On Friday 16 November, Form 7N enjoyed a visit to ‘Thinktank’ at Millennium Point organised by their Science teacher Mr Bansal.  They participated in two workshops, the first of which was titled ‘Forensic Investigators’.  In this, the students found out about the types of evidence found at a scene of crime, and how forensic scientists gather, analyse and use evidence to help investigate crime.  They also produced a record of, and analysed, their own fingerprints.  In the second workshop, entitled ‘In Your Element’, students, through laboratory based demonstrations, experiments and challenges, discovered how the differing structure and properties of elements and compounds can affect how materials behave and react with one another.  

A number of A level Physics students enjoyed the Institute of Physics/West Midlands’ Physics Teachers’ Centre ‘Christmas’ Lecture entitled ‘Molecular Gastronomy: The Science of Taste and Flavour’, The lecture was held on the evening of Tuesday 27 November at Birmingham University and was given by Bristol University’s Professor Peter Barham.  Professor Barham, who has written a book on the subject and worked with celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal, addressed the questions ‘What gives food its flavour?’ and ‘What makes some foods taste really good while others can be mediocre or even disgusting?’  There are more Tuesday evening lectures scheduled for the New Year, details of which are displayed in the Science Department and available from Mr Jones.

All Year 9 students, during their Science lessons on Tuesday 27 November or Friday 7 December, enjoyed a talk entitled ‘Physics hot and cold’ given by friend of the School and frequent visitor Mrs Lynne Long, from Birmingham University’s Physics Department.  Mrs Long’s talk covered a range of phenomena between extremes of temperature including superconductivity, and involved many demonstrations, some using liquid nitrogen.

A number of Year 7 students will have the opportunity to become members of Science Club, which is scheduled to start after the Christmas break.  Mr Mohsin will be organising the activities, which will take place after school on Mondays.

Year 10 students should now be revising hard for their Unit 1 GCSE Science examinations which will be taking place on 9 January (Biology), 14 January (Chemistry) and 17 January (Physics).  A number of Year 11 students will also be re-sitting during these sessions, and also the Unit 2 ones.

Mr P Jones