With the aim of teaching Year 5 children about microbes and disease outbreaks; a total of 60 students participated in three differently themed workstations. These themes included: teaching the children about different type of bacteria, understanding the cause of disease outbreak and the history and discovery of penicillin. A team of enthusiastic, knowledgeable, and engaging volunteers from across the Dunn School – Alison Murphy (Maloy lab), Becky Moore (Sattentau lab), Lisa Gartenmann (Raff lab), Nina Jajcanin Jozic (Freeman lab), and Xanita Saayman (Esashi lab) – ensured the event was a success.
Rebecca Blackwell, a Year 5 teacher said that even a few days later: ‘The children have still been buzzing about it today!’
The children were inquisitive and fascinated by the activities throughout the day. They also appeared quite eager to show off their newly learnt knowledge and skills during the wrap-up session, when they were brimming with questions for the volunteers.
This outreach session is part of a series of three events that will take place with scientists at the Dunn School and Pegasus Primary School. The next sessions will tackle the topics of microscopy in the spring, and DNA and genetic inheritance, in the summer.
The events were initiated and planned by Rachel Exley, Lindsay Stimson, and Christoph Tang in partnership with teachers from Pegasus School. They are aimed at instilling in children a keen interest in science and research, complementing their Key Stage 2 learning, and showing them that science and making discoveries is exciting.
Lisa Gartenmann