Developing 14-18 year old’s interest and participation in physics by training them to deliver outreach to primary school children

Williams, David; Yeung, Christy; Fatima, Noor; Pridmore, Ellie

Abstract

The physical sciences can struggle to engage teenagers, sometimes being perceived as complex or daunting. To combat this, Badminton School developed its ‘Science Outreach’ programme enabling students to deliver liquid nitrogen-based shows in 25 schools each year and at national events such as WOMAD, the UK Big Bang and the Northern Ireland Science Festival, appearing on these events’ main programmes. Science Outreach encouraged practical work through participation in exciting demonstrations, kept students involved in science as they became more able to deal with the abstractions of Physics, and developed valuable communication skills. Meanwhile their primary school audiences were inspired by engaging presenters who were just the right age to be perfect role models. This contribution describes how the programme developed, gives insight into how similar models can be adopted, and presents insights from programme participants into the positive effect it had on their further education.

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (published)
• Conference Name: 42nd International Conference on High Energy Physics (ICHEP2024)
• Start Date: Jul 17, 2024
• End Date: Jul 24, 2024
• Acceptance Date: Dec 17, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Apr 29, 2025
• Publication Date: Apr 29, 2025
• Deposit Date: May 30, 2025
• Publicly Available Date: May 30, 2025
• Journal: Proceedings of Science
• Print ISSN: 1824-8039
• Peer Reviewed: Not Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 476
• Issue: 42nd International Conference on High Energy Physics (ICHEP2024)
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.22323/1.476.1163
• Keywords: Education, Outreach
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/14477037
• Publisher URL: https://pos.sissa.it/476/1163