SCIENCE YEAR NEWSLETTER - ISSUE 23 Week ending Friday, 29th June 2001 Did you see it? Did you see it? Science Year and the Giant Jump hit primetime television for the first of many times - we hope - on Wednesday night. Tomorrow’s World was the programme in question, and Philippa Forester and new TW recruit David Bromfield neatly explained to the nation exactly what Science Year is all about and how to get involved. Fantastic publicity. David in particular became something of a hero with the Science Year team after gamely adopting Tigger-like bounciness to demonstrate to the nation how the pounding of the ground by even one person can be picked up by a seismometer. What a top man. And he’s a practising science teacher too when not on TV… More news on the Giant Jump later. But meanwhile, the main focus of the week for Science Year was the Tomorrow’s World Live event at Earls Court in London. As ever, this science and technology extravaganza was packed with interactive activities, demonstrations, competitions, information … and even the occasional appearance of the lesser spotted John Snow bird. Over 50,000 budding science-ophiles surged through the arena throughout the five days – and the Science Year team were out in force to get the message across. Any passing visitors who displayed the slightest awakening of interest were heavily bombarded with information and branded glow-in-the-dark badges. Business was gratifyingly brisk and there was no shortage of people wanting to have a go at operating the digital microscope, testing their balance, or producing a spike on the Giant Jump seismograph by jumping as hard as their state of the art trainers would allow. Altogether, a major success. The Science Line Quiz Science Line had created a fun but devilishly tricky science quiz specially for Tomorrow’s World Live, and several times each day the audience had the chance to take part and win some FANTASTIC prizes. The quiz area was packed with junior spectators desperate to take part whenever quizmasters Sophie Duncan and Kat Nilsson took to the stage and 'revved' the audience up with their tantalising talk of winnable space food, luminous stars, pinhole camera sets and even Science Year bum bags… Obviously, it’s impossible to recreate the heady atmosphere of the live event here on the web, but for anyone who was unable to attend, we will be offering you a bonus opportunity to try your luck! Check back to the Science Year homepage later this week if you fancy your chances. We have packets of space food to give away to the first twenty respondents who get all the answers correct. The Giant Jump Preparations for the Giant Jump continue to gather momentum. No doubt fuelled by the Tomorrow’s World publicity, registrations have continued to roll in from schools around the country. The current total is 509 schools but the figure is increasing daily … If you would like to take part, or even just to find out more – have a look at the Giant Jump information on the website. Also, more info, pics and video from our two playground trials will be coming soon – watch this space! ASE funding now available As you are probably aware, the Association for Science Education is one of the main contributors to Science Year. One of their main roles is the creation of new resources specifically designed to assist science teachers in the classroom, such as the K2 – 3 Passport However, they are also now accepting bids from schools/colleges for funding to support individual educational projects. Schools can apply for up to £700 through this scheme, so if you’re interested, get your application in. But don’t hang around - the closing date for all applications is 31st July 2001. Check out http://www.ase.org.uk/scienceyear/syrprojects.html for background information and project criteria. Work Experience at Science Year Hard to disguise the fact that this is the third week running we are offering a fabulous once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for a talented individual to gain work experience with Science Year… Please do NOT all rush at once! The post is, as you may have detected, "income-free" as with all work experience (though travel expenses will be covered). But as work experience placements go, this is a good one. Seriously! Reasons to be interested: 1. Science Year is a national event which will involve many of the biggest and best names in science, science communication and the media. If you’re interested in a science career, this will be very good for your CV and contacts book … 2. There will be a range of projects underway or in production at every stage of Science Year – from heavyweight educational initiatives to games and competitions. These will involve all aspects of the media and a number of well-known faces (can’t give too much away at this stage!) We are a small team, so everyone including our work experience person will be involved and contributing to what’s going on, so it will certainly be interesting – if busy. 3. We are a (relatively) nice bunch and will make you very welcome! Oh and – great location, just minutes from the Houses of Parliament and other top tourist spots … If you’re interested please contact melanie@scienceyear.com Renaming the Teacher's Area We are looking for a new name for the 'teachers’ area of the Science Year website - something that sounds at home in the 21st century. Please send any ideas you have to anne.mcnaught@scienceyear.com The supplier of the best answer will receive a Science Year goodie bag! Jokes Thanks to those of you who responded to our call for science jokes last week. When we get some good ones we will post them up! Well, OK, the one about the quark was quite good, but we will hold back on it until we are in a position to create a fully populated Jokes area on the website. Except if there’s a brilliant one, in which case we’ll unleash it on you next week. In the meantime, please keep them coming. Any other business! As ever, please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any comments or thoughts regarding the newsletter or website for future weeks – or jokes. The address is: anne.mcnaught@scienceyear.com Thank you! Return to archive