On Friday, 6th December, the majority of Year 10 visited the Apollo Theatre in London to listen to five renowned scientists deliver talks about different aspects of their work. Upon arrival, we were amazed to see the huge theatre and the large number of schools attending the prestigious Science Live event, which added to the anticipation.
During the course of the day, Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock, a presenter of the BBC’s The Sky at Night, spoke to us about her love of the moon, explained why it is essential for human life and outlined how its atmosphere differs from our planet.
Next, we heard a biologist, Professor Steve Jones, talk about how DNA is the cause of many diseases in our lives. He also illustrated how Siamese cats can change colour depending on the temperature. In contrast, Professor Lord Robert Winston focused on fertility, showing us live footage of an egg travelling from the ovary, through the fallopian tube and into the uterus.
We then listened to Professor Andrea Sella deliver an interesting talk about the nature of ice and its fascinating properties. He encouraged us all to think about climate change and warned us to be careful when looking at newspaper headlines citing statistics, as they can often be misleading.
However, my favourite talk was delivered by Professor Jim Al-Khalili, who explained that time travel into the future is much easier than into the past as all you have to do is travel close to the speed of light! He also outlined Einstein’s Theory of Relativity and how wormholes are shortcuts between two points in curved space.
Finally, we looked at different types of exam questions and how to respond to specific command words in a question. This was incredibly useful as model answers were demonstrated with examples. Overall, I found the day to be educational and thought-provoking as it inspired me to take an interest in areas of science we have not specifically looked at within the curriculum. Thank you to Mr Taruwona for organising the event.
Sophia, Year 10