British Science Week is a ten-day 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 fingerprint analysis to a guest lecture about exoplanets and coding challenges. Throughout the week, Year 7 have been making posters to submit to the British Science Association as entries to their national competition. 

Let's take a closer look at what pupils have been up to each day of British Science Week...

 

Monday

On Monday, the STEM Response Team from the University of Wolverhampton visited MSJ and ran a series of fascinating CSI Workshops for pupils in Years 7 to 10. Girls had a go at fingerprint analysis, stature estimation, microscopic hair analysis and gender estimation.

In the afternoon, Years 7 to 9 were invited to watch Back to the Future, a film exploring the possibilities of time travel and how this can alter the course of the future. And of course, no movie afternoon is complete without popcorn!

 

Tuesday

Tuesday was International Maths Day, which was the topic of the morning's assembly presented by Year 12 Maths Ambassadors who led the whole School through a series of fun, interactive challenges.

Several workshops also took place on Tuesday in the Biology and Chemistry labs. In Biology, pupils in Years 10 to 13 were invited to take part in a Rat Dissection Workshop, whilst in Chemistry, our younger pupils made ‘Rainbow Fizz and Slime’ – both activities proved to be very popular. 

On Tuesday evening, pupils in Year 7 to 13 were invited to attend a talk on exoplanets and astronomy with guest speaker George Dransfield. This was an opportunity to hear from a remarkable woman who studies and researches exoplanets, travelling around the world and spending time in Antarctica while also appearing on the BBC’s The Sky at Night. 

Year 10 and 11 Scholars were treated to supper with George, we discussed finding new planets and where in the world that can take you. 

 

Wednesday

On Wednesday, Year 8 pupils took part in the Raspberry Pi Mission Zero Challenge in their Computer Science lesson and used coding to send a message to the International Space Station. Watch this space!

Wednesday also proved to be another day of exciting workshops and competitions; Pupils learnt how to build a glider in the Physics lab, and all the Ships came together for the Constructors Challenge, where pupils competed in Ships to build the strongest bridge. Congratulations to Vanguard who were declared the winners of this fierce competition! 

 

Thursday

Thursday was all about creating connections between Science, Art and History. Year 9 pupils were challenged to investigate and experiment with a variety of materials to create a 2D or 3D piece of artwork inspired by the centenary of the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb.

 

In the evening, Professor Gregor Leckebusch, a Professor of Meteorology and Climate at the University of Birmingham gave a guest lecture: Predicting the Risk Posed by Tropical and Extra-Tropical Cyclones. This talk discussed the latest technology being used to predict and model tropical cyclones as they present a very real threat to society around the globe – it was a very worthwhile session for pupils interested in Geography and Physics.

 

Friday

We had a non-uniform day on Friday to mark Comic Relief, and of course, pupils were encouraged to embrace British Science Week for one last day and wear some fancy dress. Years 7-8 were encouraged to dress up as an animal, plant or insect, for Years 9 and 10 the theme was "Science of the future", and Years 11 to 13 perhaps had the most difficult challenge: to dress as a chemical, molecule, atom, element or sub-atomic particle! 

We think Year 13 more than rose to this challenge...

To find out more about STEAM at MSJ, please contact admissions@malvernstjames.co.uk or visit our STEAM page by clicking here.