Schools
Virtual Lab: engaging school audiences in science (KS 3, 4 and 5)
The Virtual Lab is an interactive web-based platform developed by Brona to help research scientists to engage schools in their work. The website is designed to host a rolling programme of experiments that give students a feel for bench science. The aim of the website is to demystify science and give students more confidence to discuss contemporary biomedical research in the classroom and at home. Since 2010 Virtual Lab has hosted experiments on cell division, stem cell biology and is currently offering schools the chance to participate in a neuroscientific investigation in collaboration with Dr Hugo Spiers (UCL). Download the VirtualLabReport_2011 or read the evaluation for a detailed analysis of the project.
Corkbots: Creative strategies for science education (KS2)
Creative Partnerships commissioned Brona to explore creative strategies for science education in primary schools. Using her ‘corkbot’ characters, she introduced primary schoolchildren to the principles of natural selection. Professor Corkbot’s Cat and the White Spider set the scene for a discussion about evolutionary theory. She supported pupils at Exton Primary in 2009 to recreate some of Darwin’s experiments on earthworms and celebrate the experimental results in the form of a stop-time corkbot animation, Professor Corkbot and the Lambton Worm. Listen to the podcast. Play the game.
Scopic: creative strategies to engage young minds in the wonders of discovery (KS2-4)
Scopic was an inter-disciplinary educational initiative for students in years 6-8 from twelve schools in London and Durham. The project engaged them in the uncanny similarity of microscopic and telescopic images, inviting their creative response. Students played the Scopic memory game to familiarize themselves with microscopic images produced in biological research and telescopic images from space. In their art and music classes they were given the opportunity to produce works inspired by the images on the website. These were entered into a competition judged by celebrities including Sir Patrick Moore, Brian May and Robert Winston. Winners displayed their work in the Royal Albert Hall, London in May 2008. Listen to the podcast. Play the game.