British Science Week: Ayrshire College

We were very lucky to have two lecturers (Derek and Shona) from Ayrshire college today and deliver an excellent and informative workshop to our class. They set up a crime scene (The Case of the Missing Sweets)  and explained different aspects of evidence. The pupils worked round different stations to analyse evidence samples, carrying out a range of tests. This helped the pupils to identify the prime suspect who turned out to be Mr Houston. Different stations included, chromatography (testing the ink from the ransom note), fingerprints (identifying different types of finger print and determining which suspect’s print matched the crime scene print), FITR (Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy) to analyse the sticky sweet residue and pH sampling (saliva sample). Finally, Shona demonstrated a flame test using different soil samples which the pupils loved as each sample gave off a different coloured flame due to containing different chemicals (based on where they have come from).

The workshop was so engaging and the pupils all had great fun whilst learning lots of new skills. Derek and Shona commented on how they enjoyed visiting the school and seeing the excitement among the pupils.