Science Bazaar at Oxford Brookes University
As part of Headington School’s Year of Community, the Science Ambassador team spent several months researching, planning and practising three interactive workshops for Brooke’s University Science Bazaar 2020.
On Saturday 29th March the big day finally arrived. Aimed at local families with children aged 4-12 years, the free event drew in more than 2000 people creating a fantastic buzz across Brooke’s main campus.
Technical set-up on the day started for the students at 8.30 am involving transportation of equipment, AV/IT and Health & Safety checks. Once installed at the venue the L6 quickly arranged their areas to create the right environment for the high volume of keen young visitors.
Early on it was clear that all three student-led workshops were going to be popular, with visitors queuing to get into each activity. In the large atrium Spinema had taken over, offering dozens of families the chance to make animated images using DIY Zoetropes. By mid-afternoon the pupils’ carefully-prepared resources were consumed, leaving no fewer than 300 happy amateur movie makers with colourful discs to take home. The Making Yourself Heard workshop was also a hit with the chance to communicate via string and cup telephones, soak your neighbours with tuning fork water ripples or compete to create the best standing waves. For parents who’d had enough child care and passive looking-on, many got stuck into the physical exercises on offer in Healthy Body where pulse rates, oxygen levels and heart rhythms all competed for a peak performance.
The chance to contribute within the School’s local community has been grasped thoroughly by our L6 students and the experiences gained by the Science Ambassadors entertaining, teaching and listening to the general public will not be forgotten quickly.
Coco said: “This experience is absolutely a highlight of my life and I am really proud of being a science ambassador and taking up the responsibility of representing our school.”
Sherri added: “I was immensely impressed by the children’s passion for science as they were enthusiastic and some of them even created their combination of workouts.”
Chelsea said: “It was such an interesting and new experience for me as I seldom have the chance to communicate with children at about the age of 5-12. They enjoyed the fantastic experiments and had passion on how and why things happen as they do, reminding me how science sparked my own interest.”
And Natalie added: “It was such an unforgettable yet exhausting experience. Although my teammates and I found the six hours of interacting with an enormous amount of children tough, seeing their joys of learning science has made the day worth it.”
