Pupils “Explode with Excitement” During British Science Week
In a week during which ironically we sadly lost one of the UK’s most celebrated modern Scientists, pupils from across the School have been celebrating all aspects of Science and Technology during British Science Week.
Senior School pupils sampled a fascinating insight into BT’s Adastral Park, visiting the innovation showcase during the first half of the morning, followed by hands-on workshops during the second half. The innovation showcase proved fascinating for pupils, giving insights into themed environments of the future such as the shop of the future, with interactive mannequins and displays designed to tailor adverts according to the viewer’s social media preferences, and the bank of the future, complete with ATMs which use vein recognition systems far more accurate than the currently used fingerprint biometrics. The good news is that thanks to technology, our lives will be much simpler, with parking space finder apps and drone Domino’s Pizza delivery to look forward to!
The hands-on workshops offered pupils the chance to code robots to undertake specific tasks, such as moving objects or exiting tricky environments. Pupils were also able to use virtual reality to experience life out at sea and practise CPR and using a defibrillator.
“I really enjoyed going round the visitor centre, finding out about the technology that we might use in the future.” Josh Bell
“One of the best parts of the BT science week event was the vast number of stalls to go to, each of which had something interesting to do with science or technology.” Livia Grey
“It was really inspiring to see how people are creating new technology to help us overcome current barriers in the future.” Medomfo Owusu
Pupils have also enjoyed a fantastic space themed session with Paul Hill of Sirius Astronomy, an elected fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society. Paul taught pupils about the history of space and what is involved with becoming an astronaut! They enjoyed a chance to try on a replica of the Sokol Pressure Suit as worn by Tim Peake during his Principia Mission. This workshop covered aspects of human biology, the physics of pressure and the engineering and design of space suits, as well as a look at the history of human space flight. They took part in several hands on experiments and some lucky students were able to take a Space Suit selfie!
The Rocket and Spacecraft workshops held by Paul allowed pupils the opportunity to build their own spacecraft and recovery systems as they learned about how rockets actually work. Explosions and rockets, what a fantastic way to round off British Science Week!
