On Thursday, 12 March, the Lindemann Trust, the funds for which are managed by the ESU, was delighted to host three Cambridgeshire primary schools at Magdalene College, Cambridge, for a day of ‘Introduction to Science’. Year 6 pupils from Shirley Community Primary, Winhills Primary and Trumpington Meadows Primary Schools joined us for a series of bite-size science talks, aimed at inspiring an interest in the part that science plays in our everyday lives.
With the help of some balloons, ping-pong balls and a large speaker, Dr Alastair Gregory, a Research Fellow at Magdalene College, demonstrated how sound waves move through the air. Cosmologist Dr Chandrima Ganguly, who is an alumna of the Lindemann Fellowships, excited the pupils in talking about how the universe began. And mathematician, Lisa-Maria Kreusser, also from Cambridge University, used a numbers game to demonstrate mathematical patterns.
To conclude the event, Lindemann Committee member, Dr Martin Grossel, used examples from Micrographia, an illustrated book by pioneering British scientist, Robert Hooke, to launch a poster competition. Entrants will be asked to create posters on one of five topics originally analysed by Hooke, using lots of original artwork and drawing brief conclusions on any experiments done. We look forward to seeing the completed posters later in the year.
Picture: Lisa-Maria Kreusser plays a maths-based game with the pupils.
