I wanted to take visitors (mostly children under 12 and their parents) on a journey down from the brain, to neurons, then into the neurons to the mitochondria and their DNA. We set up a large exhibit with lots of hands-on games and experiments. We also recruited the help of ‘Mitoman’ and his side-kick ATP to explain some of the details to the visitors. In the brain section of the exhibit we had a life like brain for people to feel, a game to show how the shape of animals brains changes depending on their behaviours and some brain models. For the neuron section we simply had some microscopes and sections of brain so people could really see what their brains look like. For those people that were interested we also had a section from a Parkinson’s disease case and a control to really show the devastating loss of cells from this brain region with disease.

Then moving onto everyone’s favourite organelle, the mitochondria, we had an ingenious circuit showing how important it was for neurons to have lots of mitochondria to generate their energy and some lovely pictures. In the final section of the exhibit we introduced mitochondrial DNA, firstly showing how little mitochondrial DNA there is in the cell compared to chromosomal DNA (with a judicial application of jelly worms (chromosomes) and jelly rings (mitochondrial DNA)), then we let the children try loading a gel for looking at mitochondrial DNA (we definitely discovered some natural scientists!) and finally showed how mitochondrial DNA could be used for tracking the movement of people across the globe!

We were completely rushed off our feet with visitors for the 5 hours we were there but enjoyed every minute! It was a really rewarding and fun day and everyone who volunteered to help me out gained a lot from interacting with the children and their families. None of this would have been possible without the prize from ‘I’m a Scientist’ and my team of volunteers. The prize fund helped me get together all the props I needed for the exhibition and to produce all the posters and information to go with it. There is still a little bit of the prize fund left, that I plan to use to repeat this next year!

Amy won the Healthy Aging Zone in June 2011.

I also said I was investigating ways I could help a local school or youth group. Since then I have started helping at a local school with their after school science club. (see page 3!) I have already donated prizes for their science fair project and have started planning for a new term with some hopefully exciting afternoons in store. The rest of the prize money will be going towards equipment and supplies for some of the things I’m planning.

Hopefully if I can win some more funds at a future event I can arrange something with another school or keep my involvement in the current one free for years to come!

Ian won the Beryllium Zone in June 2010. He provides scientific support and advice to law enforcement and counter terrorism agencies for the UK Home Office.

In mid November the Wellcome Trust agreed to fund 50% of the costs of I’m a Scientist for the next 3 years, and we’ve also got 4 sponsors supporting themed zones.

The 3 General zones are named after elements and will have a mix of scientists from all disciplines. We’re through to Gallium, Germanium and Selenium in the periodic table for March. The chemists among you may notice that we’re sadly not running an Arsenic Zone, because of the problems it may cause with firewalls.

The 5 themed zones are open for scientists who are members of, or funded by, the zone sponsors:

• Electromagnetic Zone: sponsored by the Science & Technology Facilities Council
• Energy Zone: sponsored by the RCUK Energy Programme
• Quantum Zone: sponsored by the Institute of Physics
• Space Zone: sponsored by the Institute of Physics
• Sports Science Zone: sponsored by The Physiological Society

Scientists can still apply to take part, until applications close on Friday 3rd February.

Subatomic Zone – Aaron Dinas, Littleover Community School

Zinc Zone – Anu Elegbede, St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School

Well done to Aaron and Anu! The moderators thought they both asked good questions and really engaged with the event. They will each receive a student winner certificate and WH Smith vouchers.

We would also like to thank all the other students who participated. There were some brilliant live chats and thought provoking questions asked which challenged the scientists.

As one scientist said “the questions are great – was just discussing some of them with my research group at lunch“.

Winner

Tom Hartley – for suggesting ‘Which do you think is more important, sending people into space, or developing new cures for diseases here on earth?’

