Welcome


So, here I am, a 'Wandering Scientist'!
This wasn't really part of the plan if I'm honest.... When I was at school, and people asked what I wanted to do with my life, this would not have been the first thing on my list...... That said, neither would it have been the last thing on my list. At the time, I was not aware that there would be possibilities in the future to work in such a flexible way without having a "proper" job.
The purpose of this blog is to act as a vent for my frequent ramblings, to document the successes (and inevitable failures) of my progress starting out on this Freelancing adventure, and possibly to offer some insight to others who may be considering a similar non-conformist career path.

Monday 9 December 2013

Christmas Science Quiz

This fun Christmas-themed Science Quiz makes a great end of term activity, but is also good for a bit of fun to test your own knowledge... Answers are provided at the bottom of the post... No cheating!!

The End of Term is Nigh!

As the end of another year draws near children across the country will be expecting to do less and less work, and have more and more fun, while at school. Several years ago, in an effort to appease my students with a fun activity but without resorting to doing something totally non-educational, I produced the following Christmas Science Quiz.

Questions 1 to 15 are based on topics covered in Year 7 (B1, C1, P1) so offer a good re-cap of the basics for Secondary school students, and may also be suitable for Key Stage 2 Primary school pupils.

Questions 16 to 19 are aimed at GCSE students, and are based on the content of OCR 21st Century Science units B1, C1, P1.

Question 20 is just there for fun!

Feel free to use these questions as you like, and share with others, however it would be lovely if you could acknowledge me as the source! 


Christmas Science Quiz Questions

1.   Which of Santa’s reindeer is named after an object in space? 
2.   One of Santa’s reindeer is called Vixen. What animal is a vixen the female of? 
3.   Which metal with the symbol Au did one of the wise men give? 
4.   Some people put a star on the top of their Christmas tree. Put these objects into size order (Big – small): Comet, Galaxy, Star. 
5.   Why is Santa’s sleigh environmentally friendly? 
6.   One of the properties of metals is that they are sonorous. Which sonorous metal objects often appear on Christmas cards? 
7.   Why would you never see penguins and polar bears together in the wild? 
8.   Baby reindeer drink milk from their mothers. Which group of animals do reindeer belong to? 
9.   The three wise men had to cross a desert. Which of these animals would they have been most likely to see: Cow, Elephant, Camel? 
10. Santa’s fed up with drinking sherry, and fancies a glass of water. He tests his water with litmus paper and it turns red. Why can’t Santa drink this water? 
11. Santa’s elves often have to muck out the reindeer stables because of all the reindeer poo. Which life process does this show? 
12. Which group of plants do Christmas trees (Scots pines) belong to? 
13. What item of clothing does Santa wear that stops 50% of the heat loss from his body? 
14. Santa drinks a lot of sherry. Which organ of his body might be damaged by this? 
15. Baubles that are put on Christmas trees are shiny. What do they do to the light? 

16. The gene for having a shiny nose is dominant, and Rudolph is double dominant (homozygous). What percentage of Rudolph’s offspring would have shiny noses? 
17. Santa has to cross the Atlantic to deliver presents to the children in America. Why does his journey get slightly longer each year? 
18. Reindeer have 48 chromosomes. How many chromosomes would there be in a reindeer sperm cell? 
19. Santa lives at the North pole. What effect will global warming have on the amount of space that his reindeer have to exercise in? 

20. A bear walks 1 mile South, 1 mile East, then 1 mile North, and ends up exactly where it started. What colour is the bear? 

Christmas Science Quiz Answers



No cheating...



Answers below...



1. Comet
2. Fox
3. Gold
4. Galaxy - Star - Comet
5. Doesn’t use fossil fuels / no pollution 
6. Bells
7. They live on different poles
8. Mammal
9. Camel
10. It’s acidic
11. Excretion
12. Conifers
13. Hat
14. Liver
15. Reflect

16. 100%
17. Continental drift
18. 24
19. Reduced / Less space

20. White (must be a polar bear staring out at the N pole!)


If you have any feedback about this quiz, or would just like to post your own personal scores, please leave comments below, or on the Dr D's facebook page - Thank you!

Have a very merry and science-y Christmas!!


Sunday 10 March 2013

People Power – Spreading the Word!


