You’re never too young to be a scientist
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Primary school children in Southampton enjoyed a memorable insight into science when Biological Science lecturers and students brought an exciting range of hands-on research activities into class.
The visit took place during the national Science Week for schools. The University team, led by Professors Lindy Holden-Dye and Tom Fleming, gave the nine to 11 year olds at Thornhill Primary a practical introduction to topics including evolution, biodiversity and development.
“We loved their enthusiasm, they were so hungry to learn and it was a pleasure to spend the day with them,” says Tom. “Our challenge was to present some lively experiments to make science come alive for the children.” Lindy adds: “We wanted the pupils to get an idea of what it’s like to be a scientist and inspire them to think about coming to University themselves. We all thought it was a very worthwhile outreach opportunity for us.”
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The children tried their hands at four activities during the day. They examined skulls from a range of animals including a dog, tiger and dolphin to understand basic concepts in evolution; saw how fly maggot locomotion was affected by gene changes in a model of dementia; learned how nematode worms react to external stimuli; and examined mouse and hen eggs and embryos to learn about the differences in reproductive strategies.
Thornhill Primary Year 4 teacher and curriculum manager Luke Elsworthy was pleased: “The variety of resources brought in by the University and the way that the topic matter was taught really had a positive effect on the learning in the school and it was a day that the pupils thoroughly enjoyed.”
Also taking part from Southampton were Dr Neil Smyth, Dr Fernando Calahorro, PhD students Euan Scott, Seb Shepherd, Pooja Khurana, Joanna Gould, Laura Caetano, Casey Morris and Jemma Knight, and undergraduate Emily Feist.
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Professor Lindy Holden-Dye BSc, MSc, PhD, FRSB, FBPhS
Professor Lindy Holden-Dye holds a personal Chair in Neuroscience within Biological Sciences at the University of Southampton. Her interests focus on fundamental processes of neuronal communication and she has established research expertise in invertebrate preparations. Through this interest she has contributed to research relevant to a number of important areas of neuroscience that inform understanding of mental health. Her expertise in invertebrate neuroscience, and in particular nematode neural systems and the model genetic organism Caenorhabditis elegans positions her well to participate in drug discovery and mode of action programmes for novel antiparasitics. For the last two decades she has collaborated with industry to improve prospects for parasitic nematode control. Her research group identified the molecular target for the resistance breaking anthelmintic emodepside showing it acts through a calcium-activated K+ channel SLO-1 to bring about neuromuscular paralysis in nematode worms. This discovery has paved the way for the pursuit of new approaches to the treatment of human filarial disease. The experimental approaches deployed in her research group encompass genetics through to whole animal physiology and incorporate novel methods for tracking animal behaviour and signal processing.
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Professor Tom P. Fleming BSc, PhD
Professor Tom P. Fleming is Emeritus Professor of Developmental Biology within Biological Sciences at the University of Southampton.
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