For information on the Science Festival 05, visit the Scicomm website.

Dr Bellamy I presume!
The world renowned botanist and environmental campaigner David Bellamy OBE joined the Cheshire and Warrington Science Festival on June 16th for a day of environmental awareness with school children from the Northwich area.

David poses with the event organisers. From left to right: Vic Page, Cath Birch, Graham Bonwick, Debbie Smith, David Bellamy, Sue Warburton, Don Firkins and Karen Lawson.

The day at Marshall’s Arm Nature reserve in Hartford was jointly organised with The Vale Royal Environmental Network and involved over 200 young people from seven different schools. The pupils experienced different aspects of nature through workshops in wetland and grassland areas. There were also a range of indoor activities and a chance to question the nation’s favourite botanist himself!

David helps the young people in a pond dipping exercise.

David and two school children examine the contents of their net in a meadow.

The aim of the day was to highlight the need for environmental care on a local scale and to encourage young people’s interest in science and nature. Karen Lawson, the Event Organiser, thanked David for giving up his time for the Science Festival and congratulated the pupils on their achievements. “The Down To Earth Science Day was a great success and there were lots of enthusiastic budding environmentalists on hand to participate fully in all the workshops”. “Science and technology is a key sector locally and we have lots of employers on our doorstep who are looking to this generation of youngsters to develop an interest and relevant skills in the sector. One of the Festival’s successes has been the number of young people who have shown an interest in the sector as a result of taking part in activities such as this”.

David Bellamy addresses young people at Marshall’s Arm Nature Reserve 16/6/04

Sir Isaac (actor David Hall) poses with children from Ellesmere Port

The show, produced by the Johnny Ball Production Company, has toured the country to critical acclaim and brought science to life, enriching children´s understanding of the sciences. The event was sponsored by Urenco (Capenhurst) Ltd. and partnered by the Ellesmere Port Action Zone (EAZ) in Ellesmere Port and SETPOINT Cheshire & Warrington in Macclesfield. Liz Cousins of the EAZ was quoted in the local press saying ´Science is an important part of our children´s learning, and it is really great to have a local leading edge science-based company supporting events that bring science alive´.

Sir Isaac (actor David Hall) poses with The Mayor of Macclesfield, Councillor Joan Barnes, alongside her husband (and Consort), honorary Alderman Alan Barnes and children from Tytherington

Teachers from Birchwood Community High examine the geology you can find in your shopping basket with staff from the Grosvenor Museum at Warrington Fun Day

Hartford school children learn how to rebuild a computer board with Jordi Morrel of VBC at Hartford Fun Day

A full list of all the organisations who took part can be found on our Events & Activities.

Children from Ellesmere Port learn about environmental sustainability with EcoAudit at Ellesmere Port Fun Day

Children of Sutton High school learning about the work of the Cheshire Wildlife Police 24/3/04

Eric Smith of Ocean Floor Diving engages children at Ellesmere Port Fun Day 24/3/04

Children learn about centrifugal forces with a ride on a Rodeo Bull provided by PA Promotions at Sutton High School 24/3/04

Children learning about Optical Illusions (foreground) and computer science (background) at Ellesmere Port Fun Day 24/3/04.

Fly Me to the Moon!
Starchaser Industries Ltd. gave two very successful presentations in one day for this year´s Cheshire and Warrington Science Festival. Their day started around 6.30 where Starchaser rocket ´Nova´ was loaded onto its articulated lorry and transported from their base in Hyde to the Chester Campus of University College Chester. To much excitement, the rocket was parked and then raised into a mock launch position to tower 40ft high over many of the surrounding buildings.

Primary school children learn about the work of Starchaser Industries 18/3/04

Pucker up for Science Festival
VALENTINE'S DAY saw Dr Stewart Bruce-Low and Prof David Cotterrell of University College Chester start the Cheshire and Warrington Science Festival off with Phil Johnson, a presenter from Chester’s Dee 106.3 radio station, in the Kissing Chair. They were monitoring the effects of kissing as part of a study into chemical responses in the body. Their results may help unlock the age-old secret of why some kisses set the heart fluttering and your pulse racing and others leave you cold.

The kissing study was also an opportunity to give people a taste of the fun events being planned during this year’s Science Festival. Professor Graham Bonwick, who heads the Science Festival team, said the Festival would be a celebration of Cheshire and Warrington’s significant contribution to the scientific and technological expertise of the UK. ’Industry, research institutes, education and training providers will all be involved, in range of activities, to demonstrate how science contributes to society,’ he said.

The Festival launches in National Science Week on March 12, but this year events will be staged over a number of months across Chester and the rest of Cheshire. Science Fun Days, lectures with personalities from the world of science and science competitions and demonstrations will be taking place around Cheshire at schools, in businesses and in the community. The Northwest Development Agency and the Cheshire and Warrington Learning and Skills Council jointly fund the Science Festival. Festival Co-ordinator Sue Warbuton, said: ’ The Festival is an opportunity for people to learn more about science and have fun at the same time. It was also an opportunity for a wide-range of businesses, which rely on science to design, create and manufacture their products, to demonstrate what they did to a wider audience. And she encouraged any business that wanted to be involved in some way to get in touch with the Science Festival organisers at their office on the College’s Chester campus. Organisers also hope the Festival will Increase access to, and encourage participation in, training opportunities in science, health, technology and innovation, and expand the skill base and lifelong learning opportunities of the community.

The winning team from Bridgemere pose with The Right Worshipful The Lord Mayor of Chester, Terry Ralph and Vic Page of the Science Festival Team.

In the Secondary school flying competition, Penketh High School wiped the board with three of their rockets. They also won £100 for Science and Technology Resources for the school.

