Science Busking at The Big Bang Fair 2012

WOW!!

What an experience!

I was aware that the Big Bang Fair was the biggest Science Fair in the UK, but I don’t think that fully prepared me for the sheer number of people, or the level of enthusiasm, that I would encounter there!

I feel truly privileged to have been part of this wondwerful event!

I love science…

I love sharing my love of science…

I love meeting other people who love science…

I have experienced three days of a dream come true!

I was working with the team from the BBC’s Bang Goes the Theory.

Many people might think that the most exciting part of that would be to meet the presenters.

Well, I did meet them all, and they are all genuinely very nice people to be around, and people who take a real interest in raising the profile of science. I had a couple of really interesting chats with Dr Yan regarding the experiments that I was demonstrating, and learned a lot from him… Every day’s a school day!..

Dr Yan sharing his love of science... In MY spot!!

Besides the presenters of the show, I met a lot of other people who were working at the Big Bang Fair. Some were BBC staff, some were volunteers. It didn’t matter… All of them had such a huge energy and enthusiasm for spreading the joy of science that I felt I had found some kindred spirits, and I will never forget my time with them.

The other people who made the whole event really special were the visitors… I spoke to school groups, scout groups, families… I saw, and chatted to, people of all ages from toddlers to pensioners… Most of whom I hit with a big hammer (don’t try this at home!) while demonstrating the properties of liquid body armour!

Every single one of us should try to learn a little bit extra each day, regardless of how old you are, or how much you already know… no-one can know everything… It’s not knowledge that gives us power, It’s the willingness to learn!

I can’t wait to do it again in Edinburgh next month!

Come along if you can: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00lwxj1

Bang Goes The Theory - The Best Job Ever for a Wandering Scientist!

I have been a wandering scientist (as well as a wondering scientist, which all scientists are by default) for a year now, but I have been wandering within a fairly narrow geographical area, taking work as and when it comes my way. Today, I got the news I have been waiting for. The confirmation that I will be able to spread my love of science further afield. I am going to be part of a bona fide science roadshow!!

Thanks to an old (sorry, a former – she’s not actually old herself!) colleaugue at the Lincolnshire &Rutland EBP I have landed possibly the coolest job that I could ever have wished for.

I will be working as a science busker for the BBC show Bang Goes The Theory on their live tour of the UK!

The tour will take in four cities across the UK – Birmingham, Edinborough, Sheffield (my old stomping ground) and Poole (Dorset) between March and June. Each event will be filled with sciency fun and frolics, and I will be a part of that! I may only be a small part, but I will do my darndest to make sure that whatever I am demonstrating, and whoever I am  demonstrating it to, the members of the public who meet me leave with a little more knowledge, and a lot more curiosity and enthusiasm about all things scientific!

The Road to Success is Long...

There have been a lot of positives in the last month, and there is certainly a lot to look forward to in 2012:

• Party bookings are up
• School enquiries are up
• Hits on the website are up
• social networking seems to be paying dividends

Despite all of these positives, there is still 'leg work' to be done.

That is what I have been doing today.

Part of being self employed, and taking responsibility for your own success (or failure), is acknowledging that every task is your task (if you aren't in a situation to pay someone else to do it for you).

Today I have walked miles.

I'm not sure exactly how many miles, but I know I was walking continuously for several hours. I wish I'd been wearing a pedometer so that I could calculate how many calories I'd burned!

I dropped leaflets along a familiar route, which would normally take about 15 minutes to walk. 

After over an hour and a half I was running low on flyers, so retreated to a pub for a well deserved drink.

The lessons learned today were many and varied.

It's amazing how quickly you pick up on the types of houses to target with flyers.

My flyers were designed for children's parties, so I quickly started to target houses with  the following:

• Children's bikes outside
• Trampolines in the garden
• Small sized shoes in the porch
• Photographs of children over the fire place
• Curtains in upstairs rooms with football team logos (predominantly Liverpool FC, despite Liverpool being several hundred miles away)
• Cars on the drive way with child seats / sun shades in the back seats

Despite this targeted approach I find that, at the end of a long day, my legs ache and I am tired. 

I am, however, contented in the thought that if even 1 in 100 flyers elicit some kind of response I am better off than I was 24 hours ago.

I have made that difference myself.

I have walked the streets.

I have promoted myself.

I have spoken  to people.

I have earned my money (or will have when my efforts pay dividends)

There is pride to be had from this kind of personal approach to business, and I like that!

I take pride in my business.

I take pride in myself.

I take pride in working hard to achieve my ambitions.

I shall sleep well tonight!

Looking forward to 2012, while looking back to prehistory.

As a scientist my general position is one of looking forward.
Looking to new developments, new discoveries, new technologies.
Looking towards a future in which science will assist humanity in bigger and better ways (or more probably smaller and better ways!).
Looking forwards, hoping to educate and inspire the next generation of scientists, has been my goal for many years now.

Recent developments, however, have turned my perspective on it's head in a fantastic way, and have refocussed my attentions on the past... Not a week ago... Not a year ago... Not even within my lifetime... I'm talking Centuries ago, possibly even Millennia ago... How exciting is THAT?

History has always fascinated me, and pre-history even more so. It's like an ancient CSI case. There's nothing to go on except the scientific evidence!

My mission (should I choose to accept it - which I already have) is to develop an activity day for school children, which links science to history, to be delivered at the local museum... I sense fun times ahead...

Here's to a creative, sciencey, historical, educational and fun 2012!

It's Not What You Know... It's Who You Know... AND What You Know!

