Year 10 students visited the University of Derby where they had the opportunity to spend time exploring uni life, meet students and lecturers and have an amazing tour of the campus.
The day began with a lecture on ‘science and superheroes’ by Ian Turner. It was truly informative, engaging and mind-blowing. Ian spoke about spider man and one of his unique features being the spider web and then linked how the spider man truly imitates the spider. For example a spider will use its spider silk to hang off trees just like spider man hangs off buildings. The spider waits for the wind to blow so it can move to a different tree. He then linked spider silk to current scientific research where bullet proof jackets are being developed from spider silk so that it spreads the impact of a gun shot. There is also research in place to replace current air bags which can often hurt and damage people, especially infants, with an airbag made from spider silk. However, spider silk is not available in such a massive quantity. Ian told us that animals have been genetically modified in the US so that the milk that they give can be refined to make spider silk. He gave us examples for each superhero you can think of – truly inspiring.
The day also included an inspirational show, ‘University Challenge’, performed by theatre company 2engage which the students really enjoyed and learnt from.
Students experienced subject led activities and taster sessions delivered by a mix of higher education providers. Cake decorating, blindfolded jam sandwich making, edible bugs, mirror drawing, coding a floor robot, prism glass activity, 3D pens, 3D printing and finger printing were only some of the activities we took part in.