Saturday 9th December saw nearly 500 Cubs, Beavers, Brownies, Young Leaders and Scouting and Guiding Leaders visit the Central Teaching Laboratories (CTL) to take part in the 8th Annual Science Jamboree. Organised jointly between CTL staff and the School of Physical Sciences Outreach Team, supported by LUSAGGO (the Guild’s Scouting and Guiding society) and the Life Sciences Society, the Science Jamboree involved nearly 70 staff, undergraduate and postgraduate student volunteers who came together to organise 18 different activities. The event was sold out within two hours and had a waitlist of over 200 young people.
Over the last semester, groups of UG students have worked together in small groups to design their own activities, produce risk assessments and finally deliver their activities to the 358 young people who visited on the day. The activities included planetarium shows to learn about the night sky, building Morse code beepers and learning to communicate with them, learn how to work out what Lego Mini figure is in a packet using X-rays, create water filters from natural materials and many, many more.
In addition to earning their badges for completing activities, the children gain a huge amount from the day academically and felt inspired by our students, staff and facilities. We asked attendees if they liked science, to which one responded “Yes and no. I love it here but not at school”. Their volunteer leaders were also very complimentary of the day, with one mentioning how friendly our student volunteers are and that they were “fab with the children”.
A particularly exciting feature of the Science Jamboree is the chance for students network across departments. The flexibility in choosing activities also means that students regularly choose badge activities that would not traditionally fall under their own Department’s remit, broadening their experience of science across the University.
When asked about their experience of the Science Jamboree, one UG student said “it really felt like a breath of fresh air to see such a different range of people after a long semester filled with so many new things. It also reignited a motivation to push through the last few weeks.”
As well as the attendees, the event was visit by the Merseyside Scout County Commissioner and the Lead Volunteer for Program, both of whom said that they were very impressed with the day. Associate Pro Vice Chancellor for Education in the Faculty of Science and Engineering, Professor Liz Sheffield also dropped by and described the atmosphere across the building as ‘buzzing’.
Overall, the day was a huge success and we would like here to publicly thank everyone who has worked so hard to make this day a success. On to the next one!
Charlie Devlin, Chris Marchant, Cate Cropper and the Science Jamboree Organisers