Spreading the Word

It’s difficult to build up a business profile when you’re first starting out.

You may have a great product or service, but if nobody knows that it’s out there, then nobody is going to place an order.

You may be the most energetic and enthusiastic person, with fantastic ideas, and a new business model, but it is unlikely that anyone is going to stumble across your business by chance.

It’s vital to spread the word, but advertising costs money, which can be an issue if you haven’t had time to build up your customer base – It’s a chicken and egg situation…

Networking

Since I began “Dr D’s” in February 2011 (a shocking 2 years ago!.. Doesn’t time fly?) I have called on the help and good will of friends, and some of those connections have led on to other things. I have been so pleased that people are willing to support me, and point me in the direction of things that might offer interesting opportunities, or introduce me to people who may be interested in my services.

These networks of personal connections, stemming from some of the fabulously supportive people that I know, have led to some really interesting bookings and work opportunities. Not least of these was my route into working with the BBC, which has established yet more friendships and professional connections, which I hope will branch out further in the future.

It really is empowering to know that there are people out there who feel that what I have to offer is worth talking about with their friends and work contacts, but I didn’t want to be a burden to those important people in my life by continually nagging them.

Facebook Friends and Social Networking

I didn’t want to become one of those ‘friends’ who is always on the ask, always wanting something for their own benefit, so I had made it a policy not to fill peoples’ timelines on Facebook with constant requests for support.

This weekend I decided to take the the drastic step of breaking with that policy, and sending out invites for my personal friends to ‘like’ my business page for “Dr D’s”.

I have seen a huge increase in the number of people seeing my posts on the Dr D’s facebook page through a ‘viral’ rather than ‘organic’ source (as a Biologist, I find these terms a little disconcerting!). This means that friends of friends are seeing my page as a result of those extra ‘likes’!

A Big Thank-you to People Power!

I would like to take this opportunity to say a huge “THANK YOU” to the friends who accepted the invitation… ‘Likes’ on my business page have jumped from 69 to 90 this weekend, and nearly 400 people have seen the page!

Your continued support and faith in me is very much appreciated, and I promise not to keep pestering you… too much!

Tuesday 15 January 2013

Scientific Wanderings 2012 - A Poetic Review!

A bit late posting this, but it was written a couple of weeks ago, and then the usual start of term madness kicked in... Enjoy!

January was cold and frosty.
The weather wasn’t kind,
but with so much to look forward to
I really didn’t mind

Big Bang Fair, Birmingham 

February saw the lab coat parade
by Alice and her mates
at her science themed birthday party which,
though I say so myself, was great!


In March I joined the BBC
at the Birmingham Big Bang Fair.
Assisting the Bang Goes the Theory team
I did science with gusto and flair!


Bang Live, Edinburgh
In April I travelled to Edinburgh
for more science with a Bang!
Re-united with Dallas and Dr Yan,
and the rest of the BBC gang.


May saw me travel to Sheffield
For yet more science based fun
A city I’m very fond of,
and where my science career begun.
BBC Science Cheltenham Science Festival


Then June, the height of Summer –
It p*ssed it down with rain
but I worked at the Cheltenham Sci Fest
so I wasn’t about to complain.


More festivals and summer fetes
saw July pass in a flash.
Bailgate Busking Festival, Lincoln
Science busking in the Bailgate
Even generated some cash!


In August it was One Show Live
Back to Sheffield once again
for more work with BBC Science
in a muddy field in torrential rain.


Back to college in September
To lecture in science – OK…
and MATHS! Out of my comfort zone!
Not done maths since my own school days!


Molecular Jewellery
Ethanol earrings and pendant
October – a Hallowe’en pumpkin day
Spooky science was in the air.
The ideal day out for a skeleton.
Me and ‘My Mate Bert’ were there!


In November – a moment of genius,
an idea that came out of the blue –
Molecular jewellery – what everyone wants
It’s the next big thing – it’s true!


Bert gets festive
Santa Skeleton!
Then back to the festive season
December came round far too fast!
Christmas quizzes and secret Santas
Then New Year, and 2013 at last…


So once again I look to the future,
And what the next 12 months will bring.
I’m hoping for fun and adventure
And more wonderful sciencey things!