STEM Student Blog – 14th November 2020
Dear Grove School Community,
We are writing after taking part in our second event of the course (14th November). This event took on a different approach by being tailored to the GCSE course and only involved Y10 and Y11s. As a result, we as a group preferred the event as it had more relevant information and provided an element of engagement as well.
Our first talk of the day was ‘Investigating the Rate of Chemical Reactions’ and was presented by David Wray from Shrewsbury School. We enjoyed the interactive degree within the presentation as it contained multiple videos. We learnt how to interpret graphs and the factors which affect the rate of chemical reactions (such as concentration changing over time), surface area and catalyst. Leading on from there, the next talk was ‘A mathematical coincidence’ by Gordon Montgomery, a Shrewsbury School member.
Among our group, this talk was one of the most preferred ones out of the four. It taught us the link between triangular and cube numbers and the fact that nothing in Maths is coincidental and they encouraged us to explore and prove given patterns. It also showed us the importance of theoretical proof and then applying your knowledge into a practical investigation. ‘A ladder to the End of the Universe’ by Dr Elliot, another Shrewsbury School member, was the third talk. It was demonstrating the evidence for the universe expanding and how we know what there is out there.
We were also introduced to Parallax which is where the angle changes depending on your given position. The Inverse-square Law is the representation of light intensity seen from different distances and the energy from the source is spreading four times the area. The last talk was about DNA replication and COVID-19 testing by Dory Polos from Oundle School. We also discovered the difference between RNA and DNA. Linking to the current crisis (COVID-19) there was a level of relevance as we were discussing the PCR tests which are being used in the testing process.
We were also given optional practicals which we could engage with in our own time over half term. Given the event, we’re excited to engage in our next one in the New Year and we are looking forward to updating you with some further news!
Written by Valeria Paslar, Georgie Ingham, Ellie Pankhurst, Kayla Eaton, Tabby Fish, Liam Neville and Richie Howells
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Posted by marchesadmin on 1st December 2020, under groveadmin
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