The appliance of science took centre stage when families flocked to a weekend festival at the Scottish Maritime Museum's Denny Tank in Dumbarton.

The Powering Up Science Festival gave visitors the opportunity to investigate wind turbines, construct a lego dam, use cycle power to move water, build and test historic designs of waterwheels, build robots and construct and race heat engine boats.

Part of a national science initiative, Powering Up has been created and executed by National Museums Scotland thanks to funding from the ScottishPower Foundation to inspire more young people in Scotland to consider a future career in the science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) industries.

This second festival followed the success of last year's inaugural event and the weekend included free guided tours of the 150-year-old historic site.

Clare Meakin, science engagement manager at National Museums Scotland, said: “We are delighted by the great turn out to the second Powering Up Science Festival at

Scottish Maritime Museum’s Denny Tank.

"Thanks to the generous funding from the ScottishPower Foundation, we have been able to partner with science centres and heritage organisations across Scotland to engage even more pupils and families with STEM activities.

"I hope that visitors came away from the festival with a greater understanding of the impact of STEM on our daily lives and feel inspired to discover more.”

Jamie Menzies, learning and access officer at the Scottish Maritime Museum, said the festival, which complements the museum's increasingly popular education programme, was also a great way of showcasing all there is to see and do at the museum throughout the year, including their new engage, engineer and experiment gallery.