So the deadline for submission is fast approaching and I just wanted to write up a short, last post to summarise my experience of this course and what I’ve created from it.

In the end, my final product can be summarised as follows:

  • 5 activities with associated worksheets
  • A comprehensive teacher’s guide
  • Additional materials such as certificates, introductory letters and risk assessment

I’ve titled it “Wizards, Magic and Science” (and resisted adding “Oh my!” in a nod to the Wizard of Oz). I’ve created activities that use materials that can be easily, cheaply found in any supermarket and don’t require any specialist equipment to carry out. The activities are an introduction to ideas like Density, Viscosity, Reactions, Code Breaking and Latin and I have done my best to make them interdisciplinary and promote student centered learning.

I am really happy with what I’ve created and really believe that it’s a great way of introducing scientific concepts to young learners in a fun way. I put a lot of effort into it and it has paid off.

I also received a great email from my supervisor JC. He had been in touch with some of his contacts and had found an Easter holiday club that was interested in putting on my activities. I finished up my documents for printing and collected the materials that would be needed. I was hoping to get a little feedback from them before submission that I could include in my report or use to make some last minute improvements but as the timeline is a little short I’ll have to do without. In any case the feedback I receive later will be very useful to me in future projects, and knowing that JC thought my project was good enough to share was a great confidence booster.

Being on the MPhys course, generally students in their fourth year take on an intense, semester long research project. After hearing about the option to do the GeoScience Outreach and Engagement course instead of a project I jumped on the chance and I’m extremely glad I did. This course has felt like one of the first things in my degree that I’ve truly enjoyed and been excited to do. The course is incredibly different from anything I’ve done before and I highly recommend it to anyone who is even slightly interested in science education, outreach, or just wants to do something different.

See you,

Jen

Finishing Up and Final Words / Jennifer Struthers / Geoscience Outreach and Engagement (2020-2021)[FLEX] by blogadmin is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 3.0