Science Fair Success!
On Thursday 19th October, groups from across Nottingham that we've been working with on our RCUK funded project came together for the Nottingham Science Fair. Representatives from Hempshill Hall primary, Lab_13 Rosehill and Lab_13 Nethergate took over Loxley House to share the experiments and investigations they've been undertaking.
The Lab_13s had been working with their Scientist in Residence Betti Copperwood, exploring lava lamps, the varying weights of different gases and reactions which produce carbon dioxide. Hempshill Hall had been working with researchers from the University of Nottingham to learn about slime as an introduction to viscosity and 'non-Newtonian fluids', as well as discovering which fizzy drinks react most violently with menthos!
Groups from the Forest Fields, Edwards Lane and Radford Youth and Play groups drew posters about what they'd been investigating; how plants and animals look different under microscopes, what chemicals work clean copper coins best and how optical illusions work. Work with the Greenway Centre in Sneinton was on show, with explorations about chromatography and kaleidocyles for other young people to see and make their own.
Physicist Chris Staddon wowed the children as well as their parents, families and friends with demonstrations about light and fibre optics and Sue Mallender from Wollaton Hall was on hand with fossils and robotic profiling!
It was great to see the children from different groups mixing around the room, trying each others' experiments, explaining to their parents and their peers how they worked and what principles they illustrated and generally getting excited about science.
A real highlight was when adults were invited to grab a piece of the science busking kit and ask a child in the room how it worked - the children were keen to explain how the confuserphones, the slinkies, the soft hands all worked.
We're looking forward to continuing the work we've started, especially in our new partnerships with the Youth & Play teams and the Greenway Centre, and looking towards their involvement in Festival of Science and Curiosity in February.