Professor Bob Nichol
Local children from ages ten to 18 are being taken deep into outer space next week – and it’s expected the experience will transform some of them.
Events next Monday to mark National Science and Engineering Week include a masterclass in physics from leading international cosmologists, hands-on physics experiments, and a chance to become fully immersed in a mobile planetarium.
The aim is to encourage and inspire children and young adults to better understand the primary place of physics in our world enough to study it further.
A-level pupils from South Downs College, Portsmouth College, Portsmouth Grammar School (PGS), Ryde Academy and Farnborough College of Technology will take part in the day, which includes a lecture from astrophysicist Dr Claudia Maraston, from the University of Portsmouth’s Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation.
The day-long session, hosted by acting head of physics at PGS Jeremy Thomas, includes an opportunity for younger children from St Jude’s Primary School and Portsmouth Grammar School to also visit the mobile planetarium.
Adults will also have an opportunity to fire their imaginations inside the planetarium and learn more about the science behind the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics at an evening lecture by Professor Bob Nichol, of the University of Portsmouth.
The day of events is a joint venture between the University of Portsmouth, PGS, the University of Southampton, the South East Physics Network and local schools.
Professor Nichol said: “We want to mark National Science and Engineering Week by inspiring more pupils to study physics and to study it for longer – it is the science that underpins our world and much of what goes on in it.
“An understanding of physics can be used in a variety of fields and disciplines including dentistry, medicine, engineering, maths, management, music, geography, architecture, computing, economics, law, and the physical and biological sciences.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity to try and inspire school pupils, because it’s fun and important; what a combination. It’s a thrill to see people’s reactions and know you’ve made a difference especially if they go on to study physics.”
The A-level pupils’ masterclass is designed to dovetail with a unit in the physics syllabus on the structure and evolution of the universe. The pupils will be given a lecture on the origin of chemical elements and the formation and evolution of galaxies; inside the planetarium they will take part in a 30-minute live show run by Dr Sadie Jones of the University of Southampton and Dr Karen Masters of the University of Portsmouth; they will also take part in question and answer sessions with Portsmouth astrophysicists; make models, watch a 30-minute screening of “We are astronomers”, and be given demonstrations on gravity.
PGS pupils from year 7 (aged 11-12) and from St Jude’s Primary School year five (aged nine-10) will also visit during the day to watch a different live show aimed at their level of science education inside the mobile planetarium.
Mr Thomas said: “We are very fortunate at PGS to have forged such strong and productive links with expert cosmologists working here on our doorstep in Portsmouth. Who better to teach our pupils than the real experts in the subject?”
Those attending the free evening public lecture will hear about how, in 1999, two astronomers realised the universe was expanding at a faster rate, rather than slowing down as previously thought. It took a decade for the observations to be confirmed and the original authors were then honoured with a Nobel Prize. Professor Nichol will explain the science behind this discovery and discuss what “dark energy” could be, which is driving the acceleration, and discuss why this discovery caused such a fuss in the world of science. If it’s a clear night people attending can also look through telescopes trained on Jupiter and Venus which are prominent in the evening sky at the moment.
The astrodome, a mobile planetarium owned and run by the University of Southampton and the South East Physics Network, visits schools and colleges across the region to try and inspire children and young adults to study physics and astronomy. It can be used to teach about planets, mythology and the life cycle of stars for primary school pupils, and physics, cosmology, galaxies, black holes and the big bang for older pupils. Its free visits are so popular it is now fully booked for this academic year.
