Making Science Interesting?

Want to know about the first text message ever sent?

These are just some of the fascinating facts chosen by a group of teachers to inspire youngsters to pick a career in science and engineering.

They are launching a “guerilla science” campaign, posting up a range of amazing and amusing facts in parks, chippies and skate parks.

The project has been organised with The Big Bang UK Young Scientists and Engineers Fair to be held at Birmingham NEC on March 13-16 next year.

Vasu Krishnaswamy from London’s Stanmore College has been involved and says: “This is a fun and different way to remind pupils that science and engineering are part of our lives – from the games they play on their iPhone, to the bus they get on each day.

“We hope to capture young people’s imaginations – the first step to really engaging in and enjoying a subject.”

The words written on Twitter every day would fill a book of 10 million pages.

The technology behind smartphones relies on up to 250,000 separate patents.

A typical microwave oven uses more electricity keeping its digital clock on standby than it does heating food.

The entire internet weighs about the same as one large strawberry.

On average, every square mile of sea on the planet contains 46,000 pieces of rubbish.

If humans were capable of hearing bass frequencies lower than 20 Hz, we would be able to hear our own muscles moving.

Humans share 50% of our DNA with a banana.

Twenty five per cent of all of your bones are in your feet.

The average person walks the equivalent of three times around the world in a lifetime.

The average lavatory seat is much cleaner than the aver*age toothbrush. That’s because your teeth are home to around 10,000 million bacteria per square cm.

Mosquitoes have killed more humans than all the wars in history combined.

Cats have more than one hundred vocal sounds, while dogs have only about 10.

If you drilled a tunnel straight through the Earth and jumped in, it would take you 42 minutes 12 seconds to get to the other side.

Light travels 18 million times faster than rain.

Do you think this will work?

In my own experience, children react really well to something that surprises or intrigues them and they love finding out more about something that has that effect on them.

I hope this is a success.

(Lots more in the link for anyone interested: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-n...ananas-2482139 )

Re: Making Science Interesting?

When I did engineering at Uni, engineers were viewed as people in grubby overalls with spanners in their pockets. They seemed to be looked down on by the arty-farty types who couldn't change a lightbulb is they had to.

Things have progressed in those 40 odd years, one thing being the widening gap between the engineers and designers who develop products and the consumers who use them. Most technology seems to be disposable and you don't need to know how it works. If it doesn't work, throw it away and get a new one - if it's more than a week old, it's probably obosolete anyway.

So, the scientists and engineers have to be well educated in maths, physics, chemistry, computing etc.. It would be great to get kids interested in engineering etc.., but you have to back this up with good education and opportunities and I'm not convinced that these exists.

Re: Making Science Interesting?

There has always been a kind of polite sneering between the Arts and Science faculties - I thought it was part and parcel of university life

Britain seems to lack badly in the sciences so I hope this does fire the kids interests. I used to run simple science sessions at scouts and youth club and the kids always loved it so it isn't that the interest isn't there.