On Saturday 7th March, the Science Outreach team visited the Festival of Physics – an annual event run by the local branch of the Institute of Physics and this year held at Bristol University’s H H Wills Laboratory.
Our students had to adapt from their usual polished performances to a much more ad-hoc improvised version as they we were given an area of one of the meeting spaces and asked to entertain passing visitors. The two sessions we ran – each lasting for around an hour – consisted of ice cream demonstrations running in parallel with showing small groups some of our most enthralling demonstrations. Supervision duties were shared between Miss Goldsack and Mr Williams, with a welcome extra pair of hands in the form of Mrs Noonan who arrived just in time for the lunch time rush!
The day was a real test for the girls – not only did they have to talk about any of the demonstrations at a moments’ notice, they also had to pitch their explanations suitably for an audience that ranged from small children to professional Physicists. They coped superbly well with the challenge and an enduring image of the day for the staff present was watching Catherine and Esme (Year 13), and Francesca, Lucy and Mary (Year 12) teaching undergraduates from the Physics Department!
The day also gave us a chance to try out some of our new demonstrations such as ‘cloud in a bottle’, ‘Hero’s Engine’ and ‘low temperature magnets’; a big thank you goes out to Mr McWilliam and Mr Gill in the Maintenance Department for their help in making equipment.
Over the next few months we will incorporate some of the new demonstrations into our show – look out for them, along with some superb explanations and some unusual ice cream on “Celebrating Badminton Day” next term!
Mr Williams