The last couple of weeks have been very interesting in terms of making contacts.
As you may have gathered, I am extremely keen on educating the masses, especially children and young people, on the value of Science. The main focus so far has been to reach my target audience through schools and children's parties.
It was through a jovial Christmas catch up with a friend that a whole new market was revealed to me...
The friend in question works for The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, and suggested that maybe local museums would be interested in my services. As soon as she mentioned this, I realised that I had been missing a trick. I had been thinking 'inside the box'. I had neglected to think about where my services could be appreciated in a wider sense.

What was I thinking?

Why had I not thought of this before?

Science links to pretty much everything (at least it does in my opinion, but then I may be a little biassed!).
Museums... Oh YES! What a brilliant idea!

I LOVE museums (see my previous post about museums in London). I love History. I love Archaeology. I have always been fascinated by the scientific processes involved in trying to interpret the past of our ancestors. Without an understanding of our past we cannot hope to move forward with any real purpose.
As part of my degree (at the University of Sheffield) I took every opportunity to expand my knowledge by using my 'free' credits to study units which would complement my course of study (Genetics), and would also offer me something a little different in order to broaden my areas of expertise. I chose to study Archaeological Science as part of this, despite the fact that I had (on paper) overlapping practical classes. The intention was that I would finish my 3 hour Genetics practical (2-5 p.m.) an hour early, in order to attend the 2 hour Archaeology practical (4-6 p.m.). Some weeks this worked. Other weeks I had to run into the Archaeology practical late, breathless, and apologising profusely! Thankfully, it all worked out OK in the end!

My interest in Archaeological Science has never waned.

As a result of that chat with an old friend (apologies to the friend concerned - I know you're younger than me! Perhaps 'long-standing' would have been a better turn of phrase?) I was inspired to contact The Collection, Lincoln, and have a meeting lined up for next week.

Here's hoping that this leads to lots of fun activities for kids to engage them with science, an interest in their past, and an appreciation of the value of museums and art galleries.

Scientific Poetry - Whatever next?!

Several years ago I started writing poems relating to the science curriculum.
I wrote poems to use in my lessons, I wrote poems to engage my students, but most of all I wrote poems for fun!

I took topic areas of the curriculum which were often viewed as a bit 'dry', and tried to make them at least a little more interesting by adding a splash of creativity, a dash of poetic licence, and a generous dose of humour, while also including some valuable scientific information along with as many key words relating to the given topic as possible.

I started to develop the poems into worksheets, which I trialled with my students (without telling them that the new resources were in fact written by me - I wanted impartial feedback!). Amazingly, the majority of students from each group, regardless of ability or literacy level, said that they enjoyed working with the poems, and doing the associated crossword or activity. In fact, those that found the poetry approach of greatest benefit appeared to be those with lower levels of confidence in terms of literacy, as the rhyming nature of the information helped them to remember key words and phrases. I think they also enjoyed the general silliness of many of the poems!

I approached an educational publisher, and had my efforts published under the title 'Poems and Puzzles for Key Stage 3 Science'. Then I waited for the accolades to roll in...
Sadly, uptake of my resource was not as spectacular as I would have liked!

Despite this, my commitment to the idea of communicating science through the medium of poetry is undiminished, and I have continued to write science themed poems, but I now have a different audience in mind. My poems were always written for children. Children don't buy worksheets - teachers do. Children buy funny books (or at least they get their parents to buy them!). This has given me a sense of new found freedom, and has allowed me to write poems about science related ideas and concepts, but without the need to cram them full of  key words. It's so much more fun this way!!

Take, for example, one of my latest poetic masterpieces:
Would a teacher buy an educational resource containing a poem entitled 'Do You Poo Too?' - Probably not.
Would a child like to read a book containing the poem 'Do You Poo Too?' - You bet they would!

And so, just today, I have e-mailed a sample of my work to a well known children's publisher in London, in the hopes that one day soon my poems will sit proudly on the shelves of every book shop in the UK, and who knows... maybe farther afield? That way, every child would have the chance to enjoy the sciencey silliness of poems such as 'Know your Nose', 'Atomic Party', 'My Cheese Sandwich', and of course, not forgetting 'Do You  Poo Too?'.

Here's hoping that the publisher can see the potential, and that they find my poems worthy of spreading to the masses!

Keeping Things Fresh - Updates and New Content

Since starting this Blog, what seems like a lifetime ago, I have made efforts to add posts as regularly as possible. Keeping web site content fresh and current is important, we all know that. No-one wants to read out of date content. It's stale and boring... So, 'Why?', I am now asking myself, has it taken me so long to realise that, despite adding new posts, I have not made any changes to the rest of the page??

Well... Now I have!

You may notice that the suggestions in the 'My Picks' Amazon carousel at the top of the page have been updated. I have added some recommendations for cool science themed toys / gadgets as well as a new book suggestion.
The 6 in 1 Solar Kit is brilliant (I've had great fun with mine!), and makes a great gift (Christmas is only a matter of weeks away!) for kids and adults alike.
A USB Microscope also makes a great Christmas present, is easy to set up, and provides hours of entertainment. There are lots of similar products available, but the one I have recommended is made by Veho, as this is the one I own. Close-ups of everyday objects can be fascinating. I've had great fun looking at the structure of fabrics, flowers, wood grain, and even the view up a friends nose under 200x zoom! The software also allows you quickly and easily take photographs, and save them to your computer.
Books wise, I have added '101 Illnesses You Don't Want to Get' to the list. This book is not for the feint hearted, but contains some interesting (if a little grizzly) information and illustrations!
Still top of my list of 'Best Christmas presents I've ever recieved' though, is 'Elephants on Acid'... A truly laugh out loud funny book, which covers some of the most whacky science experiments ever carried out!

Also updated is the Related Reading section to the right of the posts. Besides adding posts here on Adventures of a Wandering Scientist, I have also been busy writing fresh articles about science and education, and the links have now been updated to include some of my more recent work.

Happy reading / microscopy / solar engineering!