The Flintstone Diet: How Can We Tell What Cavemen Ate? Pupils will get the answer to this, and other questions, at Cambridge Science Festival Science Master Classes.
The Flintstone Diet: How Can We Tell What Cavemen Ate? Pupils will get the answer to this, and other questions, at Cambridge Science Festival Science Master Classes.
Pupils from 15 state schools in a 50-mile radius of Cambridge will be coming to the University this week for a programme of Science Master Classes, run as part of the Cambridge Science Festival.
A new development for the Festival, the Master Classes will bring more than 500 pupils into the University to hear leading scientists talk about aspects of their fields chosen to interest students from years 9, 10 and 11 (aged 13 to 16).
In a three-day programme beginning today (March 14-17) around 50 University scientists and academics will be giving pupil-friendly lectures on topics ranging from astronomy and archaeology to climate change and zoology, via engineering and veterinary science.
Speakers include: Dr Lisa Jardine-Wright from the Department of Astronomy; Dr Carenza Lewis from the Department of Archaeology, who has been a presenter on Channel 4's Time Team; and Dr Alexander Pietrowski from the Department of Earth Sciences.
Dr Jane Dobson of Cambridge Veterinary School, will tackle the question, “Do animals get cancer?” Professor Peter Robinson of the Cambridge Computer Laboratory will talk about “Mind-Reading Machines”. Dr Tamsin O'Connell of the Department of Archaeology will explore “The Flintstone Diet: How can we tell what cavemen ate?”
The Master Classes have been co-ordinated by Pembroke and St Catharine's Colleges, which focus on working with schools in Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Peterborough, Leicestershire and Bedfordshire.
Seven colleges are involved in hosting the schools for talks, tours and lunches. They are Corpus Christi, Downing, Emmanuel, Jesus, King's, Pembroke and St Catharine's.
The schools taking part vary from those serving rural catchment areas to those located in multi-ethnic inner city communities. During their visits to Cambridge, pupils from different schools will be split between groups to work outside their usual friendship groups.
Many of the schools will bring students who have been identified by their teachers as “gifted and talented” and have the academic potential to progress into higher education. For many, the visit will be their first experience of a university.
“The response from schools to the Science Master Classes initiative has been so positive that we could have filled the number of places twice over,” said Rachel Spruce, Education Access Officer for Pembroke and St Catharine's Colleges.
“We hope that the pupils who take part will return to their schools full of enthusiasm for their science GCSEs, with a positive taste of what science offers in terms of higher education and beyond, and the motivation to find out more just for the love of learning.”
The Science Master Classes programme has been sponsored by Cambridge Consultants, with additional support from AimHigher Peterborough and Cambridgeshire.
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