I’m a Scientist, Get me out of here will run for two weeks from Monday 7th to Friday 18th November 2016 during Science Week.
This November, your favourite online science engagement activity returns with 5 different zones.
Read about them below, or if you want to jump straight to the application, teachers apply here: iasie.ddev.site/teachers and scientists here: iasie.ddev.site/scientist-apply.
The Harlan-J.-Smith telescope (USA) is used to point a laser at a mirror on the moon.| Image: McDonald Observatory / Wikimedia
Light Zone (for Primary Schools)
As well as being needed to see the world around us, light is very useful in scientific research and industry. We can harness light from the sun to generate electricity using solar cells, helping to fight climate change. Lasers are used in everything from medicine to entertainment. In this zone, you might meet scientists who are finding ways of making solar panels cheaper to make or studying the light from stars thousands of light years away.
The Light Zone is a primary schools zone and is funded by Science Foundation Ireland
Mutation Zone
A mutation is a change in the genetic material of a living thing. This means changes to the DNA or to the chromosomes which carry the DNA, and all changes can be passed in to the next generation. Mutation can happen for lots of reasons, for example damage from radiation, certain chemicals, or just at random. The scientists in this zone could be working with gene mutations in order to help find cures for genetic conditions like asthma, developing new techniques to safely change DNA, or studying how pollution in oceans can cause animals to mutate.
The Mutation Zone is funded by the Wellcome Trust
New Materials Zone
Materials are all around us, each made up of different combinations of atoms. Atoms are the building blocks of materials, and by joining different atoms together we get every kind of material. New materials are cleverly designed substances based on recent technology, to make things like materials that can be worn to monitor your heartbeat and record unusual symptoms, or chewing gum containing finely powdered glass that can help to protect teeth and gums from decay. In this zone, scientists might be making new materials that generate electricity in environmentally ways, or researching new ways to make consumables like plastic from plants.
The New Materials Zone is funded by the Royal Society of Chemistry — To be eligible for this zone scientists should be a member of this society
Smart Data Zone
We live in the era of data and computers, with scientists collecting massive amounts of information to analyse and use in a multitude of ways. Data can be gathered from all sorts of place, for example social media, or information from satellites in space. But what do they do with it all? Scientists in this zone might be using data to develop more efficient weather forecasting systems, working out how to better run public services in busy cities or looking at millions of models of people to study how a certain disease spreads. They could even be using data from huge computers to work out how the universe is constructed.
The Smart Data Zone is funded by the Science Foundation Ireland
General Science Zone
General Science Zones take five scientists from a range of different research areas. We welcome any type of scientist to apply for this zone, as the more diverse their research areas, the better.
- Oxygen Zone — Funded by the Wellcome Trust
Apply now to take part!
Teachers
Apply before Monday 26th September. We’ll send an email out soon after you sign up asking which zones and how many classes you would like to bring online.
Scientists
Apply before Monday 26th September. Take a look at this page for our advice on your application!
We are also running zones in I’m a Scientist UK. Click here for more information.