Science at the Lakes – it’s all in the chemistry
by
Emma Masters
It’s not every day you can say you’ve met a Nobel Prize winner, let
alone met an English Knight – but the school children who visited this
year’s UniSA Science at the Lakes will be able to brag for years to come
they’ve done those very things.
But a visit by Professor Sir Harry Kroto – who was knighted in the same year he was awarded a Nobel Prize for chemistry – was just one of many exciting science activities at Mawson Lakes.
For two days more than 1000 school students and the general public visited Mawson Lakes campus to see presentations and displays, and take part in activities and hands-on experiments – from test driving a flight simulator to looking at stars, from operating robots to learning about bugs and slugs.
Coordinator of Science at the Lakes, Ian Forster, says the National Science Week event was about taking science and technology to the community.
“We’re taking science out of the classroom and engaging students through hands-on learning – showing them that science is important and fun,” Forster said.
“Special themes were carefully chosen to reflect current issues in society such as sustainability and the natural environment, technology and communications.”
Science at the Lakes also focused on the broad range of challenging and exciting careers in the field.
“The diversity now in science and technology means there’s a growing need for young people to have a keen interest in pursuing science careers in order to meet the next generation of industry requirements,” Forster said.
And Prof Kroto (pictured above with Endeavour College Year 10 students), who discovered the largest symmetrical carbon-containing molecule known to man, commonly called the “buckyball”, couldn’t agree more.
Aside from telling a packed theatre of school students about atoms, molecules and the importance of chemistry to everyday life, he also encouraged the students to consider a career in science.
Prof Kroto told the students that science is the key to solving major problems in the world – from saving the environment to finding cures for diseases.
“We make mistakes – that’s human nature. But you have to keep asking questions. And doubt and questions are the basis of science,” Prof Kroto said.
“As a scientist you realise before long that if the future is in anyone’s
hands, it’s in yours. That’s why we need young people doing science.”