In the design only competition, where pupils were allowed to let their imagination go wild and produce a FAB rocket worthy of the Thunderbirds themselves, St. Mary’s RC Primary School in Congleton came up trumps. Young rocket designers Joshua Yaxley and William Frinault created the Flight of the Phoenix and won a day out at the Worthington Lakes Environmental Education Centre (near Standish) courtesy of the events sponsors, The Royal Society of Chemistry and United Utilities. The competition was judged by members of the Starchaser Industries team who were also at the event exhibiting their Nova rocket and building paper rockets with schoolchildren. The design duo also earned their school £50 for science and technology resources. Malpas Alport Primary school were runners-up and Bridgemere took their 4th prize of the day with third position.

Joshua and William are congratulated by The Right Worshipful The Lord Mayor of Chester, Terry Ralph, RSC Area Rep Sharon Tharme from Uniqema and John London / Tony Meadows of Starchaser Industries.

The day came to a climax with a Payload competition, designed not only to test flying ability of rockets, but also their potential to hold a raw egg and return it safely, unbroken to the ground. The competition was open to schools, colleges and the public alike. However, it was those ingenious pupils from Bridgemere CE Primary school who scored success!

Bridgemere pupils pose with their winning rocket and their teachers.

One of the event organisers, Fiona Stephens, proclaimed the day a success: “The atmosphere was electric and the delight on the pupils’ faces as their rockets were launched was priceless.” “The hard work put into these projects by the pupils is evident for all to see. The building of the rocket has involved science, engineering, an awareness of resources and design techniques. Hopefully this enjoyable experience will give young people across Cheshire and Warrington an awareness of the technical expertise involved in engineering, manufacturing and aeronautics and allow them a base on which to develop their interests in these areas.” The Science Festival team would like to thank all the partner organisations and exhibitors at The Rubbish Heap Rocket Competition day at Chester Racecourse: Clive Richards and David Atkinson of Chester City Council; Andrew Bate of Hatton Farm and his colleagues at The Chester Astronomical Society for all their hard work in devising the competition and spending all day launching the rockets!; Sharon Tharme of Uniqema in her role as Area Rep for The Royal Society of Chemistry; United Utilities for the Day out at Worthington Lakes; RAF Cosford for their paper aeroplane building workshops and Starchaser Industries for bringing along their team to show the Nova Rocket, tell everyone about their quest to reach space and their paper rocket building workshop.

Steve Leonard poses with children and an Australian Reptile from the Blue Planet Aquarium before his Wild Science show on 16/3/04.

Promotional picture of Cheshire Poet Laureate, John Lindley, who read his specially commissioned poem ´The Right Chemistry´ at the Wild Science Event at Chester Town Hall 16/3/04.

From Horrible Science to Wicked Wildlife!
Books with titles such as: ´Blood, Bones and Body Parts´; ´Microscopic Monsters´ and ´Really Rotten Experiments´ helped the children at Dee Point Primary School in Blacon get an insight into all things gruesome in Science and Nature and gave them a real taste of how author Nick Arnold´s mind works!

Members ot the Science Festival Team pose with the work of Dee Point Primary School Children in the foyer of Chester Town Hall

Nick, the children and their teachers all had an entertaining morning learning about Science on the 17th March and Nick was very impressed with all the hard work the children had put into the event and by all the projects on display upon his arrival. Nick was visiting Chester to present his shows ´Horrible Science´ to primary school children and ´Wicked Wildlife´ to a public audience as part of The Cheshire and Warrington Science Festival 2004. As expected from the acclaimed author, his shows were packed with revolting experiments and gory descriptions that helped animate the more horrible aspects of our bodies and the world around us. During the evening event in Chester Town Hall, Nick invited children and their parents onto the stage to help him re-enact a series of sketches about the life and behaviour of wild animals.

The audience replies to Nick´s request for someone to get eaten by a Python! Wicked Wildlife Show 17/3/04.

His entertaining and enthusiastic narration from his books was a definite hit with a family-orientated audience of over 250 people. Here are just a few of the facts you can learn from Nick´s books:
If you are a 10 year old, then you're in luck. You have the best hearing out of anybody. After the age of 10 hearing starts to get worse!
Couch-Potatoes beware! Your brain uses 13% less energy when watching TV than it does when you're doing nothing!
Astonishingly, during its lifetime the human body will shed 5 bulging bin bags full of old skin cells!

Nick Arnold (centre) poses in front of The Cheshire and Warrington Science Festival Banner alongside Prof. Graham Bonwick (left), Festival Director, Sue Warburton (second left), Festival Manager, Clive Richards (second right), Economic Development Officer, Chester City Council and Fiona Stephens (right), Event Co-ordinator. 17/3/04

An example of the blood sample results that Forensic Scientists could use to determine the guilty party in criminal cases.

Over 50 people from 8 schools across Cheshire and Warrington have currently attended the workshop and more are due to get involved in the next few months. Any budding Sherlock Holmes interested in the discipline as a career choice can get more information about studying Forensic Science on the UCC website: http://www.chester.ac.uk/undergraduate/2004/forensic.html

Sixth-form students carry out lab tests during their Forensic Science Workshop during National Science Week (12th – 21st March 2004).

The introduction of non-native species, whether deliberately or by accident, can have unpredictable effects. These ‘aliens’ can displace our own native species.

Invasive alien research:

http://www.chester.ac.uk

Recent arrivals such as the New Zealand pygmyweed may be causing the loss of rare plants and animals from ponds throughout the UK. Already rare species such as the great crested newt might soon be lost forever.

http://www.wildlifetrust.org.uk