Oxford on the road

In March, schools in Oxfordshire buzzed with lectures and workshops during the inaugural Oxford University Science Roadshow. Visiting a range of schools throughout the local community, University speakers covered diverse topics such as the all-pervading importance of symmetry, astronomy’s major questions and the thorny issue of climate change. This big concept approach showed the pupils how fascinating and rewarding the subject of science can be.

At Marlborough School in Woodstock, Dr David Pyle, Lecturer in Earth Sciences, discussed volcanoes and how they link the hot deep earth with its surface and atmosphere. Didcot Girls’ School welcomed Marcus du Sautoy, Professor of Mathematics, who boggled everyone’s mind talking about the largest snowflake in the world. Cherwell School in Oxford heard about the nature of energy from Peter Atkins, Professor of Chemistry. The astro-physicists Dr Chris Lintott and Dr Kate Land visited Henry Box School in Witney, while climate expert Dr Myles Allen absorbed audiences on a stormy Friday night in King Alfred’s School, Wantage.

Organised by Dr Zareen Ahmed-Stewart, Access Officer for the Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences Division, and Wendy Fuggles of the Public Affairs Directorate, the science roadshow was part of the University’s National Science, Technology and Engineering Week activities. ‘We set up the roadshow to help counter the national drop in applications for science A-levels’, Dr Ahmed-Stewart said. ‘Many don’t see science as relevant to their lives, so we set out to change their minds.’ Another reason was to show the youngsters their potential and the doors that could open in later life if they study science.

The roadshow follows on from a science-writing competition that the University ran for 11 years. ‘The University supports lots of activities in-house’, Dr Ahmed-Stewart said. ‘We wanted to reach more kids in a different way, enthusing them about science in a practical fashion. The roadshow seemed the logical next step. It also gave the scientists involved a chance to engage with the community and clearly communicate what they are doing, without dumbing down.’

Dr Ahmed-Stewart was amazed at the level of understanding that the children exhibited: ‘They were managing to get to grips with complicated formulae and able to understand quite complex scientific concepts.’ In the astronomy workshops, for example, the children were given print-outs of distant galaxies and told to work out how far away they were. Dr Chris Lintott, who ran that session, was very happy with the day’s results. ‘It was particularly good to expose them to some real data taken by one of the world’s largest robotic telescopes’, he enthused. ‘By the end of the session, between them, they’d calculated the age of the Universe – not bad for a morning’s work.’ The workshops were not all about mathematics, however. At Marlborough School in Woodstock, the children were given microscopic fossils in Folkestone clay and asked to follow a methodology to find and identify them.

Over the five days, 175 pupils attended the workshops, while around 450 people attended the various lectures. So did the roadshow confound expectations that science is boring? Well yes, particularly for one young girl who, after seeing drops of liquid nitrogen race across the floor, declared: ‘I never realised chemistry could be such fun!’ It was a particularly entertaining workshop, as chemist Matthew Lodge was also freezing flowers in liquid CO2 and making ‘tadpole’ polymers.

Lynn Nickerson, who is science coordinator at Didcot Girls’ School, was especially pleased at how Professor du Sautoy’s talk showed the interconnection between science and mathematics, as well as raising the profile of science within the school and local community. Pupils came with their parents, and children from nearby schools also attended. ‘Compared to things we’ve done before within school time, it made it seem much more special, rather than just a tacked-on science class.’ Didcot Girls’ School is a specialist language centre, so what particularly pleased Lynn Nickerson was that Professor du Sautoy’s talk made people realise that mathematics is like another language. Meanwhile, longer term, she has seen a small increase in the number of children who attend the science club, and she would like to see the roadshow back next year.

That sentiment is echoed by Dr Whannel, who teaches science at The Henry Box School in Witney. His students loved the astronomy workshop, organised by Dr Land. ‘They felt it gave a unique insight into the world of science and challenged and stretched their scientific thinking’, he said. The talk also went down well. ‘The speakers made the audience feel very intelligent, as they felt able to understand very complex phenomena – it was very well pitched.’ It also impacted positively on the pupils’ view of the University. Dr Whannel said: ‘They don’t see it just as an aloof institution, but as a place that cares about the community and sharing and broadening its knowledge.’ The broadening of knowledge went both ways. ‘Seeing the children really enjoy the workshop and get a buzz from what they were doing made all the preparation worthwhile’, said Dr Land. ‘It was also a useful experience for me to think about how best to communicate complex ideas, and put some of my research into perspective.’

Meanwhile, Professor Atkins, who talked about the nature of energy at Cherwell School, enjoyed the chance to reach out to a different audience. ‘The talk might provide the seed from which a career in science will stem, and, if not a career, then an appreciation of the glorious power of science in helping us to understand the workings of the world’, he commented.

The University plans to take the project to Banbury and Henley for National Science Technology and Engineering week next year. Its long-term plan is to run the roadshow year round to expand it beyond Oxfordshire