We loved this question, and the scientists’ thoughtful answers, because it goes to the heart of why we do I’m a Scientist. We hope that it prompts students (and perhaps even the scientists!) to think more about big questions like ‘how do we decide what science to fund?’, and realise that the answers are rarely black and white. Budgets are always finite, and deciding what gets funded and what doesn’t isn’t simple. Partly because we don’t know what research will be successful. But also because, as caragh26 highlights with this question, we have to weigh different values against each other.

Runners up

Adam Tuff – for suggesting ‘Does present and future exist? I ask for present because anything I see is not the instantly observed because light even takes some time to reach into my pupil, so am I still in the past? And for future because I know I am going to submit this question, it means that the future is definite?’

A fantastic and imaginative question which pretty much had the scientists stumped.

Kiana Bowden - for suggesting ‘Do you travel around a lot to work with other scientists as part of your job?’

We had a give a prize to Kiana for her essay-length explanation of how this question, or rather the answers, had really changed her view of scientists.

Drew Rae – for suggesting ‘How many elephants does it take to fill the suface area of the moon?’

I don’t need to explain this one do I?

Emily Robinson – for suggesting ‘If iron is magnetic and we have iron in our blood, does that mean we’re magnetic?’

A great question that shows the student thinking like a true scientist. And it has the X-men in the answers.

Prizes

All our worthy winners will be getting a Wellcome Trust bag containing goodies in the form of Last Word books from New Scientist, ‘Why does E=MC2?’ book by Brian Cox & Jeff Forshaw, provided by the Institute of Physics, IoP pens and toys. All just in time for Christmas.

None of you are allowed to give your prizes away as Christmas presents though. You must keep them forever.

Thanks to all our competition entrants, and of course to the thousands of fantastic students who’ve asked amazing questions in I’m a Scientist over the years. And the hundreds of scientists who’ve answered them.

Genome Futures is part of the Wellcome Trust’s 75th anniversary celebrations, where Wellcome Trust-funded centres, such as the Sanger Institute, are running events to engage their local communities.

The Sanger Institute is a research centre that specialises in studying diseases that have an impact on global health by investigating genomes.

During the event students from Sawston Village College will ASK scientists questions, CHAT with them during a live chat, and VOTE for the scientist who has best talked about their work. But unlike previous I’m a Scientist events there are no evictions. All the scientists will keep answering questions from the students until the end of the event on Friday 16th December.

The event will give local students the opportunity to explore genome research and how it may affect them in the future. The students and Sanger Institute scientists use this website to talk about genomic research, exchanging ideas and opinions on the impact genomics may have on science and society. They both break down barriers, have fun and learn.

Mike Stratton, Director of the Sanger Institute, says “I am delighted that my colleagues and I are involved in such a progressive project that makes science more accessible to the public. This is an innovative opportunity to spark excitement in teenagers who may have never considered a scientific career.”

There are 3 zones running at the same time – Sanger, Franklin and Sulston, named after scientists who have had a big impact on genome research. The Sanger Institute scientists taking part in each zone are:

We hope that this project will continue to run and grow in the future, as more Sanger Institute scientists can talk about the impact genomics may have on science and society with students both in the local Cambridge area and beyond.

The five STFC scientists in each of the Subatomic and Zinc Zones battled it out for student votes, chatting with students in 36 live chats and answering 684 questions along the way.

The scientists were eliminated one by one, to reveal the winner in each zone. So, congratulations to the winners:

Ben Still – Subatomic Zone – Queen Mary, University of London
Peta Foster – Zinc Zone - STFC Central Laser Facility

Ben and Peta both receive £500 to spend on a science communication project, and we can’t wait to see their wonderful ideas put into practice!

Ben plans to “Put it towards producing some podcasts and a documentary for everyone to enjoy” and Peta wants to “Create a demonstration of the best question/s I receive here so that it can be used for tours and taken to schools.”

Thank you, and commiserations, to all the other scientists. You’ve been brilliant participants and each and every one of you contributed to the success of this event. The event couldn’t run without all the effort you put in.

