Reading Science Week 2010
A review of the first ever
This year saw the first Reading Science Week -
of events for National Science and Engineering Week. The week was co-ordinated by the Thames Valley Branch of the British Science Association and events included science busking in the town centre; star gazing in a country park; meeting Mother Nature on Mothering Sunday; Café Scientifique in a local pub; a public lecture about Functional Foods at the University; a live link-up with scientists living and working on Montserrat volcano; and creating a biodiversity collage on a roof garden. Dr Lucy Wallace, branch chair, describes the first weekend...
"The week was a big success! We were really keen to plan a week of events which appealed to a range of people, but especially to engage people who wouldn’t necessarily come to a ‘science event’. It started off really well, with hundreds of people getting involved in hands-on science during science busking. We were busking in the town centre on a busy Saturday afternoon so there was a constant crowd of people surrounding the buskers, and lots of people stopped to chat to us and say they thought it was a great idea. We used this opportunity to hand out lots of fliers and drum-up interest in events happening the rest of the week. In fact, some of the people we chatted to then came to our star gazing event that evening as a direct result of seeing us in the town centre. We will definitely look at running science busking again!
The star gazing that evening was very popular, with between 150-200 people turning up to see the stars. Even though the sky clouded over after about an hour, people still stayed on to look at the interactive exhibits and speak to the ‘guys with the telescopes’.
The next day was Mothering Sunday and we organised an event in a local park where families could come and ‘meet mother nature’. The RSPB, British Earthworm Society, English Nature and Reading Natural History Society provided the activities and entertainment for about 100 people.
The other events all attracted high numbers of people, and the feedback was great. We are definitely going to run Reading Science Week again next year, and I can’t wait!"
Reading Science Week Photos - Click Here.
Reading Science Week Poster - Click Here.
