On Wednesday most of S4 and 11 S5 students visited the New Theatre in Oxford for a live
presentation from 5 leading scientists from different specialisms, everything from evolution to
studying the moon and stars.
The presenters were: Dr Helen Czerski, who talked about studying the oceans and expanding
our knowledge by collecting data around the globe; Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock based her lecture
around the moon and her fascination with it, while also explaining how the moon came to exist
and what will happen to it in the future; Dr Alice Roberts lectured about ancient bones and how
we can use them to explain animal as well as human evolution, she taught us about how dogs
evolved from wolves and that this started happening at least 15,000 years ago; Professor Lord
Robert Winston talked to us about reproduction and explained his work on pre-implantation
genetic diagnosis, which is used to screen out embryos that would otherwise cause genetic
diseases, allowing families to have babies free of these diseases. Finally Professor Andrea
Sella started with a humble ice cube and challenged us to think about what would happen when
all the ice in the Arctic has melted.
Between these lectures we also had two exam study tips sessions, where an examiner taught
us how to be the most prepared for our exams, including how to formulate answer and how to
answer questions with certain keywords (eg, Explain, Describe)
Thanks to Mrs Down, Dr Coghill, Mrs Keymar and Ms Singer for organizing and accompanying
on this trip.