Thank you to all the teachers for your enthusiasm and involvement and finally thanks to all the students! Your brilliant chats and thought provoking questions have kept the scientists on their toes. As one of the scientists said during the event “The questions are great – was just discussing some of them with my research group at lunch“.

Students, please remember to fill our feedback survey, so we can make I’m a Scientist even better in the future.

To take part in future events, scientists and schools can sign up now.

And finally, a BIG thank you to the Science & Technology Facilities Council for sponsoring the Subatomic and Zinc Zones in this event. The conversations explored all areas of STFC research, from the Large Hadron Collider and Neutrinos in the news to lasers and particle accelerators.

See you next time!

The good news is that the committee said Yes. They have agreed a Society Award to fund 50% (as requested) of the costs of the event. The even better news is that this means we can expand the number of zones we run. In 2012 we’ll run 30 zones and this will rise to 50 in 2014. More students, more teachers, more schools and more scientists will now get to take part.

The other 50% of the costs will be met by sponsors. Today we’ve kicked off a 2 zone event sponsored by the STFC (Subatomic & Zinc). Next year there’ll be another STFC zone, the Physiological Society are sponsoring a zone, and the Institute of Physics are sponsoring at least 3 zones. We’re hoping to be able to announce other sponsors before Christmas. Over time we’ll work out other ways to help pay for the event.

In the meantime we need to get our heads down and start planning the 6 zones we’ve promised for March. Please sign up to register your interest in taking part as a scientist or a teacher.

We have a 10 minute presentation and then 25 minutes of Q&A.

We need your help!

During the Q&A we will have a slide that will display all the tweets with #IAS2011 – live. It would be very impressive to see loads of tweets supporting the event between 16:30 and 17:00.

140 characters (including #IAS2011) saying what you got out of it would be perfect. I’m sure the committee would want to hear directly from the participants so please don’t hold back.

That’s between 4.30 and 5pm on Tuesday 8th November. Please put it in your diary and tweet for #IAS2011

It’s a good few months since the last I’m a Scientist in June earlier this year, and the time has come to run another event!

From November 14th-25th we are running a smaller I’m a Scientist event with 2 zones. It’s sponsored by the Science & Technology Facilities Council, so the 10 scientists taking part all work with the STFC in different ways, such as using STFC facilities, working for the STFC or receiving STFC funding for their research.

The STFC is one of the 7 Research Councils in the UK, and they address research topics from particle physics to global security. They’re looking at topics as fundamental as the birth of the universe to the solar system we live in, understanding how the heavy elements are formed in the violent explosions of stars, and if it’s possible to complete the ‘Standard Model’ (including the search for the elusive Higgs boson particle).

Schools

Littleover Community School, Littleover
Sacred Heart, Hammersmith
Smithycroft Secondary School, Riddrie
Ernest Bevin College, Tooting
Great Marlow School, Marlow
St Marys, Worcester
Woodkirk Academy, Wakefield
Thistley Hough High School, Penkhull
Trinity CE High School, Hulme
Buxton School, Leytonstone
Blackfen School for Girls, Blackfen
Carlton Bolling College, Bradford
Lampton School, Hounslow
Budmouth College, Weymouth
Marshalls Park School, Romford
Swindon Academy, Swindon

Zinc Zone

Schools

The Marlborough School, Woodstock
Kinlochbervie High, Sutherland
Cedars School of Excellence, Greenock
Convent of St Jesus & Mary’s Language School, Harlesdon
Fitzharrys School, Abingdon
Jewish Community Secondary School, New Barnet
Cantell Maths & Computing School, Southampton
Chichester High School For Girls, Chichester
St Mary Redcliffe & Temple School, Bristol
Sanday Community School, Orkney
Alderbrook School, Solihull
Macclesfield College, Macclesfield
King Henry VIII School, Coventry
Al Noor Secondary School, Sparkhill