Highlights

During this class, you’ll:

  • Explore the ‘Mudetec’, Lamborghini’s brand new on-site ‘Musuem of Technologies’ on a private tour
  • Discover the stages of a Lamborghini production line and admire the materials used to build the cars
  • Experience driving in the car simulator

Leave with a mechanic’s appreciation for engines, an engineer’s expertise in manufacturing, and a race driver’s enthusiasm for high octane power.

Looking for something else?
We can create a bespoke trip or experience to suit any mood – educational or not. Just ask.

Paranal Observatory Class

Visit the ESO Paranal observatory in the Atacama Desert

For future astronomers and physicists
Location: San Pedro de Atacama, Chile
Fast Facts: Age 16+ | September – June | Half day

Chile’s gigantic ESO Paranal Observatory is located in the ethereally extra-terrestrial landscapes of the Atacama Desert – one of the driest places on earth. This lack of humidity, and the high elevation, help to reduce noise and signal attenuation in the atmosphere above, offering an uninterrupted view into galaxies far, far away.

On this stellar day, you’ll get a private glimpse into the machinery, research, and workings of this powerful observatory, all of it led by expert staff and astronomers; visiting the Very Large Telescope (the world’s most advanced optical telescope) and the range of Unit Telescopes that support it, all of which can work together – utilising a complex system of subway mirrors – to help astronomers to see details up to 25 times finer than with an individual unit. Together, they can – in theory – help to distinguish the two headlights of a car at the distance of the Moon. It’s powerful stuff.

This class can be added to any Black Tomato experience in Chile. We can also build your trip entirely around it.

Take this class
Paranal Observatory Class

Class Highlights

During this class, you’ll:

  • Embark on a guided tour of the ESO Paranal observatory and its exhibitions
  • Visit the VLT and the auxiliary units and systems that support it
  • Understand the workings of its central control room
  • Visit the famous Paranal Residencia, a building that served as the backdrop for part of the James Bond movie Quantum of Solace
  • Explore one of the most ancient and surreal landscapes in the world

Leave with a newfound passion for the work of modern astronomy, and a detailed understanding of what it takes to peer into the great galactic beyond.

Looking for something else?
We can create a bespoke trip or experience to suit any mood – educational or not. Just ask.

STEM Iceland class

Learn how geothermal energy is keeping Iceland green

For future engineers, scientists, and climate activists
Location: Hellsiheiðavirkjun, Iceland
Fast Facts: Age 12+ | All year round| Half day

It’s the stuff of your earliest science lessons – how water, coming into contact with heat, produces clouds of billowing gas and steam. For years, engineers and scientists have been perfecting the technique of capturing this boiling mass and turning it into a sustainable form of energy. And here, in Iceland, they’ve gone one step further – capturing the natural geothermal energy that exists beneath the country’s volatile, volcanic crust.

On this energetic day, you’ll tour one of Iceland’s monumental and ground-breaking geothermal energy plants; learning how Icelanders have made their country one of the most sustainable in the world.

This class can be added to any Black Tomato experience in Iceland. We can also build your trip entirely around it.

Take this class
STEM Iceland class

Class Highlights

During this class, you’ll:

  • Tour the massive machinery of this gigantic geothermal plant
  • Hear first-hand from the engineers who run it how they do their jobs
  • Understand the process by which steam is captured and converted into electricity, using the boreholes of Hengill volcanic area

Leave with a first-hand understanding of how natural resources can be captured and converted both safely and sustainably.

Looking for something else?
We can create a bespoke trip or experience to suit any mood – educational or not. Just ask.

STEM class Japan

An architect explains his buildings

For future architects, urban planners and designers
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Fast Facts: Age 12+ | March – May, October – November | Half day

Daikanyama T-site and Ginza Place are two buildings that have come to define modern Japanese architecture. Both buildings embody the confidence and culture of our era. White, light, and patterned, T-site – the flagship of Tsutaya bookstore – was built when the first iPad was released, during a time when many doubted the future of the traditional bookstore. With Daikanyama, Dytham set out to show that books and tablets can live together, proving that the digital world needs the existence of beautifully designed physical spaces.

