Public engagement is an essential part of the CSCT, with the first-years having a stand at the Cheltenham Science Festival in June. To test the hands-on activities our cohort jumped in at the deep end, by trying them out at the annual Bath Taps science fair. So how did we survive teaching science/ the children teaching us?!
1. Enthusiasm is key! (we were running off a potent mix of excitement and fear)
2. Prepare for sub-zero temperatures! Luckily we had the bike so we could jump on and warm up.
3. Prepare for complete chaos, crowd control is key, maybe we need bouncers? (There are 18 PhD students in there somewhere).
4. Snack constantly. As we learnt from one experiment, fruit are a great source of energy… otherwise hot cross buns will just have to do.
5. Prepare for experiments to not work and sometimes you have no idea why (kinda like real research kids).
6. Not everyone will like your activity! The ethanol rocket was very unpopular with the dog community, luckily the team were on hand to offer diplomatic duties.
7. Brush up on your geography ("You're right that is where plastic bottles are made, which is.....ermmmm....it should be….. oh…. THERE IT IS!!")
8. How many PhD students does it take to set up a tent?.... 18 (9 to put it together, 2 to direct, 3 to discuss the directing, 3 to wander off and 1 to eat hot cross buns).
9. Be prepared to answer the most unexpected curve ball questions (maybe we should add children to viva committees?) as well as have kids teach you some science (we had one very big algae fan #AlgaeIsGreat).
10. Kids have limitless energy (spoiler alert: Yes more than fruit). Also, make sure your activities don’t initiate families rivalries, many arguments insured over which sibling could light the bulb up longer.
We had a great time, and the hard work was all worth it for smiling faces, bright eyes and some very lovely comments!
We were especially pleased that our activities prepared someone for the learning curves of life.
Now the countdown to Cheltenham begins: 26 days.
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