As part of a British Science Week, P4-7 participated in an online chat group with 12 UK scientists today. This event is organised through funding from the Sustaining Excellence Award from Wellcome the UK’s largest charity.
The boys and girls interacted with the scientists, asking them a range of topical science questions on their field of expertise. The pool of scientists present in the session was varied, representing a balance of genders, a broad spectrum of ethnic groups and specialist fields. The children had an opportunity to explore the diversity of the world of work in this STEM sector.
We learned interesting facts about a wide range of subjects such as finding out about the ‘zombie fungus’ that takes over insects bodies and compels them to climb higher to 25 cm to more efficiently spread its spores at the right temperature and humidity.
The children asked questions about research into a vaccine for Covid-19. They were reassured to find out that there are many hundreds of scientists working on this right now. Also, the science team said that we can greatly reduce risk by simply using tissues to sneeze and cough, washing our hands and avoiding touching our faces.
It was a very interesting session, which follows on from our I’m a mathematician online chat at the beginning of the year.
# Successful Learners
