Education and Outreach events

The UK Polar Network has been very active in education and outreach activities this year. Details of a few events I've been involved in are below

Workshops

Following on from the success of the atmospheric sciences workshop held at BAS at the end of April, which bought together 35 early career researchers from around the world, two more workshops are now being planned. A two day workshop in Plymouth in October will focus on the Arctic Ocean; an educational outbreak session will be offered to participants. Young scientists with experience of giving talks in schools will show those wanting to go out into classrooms typical presentations and offer advice. Teachers will talk about what level talks should be pitched at and discuss how talks on our research can complement the science syllabus.

A similar event will also be on offer at the Cryosphere workshop to be held in Sheffield in November, which will be run by Tamsin Gray. Tamsin is the new Education Co-ordinator of UKPN and has bought many new ideas and much enthusiasm to the team.

We will also have guest speakers at the educational sessions from institutions such as the Natural History Museum. We hope to develop new ideas and fun experiments to take into schools in the UK.

I've also been involved in educational events through the University of East Anglia. I helped out at the Science Olympiad, details of which are below, and gave a talk at the 'Kids Go Wild' event at the Forum in Norwich. I was also a member of a panel of scientists in an 'ask a scientist' question and answer session at the Inspire Discovery Centre in Norwich, where school children could find out what it's like to be a real scientist!

The Olympiad

The Olympiad, held at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, saw more than 600 youngsters from Norfolk and Suffolk will pit their intellect against each other.

The event saw teams of primary and secondary school children compete in quizzes, practical tasks, games and matches to win medals and trophies.

Space-age scientific activities and demonstration lectures took place to celebrate 2009, the International Year of Astronomy. Astronomers Aton Vamplew and Cambridge University’s Dr Robin Catchpole presented lectures taking youngsters on a tour from the solar system to the edge of the universe seeing how stars are born, what happens when galaxies collide, and how the fate of the universe is controlled by something mysterious called ‘vacuum energy’.

Kids go Wild at the Forum

A talk on wildlife in the polar regions will be one of the events at the Kids Go Wild! event at The Forum in Norwich. Helen Atkinson, from the British Antarctic Survey and the University of East Anglia will tell us what it's like to be scientist working in harsh polar conditions, studying the plants and animals found there.

http://www.theforumnorwich.co.uk/events/kids-go-wild.htm

The Forum hosts a fun packed family festival celebrating the world's wonderful wildlife. Get monstrous with our menagerie of wild animals, laughing and learning along the way! There'll be exhibitions, workshops, performances, films and activities everyday.