On Tuesday 5 November, around 480 primary school pupils took part in the Spooky Science event hosted by the Institute of Systems, Molecular and Integrative Biology (ISMIB). The day consisted of four Halloween themed fun activities showing the children many different aspects of science and giving them a chance to have their own go.
Spooky Germs Attack
The children traced around their hands on a paper plate, and adding water and pepper to simulate the germs we pick up on our hands throughout the day. A drop of dish soap was then added and the germs ‘magically’ jumped away from it- showing the importance of handwashing. After this, the children made their own origami antibodies. Although challenging, the pupils engaged well and even decorated them to make them unique, just like their own antibodies.
Flies and Cauldrons
After a quick-fire Q & A session about using Drosophila (fruit flies) for research, the classes looked at live flies under a microscope. The kids had a fair amount of squeamishness around the flies and larvae, but gave it their best go nonetheless. They also learnt the flies’ life cycle and why they are used in research at the university. Pupils also learnt about British and Tropical pollinators, such as how Orchard Bees pollinate tropical orchards.
Potions Class
The children made their own magic potions. These contained things such as powdered ghost (baking soda), ogre snot (dish soap), red, green or blue unicorn tears from different regions (food colouring), witches’ warts or troll scabs (brown or red lentils) and Mersey river water (hopefully not). Mermaids’ tears (vinegar) were then added at the end to produce a fizzing potion and an Elephant’s toothpaste experiment was done by a demonstrator, much to the children’s delight.
Dare to Touch
Fruit flies were looked at under a microscope to look at the different parts of the flies and to teach the children how to use a microscope. Many children were creeped out by this and needed reassurance they were definitely dead! The pupils then looked at insects found in different parts of the world, such as the Sahara Desert.
Feedback
In all, the children had a wonderful day exploring the weird and wonderful sides to science and left having gained interactive experience at the university- hopefully inspiring many to become future scientists themselves!
Email received by Kensington Primary School after the event:
"Thanks so much for yesterday. All the pupils and teachers have told me how great it was and how much they all enjoyed it."
Email received by Kingsley Primary School after the event:
"FANTASTIC! I know during the first day when I was present, the science activities were amazing. The potions class was a hit - of course - and the day just continued on a high on from there. My class in particular LOVED looking through the microscopes. They were fascinated.
If I may just give you some background context, I have 'that' class. The class that are difficult to blend personalities, difficult to focus and keep attentions let alone generate some natural curiosity. Yet yesterday, being with them children during their carousel of activities allowed me to watch them and observe their utter enjoyment. During the whole day and even today, they were buzzing with everything they had done and what was more surprising, some of my quieter children have really found something that's sparked an interest within them.
I am so thrilled with how the day was run, how flexible and adaptive everyone was and it was great to have so many current students (and teachers) present and interacting with the students. So thank you."
