On Wednesday, 9th February Year 10 Science separates went to the Opera House in Manchester to attend GCSE Science Live! - a nationwide tour giving students the chance to see and hear five of Britain’s top scientists live on stage who are all working at the cutting edge of their specialisms.
Our students watched physicist Prof Jim Al-Khalili, Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock, Prof Andrea Sella, Prof Robert Winston and Prof Alice Roberts. Dr Aderin-Pocock spoke about space travel and how the new James Webb space telescope was launched; Prof Al-Khalili focused on reality (or lack of it) of time travel; Prof Alice Roberts explained the latest research on archaeological biology; Prof Robert Winston talked about reproduction and how an egg travels through the fallopian tubes to get to the uterus; finally students listened to Professor Andreas Sella who demonstrated how amazing water is and how its chemical properties make it so unique. They also gained top tips from a chief examiner and were given a programme of events that had past questions on it and examiners tips.
GCSE Science Live! features scientists that are carefully chosen for their ability to communicate with students of this age in a direct and exciting way, helping them improve their Science GCSE results with top tips on examination success from an experienced science examiner. The show demonstrates how science really does offer solutions for many of the world’s great problems, while increasing the chances of GCSE pupils considering science subjects at AS and A2 level.
The day was fast-moving, exciting, thought-provoking and gave our budding scientists of tomorrow the chance to raise issues with the scientists - it was a very inspirational day!