British Science Week 2022
British Science Week is a celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths across the UK and offers students an opportunity to engage in scientific thinking, challenge stereotypes and learn something new about the world around them. This year the week was preceded by the #Smashing Stereotypes initiative which gave a profile to minority groups who have historically been underrepresented in scientific fields. The Leighton Park Collects which have supported both #Smashing Stereotypes and British Science Week have provided a time to reflect as a community on the variety of related activities taking place across the school. A visit from Claire Wise at the start of the week, presenting on Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) was inspirational.
Dissection has been a key theme with Year 7s tackling eyeballs as part of their study of Opthalmology and Lower Sixth cutting into somewhat smellier fish, taking their understanding of Biology to a new level. Years 7 and 8 are entering the ‘Step into the NHS competition’, producing a poster on a particular job out of the 350 on offer in the NHS and Year 8s have considered the work of Orthopedic Surgeons in relation to their Opthalmology topic.
The DT workshop has been a hive of activity with exam year students keen to achieve design perfection and Year 10s moulding 2D nets into 3D device holders using a variety of models and materials. In Maths the UK Maths Trust Maths Challenge and Maths Olympiad was faced by a number of our qualifying students in Year 9 and above whilst the Young Mathematical Story Author (YMSA) competition run by Maths Through Stories has been great fun for the creativity of Years 7, 8 and 9. A visit from sustainable energy guru, Michael Liebreich, continued to grow our students’ understanding of the issues discussed at COP26 and the group have progressed their video production and documentary planning evidencing the school’s involvement with the Glasgow Climate Change Conference earlier in the year. The Senior Eco Group shared the benefits of a flexitarian diet with the community achieving memorable messaging with their human size fruit costumes!
Year 9s have launched rockets in Physics, tested astronaut food in Chemistry and explored the role of microbes in our food in Biology. They are entering the annual MiCAS competition; a poster competition about microbes in food. They have also spent time working on the Monds Underground Competition; Space Settlement Conundrum: Who would you choose for a 200-person space mission to settle on another planet and establish a colony. Continuing the space theme, and extending Science Week for a little longer, Years 7 to 10 will get to experience a mobile planetarium next Friday in Peckover Hall!
The Year 9 CAS groups have looked at bath bomb production and the effect of chemicals on hair, exploring the science of food making honeycomb and pizzas and the Year 10s extracted gas in Chemistry. Year 11s, Lower Sixth and Upper Sixth attended a pain management research conference, ‘Flippin’ Pain’ at a local school with researchers from the Royal Berkshire Hospital and Teeside University. They discovered both new trends in the understanding of pain and also some of the different career paths that are open to those taking science subjects in the Sixth Form.
Reflecting on British Science Week 2022, STEAM Co-Ordinator, Mark Budge, commented, “Following all the challenges the students have faced with Covid over the last few years, it has been wonderful to be able to do something as a whole community. Getting students to think about Smashing Stereotypes and Being in Action, pursuing their passion for STEAM is really important. The range of activities offered has been tremendous and there is still the Mobile Planetarium on Friday 25th March to be visited by all in Years 7-10. Thank you also to all the staff involved at what is always a busy time of year.”
David Hammond, Head of Science, commented, “I think British Science Week is important for Leighton Park because the reality of how Science affects our everyday lives and future becomes even more apparent.”
