Science and culture at Bluedot
Education coordinator Katayune Presland recruited 10 members of the Royal Society of Chemistry to help carry out outreach activities at the Bluedot Festival, held on 20–22 July.
Bluedot is a festival of music, science, art, culture, and space exploration, and takes place every year in the grounds of Jodrell Bank, home to the giant Lovell Telescope.
The activities in the Royal Society of Chemistry tent focused on ‘spaceship earth’, our fragile ‘blue dot’ planet, and the ways in which we look after the only planet we have ever known.
The activities at the tent included a plastic waste-themed hook-a-duck and a water filtration challenge featuring fluffy balls in different sizes.
The filtration challenge – where visitors had to race move balls of different sizes from one tray to another as quickly as possible – brought out the competitive side of some families, and many visitors returned several times to try and beat their previous time.
Visitors also had the chance to make their own water filtration system, using items such as rocks, sand, charcoal and cloth. Free glowsticks and UV body paint were also popular, fun, and gave the volunteers an opportunity to talk the visitors through some interesting science.
The member volunteers included university students and postdocs from the University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University, apprentices from AstraZeneca, a teacher, and a chemist working at BASF. The volunteers worked in alternating two hour shifts, meaning they had time off in between to enjoy the festival.
Get involved
Katayune is currently recruiting enthusiastic RSC members to get involved with the next NW outreach event which will be at The Atkinson in Southport on 29th Sept. Volunteers will engaging and educating attendees, waiting to attend the Musically Explosive shows by Matthew Tosh, on the chemistry of fireworks, sparklers and glow sticks! If you are interested or have any questions about getting involved please contact Kat using the box below.
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