For Science week, we took part in a workshop carried out by students from Newcastle University, who are part of the Street Scientists team. To begin with, we were asked to complete a picture to show what a scientist looks like. When we had finished, the students explained that some scientists do wear goggles, gloves and a lab coat – just like the scientists we had drawn. They do this to protect themselves when working in the lab. One of the students who visited is studying computer science and they said that they don’t need to wear protective clothes because they don’t work with substances that are dangerous or could irritate their skin.
We went on to carry out a range of experiments to explore our senses: hearing, sight, touch, smell and taste. We were introduced to our four other senses which include the sense of heat, sense of pain, sense of balance and sense of body awareness.
We discussed the different careers that the students may go on to do with their science education, including working in food industry, pharmacy, labs and developing computer games. It was a really interesting workshop, where we learned lots, and it was great to meet the students studying science at Newcastle.
