Cheltenham Science Festival
Scientists engaged with festival attendees by hosting a range of fun STEM activities.
Alexandra Hunt, Research Assistant from the Department of Health Data Science in the Institute of Population Science, attended the prestigious Cheltenham Science Festival, thanks to funding from a Public Engagement Grant from the University of Liverpool.
This year we attended the 2024 ‘Cheltenham Science Festival’ for four days from 6-9 June, to host a range of activities in the ‘Discovery zone’.
The Cheltenham Science Festival hosts a week-long festival offering a wide range of different STEM activities, talks, and sessions for all ages. In particular, the festival dedicates one area, the ‘Discovery Zone’, to external organisations to host STEM based activities for children and their parents/guardians.
We applied to host a stall for four days in the Discovery Zone and to present four different activities that related to statistics. One staff member, two PhD students and three master's students from the Department of Health Data Science attended the festival.
Our activities covered different aspects of statistics, including “How random are you?”, “How many penguins?”, “Can you beat Usain Bolt?”, and “The great balloon trial”. The idea was to present mathematical-based statistical questions to children through games, making it fun and relating it to the real world.
How random are you?
This activity introduces people to the concept of randomness. People often believe they can be random. However, activities like this demonstrate a failure for many people to be random.
How many penguins?
This activity introduces people to the concepts of populations and samples. Using information obtained from a sample of “local” penguins, by estimating how much poo a penguin produces and the surface area, we infer how many penguins live in a colony in Antarctica.
Can you beat Usain Bolt?
This activity introduces people to the concepts of reaction time and plotting data. Using a simple experiment with a ruler we calculate reaction times and compare them to the fastest man in the World – Usain Bolt.
The great balloon trial
This activity introduces people to the concept of clinical trials. Via an experiment with balloons, people get the opportunity to participate in a mock clinical trial and consider what it might be like to be involved in a real trial of a new medicine.
It was extremely exciting to see reactions and responses from the children and parents/guardians to our newest activity; the great balloon trial. Engagement with this exceeded our expectations and children interacted very well with the idea of randomising individuals to treatment and placebos in clinical trials.
Top tips!
Be organised! "Organising the event, staff accommodation, planning out each day and the timings of activities is a big task but extremely rewarding."
On the day things might go according to plan but they may also not (!) and being prepared that things will not go according to plan is also a great skill. Thinking on your feet and accepting that activity may not be working with a particular audience or that you've actually explained something a little wrong is totally okay. Just taking the time to think and explain to the audience or fellow staff members is vital.
Everyone is human at the end of the day! But definitely enjoy it! Read more about the day in our Public Engagement blog.