Stardust Hunters

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

This project aims to: - Engage and enthuse school pupils aged 8-14 years about the exciting and relatively new research area of urban micrometeorites. - Deliver high quality educational activities based around this topic, highlighting this area of STFC research to schools and public audiences in the South and West Wales areas - Target schools in under-served communities in socioeconomically deprived areas of South and West Wales, providing them with the opportunity to carry out scientific investigations in school (and at home with their parents/families/guardians) which can then genuinely contribute to real research. - Provide pupils with the skills needed to 'work like a scientist' by developing their investigative skills, - Introduce pupils to enthusiastic STEM communicators/scientists who will convey their career journey to them, showcasing the possible routes that pupils can take if they wish to pursue a career in STEM. This pilot project will target both English and Welsh medium primary and secondary schools in South Wales, ensuring that speakers of both languages in Wales have access to these innovative and engaging resources.The impact on the pupils will be increased knowledge of this area of STFC research, and the topic of the Solar System in general; increased knowledge, skills and confidence in developing and carrying out a scientific investigation (how a scientists works); increased engagement of the community in science in general, and increased opportunity for school pupils to participate in real research tasks with the possibility of being the first to find micrometeorites in Wales (possibly the UK) and contributing to research papers. Learning the skills of how to search for and identify potential micrometeorites through the workshops, pupils will also be able to take this knowledge home to their families and continue to carry out these investigations at home, with other family members or friends. All resources will be available on the project website, thus their family and friends can find out more about the science etc. behind the project this way. This 'citizen science' approach will have an impact on the family/friends of the pupils who have attended a workshop, thus dispersing the project further and encouraging more people to engage in science. The schools workshops, along with bilingual curriculum-linked documents will cover a number of areas. Pupils will learn about Solar System Science and the topic of micrometeorites in general, including STFC's contribution to this research area. They will then learn and develop their skills on how to carry out a scientific investigation, with the main aim being for them to conduct their own search for micrometeorites in their school playgrounds. They will learn how to identify candidate micrometeorites and then have any potential candidates analysed by the team in Swansea University for confirmation on whether they have found a micrometeorite or not. Older students (11-14 years) will also be given information and educational resources based on the analysis methods used at the University (e.g. how scanning electron microscopes work, what is a spectrum and what does it tell us etc). The impact on STFC will be through an increase in awareness of STFC and its research. This is a pilot project, which if successful, we would like to roll out to schools outside of Wales (depending on funding). However, the resources which will be developed as part of this pilot project will be freely available for the duration of the project and beyond, for anyone to access and use, giving the opportunity for anyone to engage in this area of science in their own homes and communities.