On this informative day, you’ll visit the buildings alongside their the architect,  gaining a professional understanding into their style, use of space, and design, getting to grips with the world of architecture beneath the surface.

This class can be added to any Black Tomato experience in Japan. We can also build your trip entirely around it.

Take this class
STEM class Japan

Class Highlights

During this class, you’ll:

    • Have the chance to learn about architecture from one of the most lauded architects working in Japan today
    • Visit Daikanyama T-site with its architect, gaining an architectural understanding of the space and its function
    • Visit the more recent project of Ginza Place, a major retail development in Tokyo’s Ginza shopping district

Leave with an ‘on site’ understanding of how architects approach their briefs and create spaces that matter.

Looking for something else?
We can create a bespoke trip or experience to suit any mood – educational or not. Just ask.

STEM Mexico class

Gain insider access to an ice age laboratory

For future scientists, palaeontologists, and archaeologists
Location: Riviera Maya, Mexico
Fast Facts: Age 14+ | November – April | Half day

Until only 11,700 thousand years ago, our now verdant planet experienced a 2.5-million-year period of dramatic cooling. This ice age – also known as the Pleistocene – was an era of gigantic glaciers, sprawling ice sheets, and massive mammals (the so-called megafauna). But it also saw the rise of humankind.

Exploring this chilly chapter in the world’s past are palaeontologists. These scientists study the fossils, samples and remnants of our prehistoric world. And on this ancient experience, you’ll get a personal, first-hand tour through an Ice Age ‘laboratory’, gaining a rare snapshot into the Pleistocene’s fascinating past and the methods we use to thaw it all out.

This class can be added to any Black Tomato experience in Mexico. We can also build your trip entirely around it.

Take this class
STEM Mexico class

Class Highlights

During this class, you’ll:

  • Access an Ice Age laboratory with a sub-aquatic palaeontologist as your guide, exploring the human and animal remains found in the area’s natural subway pools
  • Glimpse what society and culture were like in the early settlements of Central America
  • Explore how underwater archaeology can reveal 500 years of transatlantic navigation
  • Learn about the extinct megafauna (giant animals) of Mexico

Leave with a behind-the-scenes understanding of how palaeontologists study the earliest years of our planet through the traces that are left behind.

Looking for something else?
We can create a bespoke trip or experience to suit any mood – educational or not. Just ask.

STEM Gorillas class

A guided trek with the veterinarians who care for this critically endangered species

For future veterinarians, zoologists, and conservationists
Location: Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda
Fast Facts: Age 15+ | June – September | Half day

Between steamy, purple peaks and emerald ravines, the Gorilla Doctors – a group of veterinary specialists from around the world – care for their rare and deeply special charges. As custodians of the mountain gorillas of Rwanda, it’s their responsibility to maintain the health and wellbeing of this endangered community of 1,004 individuals. As well as treating them, they also maintain and protect their habitat. Poaching is a constant threat.

And on this incredibly special day, you’ll spend time with Dr Noel, one of the dedicated team who conduct this essential work. You’ll learn about the conservation and medical program, but you’ll also set off – together – to spot the animals who call these mountains and jungles home.

This class can be added to any Black Tomato experience in Rwanda. We can also build your trip entirely around it.

Take this class
STEM Gorillas class

Class Highlights

During this class, you’ll:

  • Learn about the area, the gorillas, and their habitat – as well as the many challenges that this community faces
  • Meet Dr Noel, your expert veterniary guide on this breath-taking expedition
  • Trek to spot some of these rare and astonishing gorillas, making your way through this primordial and mysterious landscape

Leave with an intimate understanding of the mountain gorilla and its habitat – as well as the work being done to ensure the species will not only survive, but thrive.

Looking for something else?
We can create a bespoke trip or experience to suit any mood – educational or not. Just ask.