Abingdonian 2020

26 The Abingdonian Primary Science Club I have been participating in the Primary Science Club (PSC) for the past two years and I have thoroughly enjoyed it, as it is a truly rewarding activity. It has included me preparing and presenting fun and educational science experiments to local primary school pupils as part of the team of Science Ambassadors. Just as it has brought knowledge and fun to the younger pupils, it has benefited me (and the team) considerably in areas ranging from leadership skills to communication skills. Not only is it so rewarding to see the children having fun, whilst learning some basic science, but it also helps build confidence and clarity when presenting the science-based ideas. This can come in really useful when trying to talk about the subjects you like with others — even though the level of scientific ideas is much more basic! The Primary Science Club is also a great way of getting the Volunteering section for the three DofE awards done, whether it is Bronze, Silver or Gold. Some have also done a Gold CREST Award through the club, which is a great way of showing your passion for science and, as an added bonus, it can help with your UCAS personal statement. The Primary Science Club has had many successes this year, but one of the greatest was when a group of primary pupils from the club won a prize of $1000 in the Fluor Engineering Challenge 2020 after learning about and testing catapults and projectiles. The challenge involved making a catapult to “fire” a ping-pong ball at a makeshift cricket wicket made from two pencils and a rubber. The aim was to make the rubber fall by firing the ping-pong ball as many times as possible in a given period of time. It was particularly rewarding to see our teaching and mentoring efforts helping the younger pupils win this competition. Usually, we are split into two groups of Ambassadors with one group presenting and the other preparing another topic for the following week. However, with the lockdown, the Primary Science Club had to change tactics by making worksheets and videos to post on the Abingdon Science Partnership’s website. In groups of 2 or 3, we each designed an experiment and provided an explanatory sheet, which the younger pupils could use to conduct the experiment at home with common household items. For example we made worksheets about making a soap-powered boat or invisible ink, explaining all the corresponding concepts to the pupils. Overall, I would say that the best thing about participating in the Primary Science Club has been the personal growth that it has brought us all as Ambassadors. Some of the comments from the group have included: “I have truly enjoyed Primary Science Club as it has developed my planning, practical and leadership skills in an extremely rewarding way.” “I find the Primary Science Club really rewarding as it is not only enjoyable to teach the children experiments but I also find it useful as I get to go over science, helping to revise some topics. My favourite part this term was probably the egg drop, as I love to see all the different designs that the children come up with and I love to see which experiments work.” “It’s been very useful in helping me develop leadership, teaching and public speaking skills, alongside being enjoyable to do.” So, as you can read, the Primary Science Club has been extremely appreciated by all of us. I would most definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to have a good time and also benefit in many other ways. It’s especially interesting if one wants to feel what it is like to be on the other side of the classroom. Alexandre Peuch, 5KEB