30 January 2018

Year 6 children at Botley Primary School enjoyed a special Polar Explorer Programme event run by ASP's Polar Ambassador, Jeremy Thomas, and designed by Abingdon School DT Department's Mike Webb. After an introduction to ideas about exploring the polar oceans, the children were challenged to design a remotely operated submersible and then to build and test a device to collect specimens from the sea bed. The children immersed themselves in the challenge, coming up with innovative designs and all building slightly different versions of the Webb Mk.1 grabber arm. They even made their own sea creatures to sample, then presented their plans and demonstrated their devices to the rest of the group. The Year 6 children are going to use their experience to run the same workshop for younger children in Year 5, allowing them to develop even more teamwork and communication skills under the direction of their science co-ordinator, Jason Pearce. They are also looking forward to their next, big Polar Explorer Programme event when several of the schools involved will be coming to the Amey Theatre to meet one of the world's most outstanding polar explorers, BBC wildlife cameraman Doug Allan, on Friday 2 March. Doug will also be giving a public lecture in the evening with tickets now available.

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