Warm up with Bec

Checking slides and improv singing with the Inspire Science Organiser Rebecca Fitzgerald.

A good attendence

With 105 year 9 students from Karratha Senior High School it was a busy day but fantastic fun and several came up to me after to say they're now thinking of a career in science which absolutely made my day!

Keynote

I was honoured to be given the chance to tell the school my life and what lessons I've learnt from working in science and how they might be able to follow. And of course I had to mention the SKA!

Q and A with Lyn

After my keynote talk I had to field a flurry of astro questions, with Chief Scientist Prof Lyn Beazley stepping in to help with the bio questions on alien life.

Group Shot

A very talented group of people took an entire day out to help and present, all making it an incredibly impressive day!

Demo-ing NASA

We got to spend time with small groups of students during the day and I chatted about NASA spacecraft, in particular the Mars Curiosity rover which was tested right there in the Pilbara.

Demo table 1

Ultimately I would speak to 105 kids in small groups, with a good mix of gender and background. Generally everyone was interested in astronomy but the NASA spacecraft app (creating a 3D model on the table) blew them away..!

Explanation with the teachers

Gratifyingly the teachers sat down to hear about astronomy alongside their pupils!

Demo table 2

Fans of the 3D app and astronomy lessons included Chief Scientist Prof Lyn Beazely!

Demo table 3

Each career got a table, and we all had a good natured competition to try and convine the pupils which career was best - some of the others were pretty convincing (I found myself drifting over during a break to listen in!)

NASA Selfies 1

So the start of a LONG line of pupils / stafff / other presenters and one Chief Scientist getting selfies with the NASA spacecraft. This is a free app. Stunning.

NASA Selfies 2

Some pupils studied the piece of paper the spacecraft image was projected over (the paper was a shot of the soil on Mars, fittingly, and was nearly identical to local Pilbara soils!)