Three fantastic reports. Each captures the excitement of the day and that every aspect of the conference was enjoyed by the students.
Here are this year’s winners.
Don Henderson, Chairman, Organising Group
April 2010
| Reporter | School | Year | Rank |
| Catia Boa Esperanca | Coulsdon College | 12 | First |
| Rana Alotaibi | King Fahed Academy | 10 | Second |
| Hannah Mohy-Eldin | King Fahed Academy | 11 | Third |
Catia Boa Esperanca, Coulsdon College, Year 12
Introduction
On the 18th of March, me and my classmates participated in the National Pathology Week. Before even going we were not expecting anything but the curiosity could be seen in our expressions.
When we arrived, acknowledging we were the red group, we were greeted with a welcome conference and a speech about future fantastic. Before the second speech had started we were told by the speaker, Professor Averil McDonald, that the speech would last for about 45 minutes and I would be lying if I said we all were looking forward to it. However, Professor McDonald made us travel to 50 years from now by making an inspiring, funny and yet interesting speech about the future. Now, I personally loved this not only because it was informative and funny but because I used to look around in my life, my world and how much the men have achieved throughout the years and I used to think that nothing else could be improved; or if it could, wouldn’t be so different from what is it now. From Radio Frequency Identification tag, passing through hydrogen fuel cells and going to Organic Light-Emitting Diodes (even possible roll up TVs) the speech was enthusiastic and it was rated 5 out of 5 by all my classmates.
After a short break, we were invited to attend a room where we would answer the question “What is Science?” In the room, we were randomly split into 4 groups and we had to talk about our ideas of science. I think this was also a great experience because our interpersonal and intercommunicating skills were being taken higher since we had to work together to come up with answers. We were asked what we thought science was, why it was important and why we choose to study it. In amongst various answers, for us, science was a never ending pathway and it modifies human’s existence just by starting with a hypothesis. We all concluded that people do it, not only for the good money and a stable job but because it’s inspiring to help people, to improve the life of a human being. This activity was rather inspiring; it made me realise that I hadn’t bump into the science course I choose to study in college, it made me confirm once again why I love science so much and why I want to do it and being involved in it for as long as I’m living. I remember that when I, individually was asked what I thought about science, I mentioned that when my chemistry teacher told me that in my body I could find a bit of every element and I was amazed; and I am keeping that information probably forever because science is like that to me, science amazes me with the things I learn every day. Science is about understanding everything around us, understanding why things happen and purely, many things and professions require science but, most of the times, people can’t recognise it simply because it’s not happening in an hospital.
After the lunch, I went to interview some scientists around the building.
Interviews
“Hello! My name is Cátia and I am going to write a report about today’s event, can I ask you some questions?”
“For sure”
“I think it’s good to let you know that I can’t write fast so I might take long” (laughs) (laughs)
“No problem, I’ve got all day”
C -What is your name?
“Norman Abbott”
C – What do you do?
N – I am a community resuscitation train officer and I work in the London Ambulance Service for the NHS
C – What excites you about your job?
N – Hmm… I think the fact that I help people and I work with other physicians it’s exciting. I meet people from different background and different life stories every day and I help them getting better.
C – How did you end up in this profession?
N – Through my family. I did my course in 1977, it wasn’t needed to go to university; I just had 6 weeks training
C – How do you keep up with advances in your profession?
N – I read bulletins and now we have the online e-learning and also package training.
C – How do you relax?
N – I teach martial arts and read books
C -How important are your out of work activities to your working life?
N – I would say that I see too much pain every day so it is important that whatever happens at work stays at work so I can do my normal life when I go home.
C – Are you currently working on some project?
N – Yes. Even though it is not related to my day job, I’m going to tell you. I’m working to provide a BTEC course for martial arts in colleges; to engage youngsters.
C – Do you have any words for the students who want to lead their life in science?
N – To be in science, it’s an opportunity to create or work anything to do with the human being, in order to improve health and life. What do you want to be?
C – I want to be a doctor
N – Don’t forget that it isn’t just 5 years, you have more after that
C – I know but this is all I ever wanted.
N – Ok. If you aim high, you’ll always reach a goal.
C – (smiles) Thank you for your time
N – No problem. Good luck!“Hello! My name is Cátia and I am going to write a report about today’s event, can I ask you some questions?”
“Yes, of course”
“Now, I must tell you that I write slowly so you might have to be patient” (laughs) (laughs)
“It’s fine”
C – What is your name?
Siddardha R
C – What do you do?
S – I am a master in immunology
C – What excites you about your job?
S – I think my job is very exciting due to the range of possibilities and working in different departments; I’ll never be on the same place every day doing the same things. It is actually amazing how the departments are interlinked
C – How did you end up in this profession?
S – As I was growing up in India, I was seeing so many people infected with different diseases, sometimes even dying because of them and there was nothing I could do. I guess I can say I was inspired by what I was seeing in order to wanting to help.
C – What subjects did you choose to study at school/university and why?
S – I don’t quite know how it works here in the UK because I studied in India.
C – How do you keep up with advances in your profession?
S – I read journals and attend to conferences.
C – Are you currently working on some project?
