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01/04

GCSE Science Live!

All Year 10 pupils enjoyed a thought-provoking day of lectures delivered by world leaders in their scientific fields.

At the Apollo Victoria Theatre, Professor Andrea Sella started the day by demonstrating how unusual ice is, compared to other solids, as it floats in its own melt. He even caused ice to “speak” and passionately encouraged everyone to think about what ice is telling us about how our world is changing.

Dr Helen Czerski then shared what an ocean physicist does, studying the boundary between the ocean and the atmosphere, considering matter and energy. Our pupils were captivated by the notion that studying Science can take you all the way to the Arctic; they learned that problem-solving is an essential part of planning experiments and collecting data, especially when unexpected events arise – such as a walrus playing with your floating equipment!

Professor Alice Roberts, who recently joined our South Hampstead Speaker Series, outlined how studying skulls of wolves and new genetic testing have helped our understanding of the evolution of wolves into dogs through domestication.

Robert Winston shared his views on the interdisciplinary value in the work of scientists: “Science is about mixing all of the things together.”  

Everyone was fascinated by his cutting-edge images and video from inside a womb and fallopian tube, as well as watching early embryos develop. It was exciting to hear that, together with his PhD student, they are working on ways to better identify which embryos will implant in the womb – thus making IVF much cheaper and increasing success rates.

Finally, Professor Jim Al-Khali whizzed through the possibilities of time-travel, concluding that travel to the future is definitely possible – but that travel to the past is a slightly more challenging. This, along with everything they had learned above and beyond the curriculum, caused a lot of discussion and debate on the journey home!

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