Science Investigation Day: Top of the Bench Heats

Indigestion was definitely not the order of the day when school teams from across the East Anglian Region took part in a competition to find the region’s representatives for Top of the Bench.

Kesgrave School getting to grips with the problem

Organised by the Local Committee, the day involved pupils from years 9, 10, and 11 tackling tasks involving colourful chromatography, fizzing tablets, and microscale tests to investigate problems with the new indigestion cure that their ‘company’ was producing.  There was also an artistic element as the final challenge was to design a name and logo for the new product.

Taking place in the laboratories of Bayer CropScience in Norwich, the pupils all enjoyed the practical, problem solving day, with eventual winners being Ipswich High School for Girls, followed by Hartismere and Culford Schools. All the teams put up strong performances. Unfortunately the competition was slightly depleted as a result of a storm surge in the North Sea. (Their schools had been turned into evacuation centres overnight.)

The top three teams all received prizes, jointly donated by the Local Section and Bayer, presented by John Beckett, the Chairman of the East Anglia Section, and Dave Jones, the Bayer Site Manager.

The Section is most grateful to Bayer CropScience for their help, support and "goodie bags" for all. Our thanks also go to Edulab who kindly donated some of their microscience equipment for use on the day.