Science Fortnight

March 2nd, 2009

Science fortnight began with a Year 9 ‘Human Circuit’ that enabled an electronic chick to produce a chirping sound. 55 Year 9 pupils as they linked their baby fingers together a current flowed through and turned on the huggable chick! A visiting scientist from the National Physics Laboratory (NPL, Teddington) guided the pupils through this group activity and they went on to create their own electric motors. The best electric motors and discussion answers received NPL brains to take home (brain-shaped squishy balls) with them.

The Year 10 pupils received a talk from another NPL scientist on her research in Nanotechnology. The girls discovered how self-cleaning car window screens operate, the technology behind high tech swim suits based on shark skin and how anti-wrinkle cream works (or doesn’t work).

The pupils also visited the Darwin exhibition in the Natural History Museum. They learnt how Darwin’s trip on the HMS Beagle was pivotal to his theories on evolution. They also learnt that collecting a huge amount of samples of various species provided him with the evidence for his ideas.

Year 7 pupils visited the Science Museum, visiting the ‘Challenging materials’ and ‘How the modern world was built’ exhibitions. They also participated in an interactive physics workshop called “The Launch Pad”. They discovered how thermal imaging works; how ice-skaters can spin faster; how pulley systems work in machinery and they also built their own bridges. These are just a few examples of the activities they were involved in. To finish off their visit they watched a 3D nature programme in the IMAX cinema all about the creepy crawly world of bugs.

Year 8 also visited the Natural History Museum. The pupils saw how raw materials are recycled and they gained an appreciation for the need to follow a greener lifestyle to help preserve our precious planet. They visited the “Human Ancestors” and “Dinosaur” exhibits where they focused on evolutionary links. They participated in the “Investigate” workshop where they examined fossilised specimens using museum tools and following expert advice from the museum scientists. Overall it was a packed fortnight of scientific enquiry, discussion, investigation and discovery.

Mrs M Hegarty
Head of Science