Networking today...

StemNet arranged a CPD event for Science teachers at the IFR today. I, along with other STEM ambassadors had an opportunity to meet & talk to them at a working lunch.
A very nice event and I got to meet other ambassadors as well as the teachers and sound out my new BBSRC School Regional Champion activity idea. They seemed to be enjoying the event which included a tour of the Institute.

Equality for Women in Science Conference

STFC are running this diversity event on March 15th 2012 (The day after International Women's Day) :-

STFC: Equality for Women in Science Conference

Science and Techology Facilities Council invite you to join them in a one day conference looking at the barriers facing Women in STEM and how to overcome them.
Equality for Women in Science - Sometime, now, NEVER?
Mari Williams - Chair
Professor John Perkins - Key Note Speaker
Speakers include:
Dennis Bartholomew
Paul Walton
Jocelyn Bell-Burnell
Ottoline Leyser

Event details

• Type Conference
• Sector Science
• Region South East
• Organiser STFC
• Venue International Space Innovation Centre
  Harwell
  Oxford
  Didcot
  OX11 0QX
• Contact details To register please contact archie.ramachandran@stfc.ac.uk or telephone 01235 445655.
  Places are limited so please book early.
• Cost Free
• Date and time Thursday, 15 March 2012 at 09:30 for the day

Science Exhibition at Norwich Castle Museum

 Quick 'for-info' post for Norfolk parents looking for a half-term activity for their children:

Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery
Until Sunday 26 February,
Life: Hands-On Science Exhibition

Life Science Exhibition
Get to grips with the human body and use models and microscopes to uncover its amazing secrets. Find out how your body works and about the plants and animals that share our life on earth.
Museum admission only: Adult £6.60, Concs £5.60, Young Person (4 - 16) £4.80, Museums Pass holders free of charge. Special Exhibitions only: Adult £3.50, Concs £3.00, Young Person (4 - 16) £2.60, Museums Pass holders free of charge.

Messy Church Science activity

Kudos to the organisers. They had over 100 people attending as families on this Valentines/Heart/Love themed evening. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves which bodes well for their next planned event at the end of March. I'd like to thank the organisers for the opportunity to engage the public with some of the Institute's science.

I probably had about a third of the families have a go at my heart activity (There were craft, cooking and face-painting activities going on as well at the same time) in the one hour slot. Dee & Dawn (our Communications contacts) provided me with some orange IFR wrist-straps which went down very well with the children (they had to attempt the quiz to get a band).
The activity included calculating a mean and explaining averages and how they are sometimes mis-represented in the popular press, the physiology of the heart, finding and measuring their pulse Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (British Heart Foundation's Vinnie Jone's Hard & Fast CPR and the Red Cross's free Android & Iphone First Aid App) and research findings linking nutrition and cardiovascular health.


The answers to the quiz that I ran are:
Q1. Which is the largest artery in the body?   Aorta  

Q2. Measure your pulses and record them here (and please also put them on the big form for analysis). How do you compare to the average

What is the mean (average) family pulse rate? (i.e. add up all the rates and divide by the number of people) (This was obviously specific to the team)

 

Q3. Name the four main chambers of the heart. Right & Left Atrium (Atria),

Right & Left Ventricle(s).

Q4.If you find someone who is unconscious and not breathing, what are the three steps of hands-only CPR?

Dial 999, Push down on the heart, do it to the beat of ‘Staying Alive’

Q5. What gas is transported from the lungs to the cells and what waste gas is carried back? Oxygen(O₂) & Carbon Dioxide (CO₂)

Q6. What is the name of the device used to restore heart rhythm in heart attacks? Defibrillator

Q7. What are phytochemicals and how could they affect heart health?
Naturally-occurring plant chemicals(reduce chance of narrowed or blocked arteries, keep them flexible & healthy)

Q8. Complete these heart-healthy nutrients: Omega-3 . Fatty acids   .  and Beta-. Carotene .

Q9. Is LDL “good” or “bad” Cholesterol?  “Bad”

Q10. What are the three major types of blood vessel? (and can you say how they differ from each other?) Artery, Capillary & Vein A=elastic & stretches, C= narrow and thin & V=has valves to help return of blood back.

Q11. The study of the heart and it’s disorders is called what?Cardiology 

Update: If you want additional interesting heart information visit this Royal Institution blog post
Update: Excellent Google Doodle (animated) forValentine's Day

A different venue for an Outreach activity

I'm down to do a "science" activity at Sprowston Methodist Church on the evening of Feb 11th.
They are having an family event called 'Messy Church' - the theme is Valentine's day and so I'm doing a activity based around the heart.
My current ideas include a simple colour & make activity (structure of the heart), measuring pulse rates & doing averages for the attendees (plus effect of exercise on pulse), a couple of videos (Circulatory song and Vinnie Jones hard & fast CPR) and some IFR information on foods that are beneficial to your cardiovascular system.
So hopefully, I will be able to link diet, health, physiology and maths together in a public outreach activity... (Good job I like a challenge!).