Workshops 2014-15
The Saturday Club Workshops in 2014-15 were hosted by the School of Computer Science, and the School of Chemistry. We also went on a field trip to the Big Bang Fair!
Racing Robots
Our very first workshop was hosted by the School of Computer Science as part of our Big Launch! event. Teams of girls programmed the robots to pick up plastic balls as they raced through challenging mazes.
Spud Science - battery power?
Think you know all there is to know about potatoes? Think again.
Our Newton girls donned their labcoats and set out to investigate the humble spud…
Power a clock? Check. Did you know a potato can power a battery?
Did you know that it's not just oranges that contain vitamin C - spuds do too? Our young scientists measured just how much vitamin C is packed into a potato.
We studied starch grains under the microscope and joined Dr Bukola Daramola from the National Centre for Food Manufacturing to learn all about Gas Chromatography – Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) and its use to study volatile compounds and the changes that occur during potato spoilage processes.
...And we learnt all about the electronic nose (E-Nose) and how it is applied in the food industry.
Chemistry Christmas Cracker
Chemistry, Crystals and Fun…
In the spirit of Christmas and in celebration of the 2014 Year of Crystallography, the Newton girls asked: how do snowflakes grow? How does a pocket hand-warmer work? ...and why does that chocolate that you left to melt in the car taste really, really awful?
Hosted by the School of Chemistry, the Newton girls studied crystal growth under the microscope, watched a rock crystal garden grow and grew tree decorations covered in sparkling silver nitrate crystals…
The Big Bang Fair
The Newton Academy took its first cohort of girls on a visit to the 2015 Big Bang Young Scientist and Engineers Fair at the Birmingham NEC on Saturday 14 March 2015.
Forty girls, accompanied by ten staff and student volunteers from the University of Lincoln, travelled by coach to spend the day at the largest celebration of science, engineering, technology and maths (STEM) for young people in the UK, where they participated in fun (and sometimes mind-blowing!) hands-on activities and workshops, met inspiring engineers and scientists from some of the biggest and most interesting companies in the UK, and viewed spectacular live shows.
The visit showed some of the many exciting careers and rewarding opportunities that exist for young people with STEM backgrounds. The award-winning extravaganza also provided careers information, and resources and sessions to help bring science and engineering careers to life.