S – Yes, I’m glad you asked. I’m trying to work out how much oxygen our microphage releases in neutralising a bacterium by identifying how much oxygen is released. This way we can see how competent the immune system is and how resistant we are. I think this would be a great discovery and would lead to great developments.
C – How do you relax?
S – Well, I like to listen to music, go swimming or even having some friends over… you know, socialising
C –How important are your out of work activities to your working life?
S – It helps taking off the pressure specially when I am working in some new project and I have to meet deadlines.
C – Do you have any words for the students who want to lead their life in science?
S – Be excited!!! Science is a very interesting arena. Everything happens because of science. You should be passionate about it because it only gets better.
C – Thank you very much!
S – Thank you! I liked the questions you asked.After interviewing and participating in some activities available, we were on a quest to discover science. Amongst other activities, we had to discuss the science behind coffee cups and their lids, note pads and pencils. Following that, we were given 6 boxes with different objects inside of each of them. I liked that experience because it was relaxing, we were getting tired of walking around and discovering and listening to new things; so this time, we had to use our senses to discover science. It was also a good opportunity to develop the ability to work as part of a team; I guess I can say it was fun listening to my classmates saying they disagree with me, explaining me why and trying to convince me I was wrong.
Conclusion
As the prize-giving was occurring and I was putting my hands together for the prize winners, I realised that science is not only brilliant and astonishing; it’s not only about improving lives and health; it’s also about getting rewards for it. Science in its beauty also includes feeling proud for its discoveries, taking credit for it and being awarded. For me, the most exciting part of this day was without a doubt the speech by Professor Averil McDonald, for the reasons already detailed. I also adored interviewing the master of immunology Siddardha. I felt that he was passionate about his job and science and that inspired me in so many levels. I felt that he didn’t regret anything in that pathway that he had chosen for his career; and that was very interesting because generally I would see someone in some career in science and they would be happy because they salary is good, the job is stable and many other reasons, but he was amazed by science as much as I am; and I definitely wasn’t expecting so much excitement from him.
Today was brilliant. Just when I thought I couldn’t be more convinced to pursue a career in science, just when I thought I knew exactly what science was all about, I actually didn’t. Since I was 5 (my mother says) I have always dreamt to be a doctor but today was the first day I considered going for something different like being a pathologist or an immunologist. It just stuck to my mind that it doesn’t matter which way to go as long as it’s related to science I’ll be up for it because I feel that that is the whole point of being a scientist.
Rana Alotaibi, King Fahed Academy, Year 10
Where to begin? Yet again, I am left inspired and in complete awe at the world of science after another thrilling evening at the annual Schools Science Conference. This is the second conference I’ve attended and I applaud the choice of speakers: Professor Averil McDonald, Professor John Oxford, Professor Robert Brown and Dr. Mark Atkins. I was hopeful that I would have another chance to meet Dr. Kevin Fong after an absolutely inspirational session with him last year, but sadly he was not on the list.
Thanks to delays in London’s beloved transport system, my group arrived late and therefore missed the introductory presentation given by Don Henderson and Suzy Lishman. How many times can you circle Buckingham Palace before realizing that the Royal College of Pathologists was not in the Palace Gardens? Nevertheless, the view and walk (or rather, run) was refreshing.
While waiting for the next session to start, we got a chance to walk through the many stands presenting subjects such as microbiology, immunology, radiology and more. I was fascinated by the microbiology stand, trying to piece together all the information suddenly delivered to me about bacteria and viruses. After spending some more time questioning career paths and collecting the ever so amusing freebies, we queued to grab a lunch bag, provided by the organizers, before settling down in the Jenner Room for our first lecture.
As I was in the Green group, first up was Professor Oxford’s lecture: Swine Flu – Where is it Going Now? Putting it simply, it was an inspiring and gripping discussion, injected with not only facts about Virology but history, philosophy, art and politics. Dr. Oxford delivered a simple yet captivating image of the H1N1 virus and its development over (approximately) 18 years. He began by presenting Gauguin’s famous piece, Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going? and linked it to a scientist’s perception of viruses and predicting origins, waves and affects of certain diseases. He provided the statistics of immunity between age groups against common Influenza and the H1N1 subtype, concluding that although 90% of patients aged 65 (and over) died of flu, the age group developed immunity to the H1N1 virus as they may have been exposed to a similar version of the virus years ago. On that note, the death rate due to H1N1 increased for patients aged 5 to 49. Going into branches of the flu, such as the avian flu, and their structure and ability to break the species barrier, he had the audience captivated with his humorous (and slightly sarcastic) approach to the not-so-bright world of virus mutations. Throwing in more art pieces such as Andrew Wyeth’s Christina’s World, his personal travel experiences and his picture-perfect knowledge of the inner workings of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, you can’t help but smile at the relaxed nature of the talk. I know I have never been as fascinated with the concept of virology as I had when walking out of the Jenner Room. Sadly, I didn’t get the chance to interview him but I did jot down the title of his book Human Virology, a new must-read for me.
