British Science Week is an annual celebration of science, technology, engineering, and maths, coordinated by the British Science Association.

This week at MSJ pupils have been invited to attend daily activities exploring different topics, from DNA Extraction Workshops, movie afternoons complete with popcorn, guest lecturers, and coding challenges. Let’s take a look at what they’ve been up to…

 

Monday

On Monday pupils were invited to a DNA Extraction Workshop, which involved extracting DNA from a kiwi and learning more about the structure of DNA. 

In the afternoon, Years 7 to 10 were invited to watch Hidden Figures, the untold story of Katherine G. Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson – brilliant African-American women working at NASA and serving as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in history – the launch of astronaut John Glenn into orbit.

 

Tuesday

Tuesday’s workshop took place in the Chemistry lab, where pupils were invited to make ‘Rainbow Fizz’ – an activity which proved to be very popular. 

On Tuesday evening, Sixth Formers and parents were invited to a fascinating lecture with guest speaker Professor Andrew Newsam, Professor of Astronomy Education and Engagement at Liverpool John Moores University and Director of the National Schools Observatory. This session explored how robotic technology has allowed astronomers to build high-tech telescopes to explore the universe.

 

Wednesday

On Wednesday we hosted the annual Junior Schools’ Science and Technology Morning, which 88 students from local primary schools attended to participate in different workshops and activities. It was a fantastic morning which included activities such as a heart dissection, constructing our own telescopes, and sublimation printing. 

A huge thank you to Colwall Primary School, Eastnor Primary School, Malvern Parish Primary School and The River School for attending, and to our Sixth Formers who did an excellent job assisting with the experiments and guiding our visitors between workshops.

 

Thursday

Two more exciting workshops followed on Thursday; a construction challenge to see who could build the tallest tower or the strongest bridge, and the Raspberry Pi Mission Zero Challenge. 

 

Friday

We had a non-uniform day on Friday to mark Comic Relief, but as it was also British Science Week, we decided to continue this theme with our outfits. Years 7-9 were encouraged to dress up as an animal or interesting creature, Years 10 and 11 a crazy scientist, and Years 12 and 13 perhaps had the most difficult challenge: to dress as a chemical, molecule, atom, element or sub-atomic particle! 

Finally, to end the week, the Ships Big Science Quiz was hosted in the library. Congratulations to Triumph, the winning Ship!