After spending a 10 minute break stretching and fixing faces in the bathroom, we sat down for another session: What is Science? The schools were split into 2 groups, and then into smaller groups and given different objects; some were given numbered ‘mystery’ boxes with objects in them and others were given pens, Post- its and coffee cups. We were asked to analyze and draw conclusions on the objects based on our own different methods, such as pointing out an objects design, the science behind the object and any specific features it may have. The ‘mystery’ boxes experiment was very mind stimulating, pushing us to make hypotheses on objects without seeing or feeling them. All this proves how research in science works and how difficult it is to try to draw a point to people based on a hypothesis. It was really appealing and made the prospect of research intriguing.
Next, we headed towards a workshop on diabetes and testing for glucose levels in the blood. We were divided into groups again, this time to look at a case study and exchange knowledge on the disease. A meter was passed around and a small test was demonstrated to show how it worked. I couldn’t really differentiate between the types of diabetes, but the workshop made me aware of Type 1 and Type 2. I also learned about the normal blood glucose level (a reading between 4 and 7) and how insulin shots work. Another fascinating workshop!
Sadly, the event was coming to a close, and after the collection of surveys and quizzes passed out earlier in the event with the information packets, prizes were awarded based on different quizzes at stalls and a general Conference Quiz in the Jenner, Flemming and Pasteur rooms. It was slightly depressing that we had to leave, but with all the new information on board and many more career options and advice, I’m only more eager to delve into the world of science full on and prepare for next year’s sure to be thrilling conference!
On a final note, I do hope that the students today grasped the point Dr. Oxford was making in his session by quoting President Obama when he said “We could really use some more scientists and engineers who are building and creating things” and look into science as a career. The only real problem was getting home in under 2 hours… taxi!
Hannah Mohy-Eldin, King Fahed Academy, Year 11
Schools Science Conference Report
I am a student in The King Fahad Academy, and I was chosen by my biology teacher to be a reporter, once I heard about it I was glad and so happy to be taking this opportunity and showing my skills in reporting. It was just when we all got into the Royal College of Pathologists, and being the second time coming even though it was in a different place, it was nice to feel all welcomed by the staff. It was delightful to see schools from all around London, entering and being seen by other students, determined to know more about the day, and what they will be seeing.
I started my day in the conference by meeting people talking about different sections in science, it was a great participation listening to them talking about their topic. From those sections, were Dieting, Pulses, Anaemia(sickle blood cell), Otology, Podiatry, Physiotherapy and Radiotherapy. I had the chance to visit as many sections as possible, but not as much as we were short of time, and were told to move onto the second programme on the list, which was the “Discovering Science”.
Discovering Science was the most fascinating and interesting part of the whole day, as we were divided into different group and were given certain containers and were told to identify what was inside them, we cleverly were able to use our minds in figuring out what was in these containers. We done this by finding different features and properties of the hidden object, by shaking the container, rolling the object in the container, placed the container in the light to try and see, if we were able to catch any other features. Also, we discussed how and why do we think these coffee cups are made this way? This was a question that needed a lot of common sense and using the daily life science, to open up this puzzled question.
Later on, after break, the green group was sent to the “Jenner Room”, in the lower ground floor, where we were lectured by a scientist called John Oxford, he asked and answered so many questions about Swine Flu, which was a wise topic to discuss about as it is a major crisis around the world, his questions included: “Are all viruses bad” , “How can we survive in a world without viruses” , “ How do antiviral drugs work” , “What are the prospects for new antiviral drugs and vaccines work”. His questions and opinions towards the topics were so wisely answered and made me as a listener to understand more about viruses and the history of it.
The most exciting part of the day was answering the radiotherapy questions as we were looking forward to winning a prize, most importantly one of the students from my team which was the green team. After our delicious lunch supplied by the housekeeping team, we were given quizzes to answer, this was our chance in winning a prize, time was up and we were told to move to the next room.
This was a very appealing part of the day, as we were discussing a major topic or disease, which was diabetes. We were divided into three groups with different doctors and consultants, in each group. Our team doctor was called Sara, she gave as a case study about a real life story of a boy aged 11 years old being diagnosed with diabetes. I asked her so many questions about diabetes and I answered so many questions she had asked the group, as I had known so much stuff about diabetes as a member of my family has diabetes, and I supply that person with all the daily medicines, from tablets, insulin injections and blood sugar tests machines. Then I just thought of this major question that clicked into my mind, which was “Why don’t they do transplant of pancreases”, I asked the question out loudly, but I was answered that how could it happen if the person has only one pancreas, but then I replied and said: “As soon as the person dies they start the transplant to another person”. They accepted my answer, but it was a kind of a difficult question for anyone to answer as it needed a lot of thinking. We finished the programme of the day, but only one thing was missing which was the ‘Round-up and Prize Giving’, we were all looking forward to this moment, and luckily two names of the students in my class were announced “Shams Alkousaibi and Safa Ghazoini”, we as a green team were proud that we had students that won, presenting our school The King Fahad Academy.
I am hoping to attend the next event of 2011, hoping to see even more exciting programmes to be attending, and it was a pleasure to be one of the reporters of 2010 science conference, I would like to thank my Biology teacher, Mohammed Baba, for allowing us to participate in such interesting conference.