The Science festival was amazing - I just picked out the photos here that aren't going into their own write up about a specific event etc.... It was crazy and mad and informative and showed me just how valuable science communication is!
There was the normal fun circus stuff - lovingly science themed 🙂
This rather elegant dude reminds me of someone? 😉
Mary loved exploring.
Ok so mainly it was running off but excited running off.
She did grudgingly come back when I started counting.
I found a random hospital trolly outside one of the venues!
I found a BBC dude with random props wondering around a little lost so I photographed him and then found him the place he needed to be 🙂
I found a ferret!
I don't think it was with the festival but was someone walking their pet - it was funny because one of the suggestions Al had given me for getting more people to fill in the highly important research questionaire was that I should find a ferret!
Unfortunately I just missed him filling the bag with stuff from the hydrant can - but oooo random stuff at a festival - really?
Once more aliens seemed to have taken up residence on the roof of the town hall!
Thursday the kids came and joined me after school - they all loved the explosions bit run by the BBC.
When we first arrived Mary was over awed and just kept saying WOW! and Ooooo 🙂
Jean and her friends found the racing car simulator 🙂
She rather liked it even if she did keep crashing!
Dad found an old sports car with gears and things inside it 🙂
See cogs!
It was rather a nice car
The kids made LED torches 🙂
They were all just so excited 🙂 Mum found knitting and Al and Andy found robots - it was brilliant 🙂
Yesterday was amazing, I came up with a solution to Matt Smiths retirement from Dr Who - it was simple really Alaric's cubs think he is an incarnation of the Dr anyway! I think we should petition the BBC 😉
Then I turned up as a last minute recruit to the Cheltenham Science Festival - I'm doing impact research - basically walking around with shiny tech asking questions for Warick University. The team are lovely - if anyone is about - come over and say hello!
Then I met a lady from Surrey University who is using knitting to explain chemistry - similar to my knitted molecules she is crowd sourcing knitting to create a giant models of minerals 🙂
She is giving out the patterns 🙂 And I am going to be knitting up all my blue wool for the project! I am also hoping to catch the lovely Lizzy Burns who's molecular jewellery and glass ware I had on display in March for Science and Engineering week 🙂
Then to cap it all I found a welcome to UWE email in my in box - it is still stuff about processing applications but it made my day 🙂
For the knit wits out there it is The Perovskite Project and they are looking for more knitters 🙂
The danger of home schooling is that the kids only learn what the parents wants
The danger of forced schooling is that the kids only learn what the governments want
The danger of religous schooling is that the kids only learn what the religons want
The danger of military schooling is that the kids only learn what the soliders want
The danger of no schooling is that the kids only learn what the streets want
Teach the kids to think and question and root out the answers for themselves
Teach empowerment and watch them bloom
Teach don't preach
Find the technique that fits the kid
In a group or on their own
A mix of both
Repeating, making, playing, mimic and more
Today on the outskirts of Gloucester we saw an old man litter picking the road verges with his own bin in hand - I found this inspirational and heart breaking - the litter should not be there for a start, and litter that is a accident etc... should get cleaned up as part of the city maintenance, the old man is caring for his local environment and as such is a leading light. I couldn't get a photo and it started raining so I have drawn a sketch of him from memory.
Today I had a bit of a mixed medium day - I went to UWE (University of the West of England) in Bristol to look around their science communication centre and to talk about maybe doing the post graduate certificate there. Being me I arrived stupidly early and was doing my normal clumsy performance with my paper work and bag and what not. My legs have also not recovered from the poetry festival yet so I found keeping up with the lovely woman who was showing me around a bit hard but I managed it.
The university campus is quiet different to UCL and IC and for that matter the OU - there was lovely wall art/graffiti type stuff with inspiring messages through out the place - they are more the sort of thing I would have expected at a six form college - but I love this type of art work so annoyed students by getting in there way to take pictures.
They also had a random fruit and veg stall inside!
The department itself looked pretty much like others I have been in that have not yet had some sort of corporate make over. There were examples of publications and works of the students on the walls and an air of hard work. I feel I was't my normal energetic self as I was having a mild flare up but then in many ways this is a good thing as I needed to check I could get about on a not so good day anyway.
As many of you know I came out of the failed to complete MRes experience knowing that I enjoyed putting together my talk and writing the essays more than I probably should have - add that to the fact that I have been building myself up as a writer and artist over the last few years and the natural shift is obvious - science communication. I've been looking at this course for a while and got a prospectus last year and have tracked down people who have done the course and spoken to friends at the uni about what it is like.
The course sounds more doable due to the structure of it than the MRes was as I like to focus on things - it is in blocks of 3 days which means it is less travel time etc... than what I was doing before which was all evenings and in London. I also now live in walking distance to the train station that takes me to the train station in Bristol I need which is a vast improvement!
I am applying for the bursary but there is only one so it is unlikely that I will get it though I have already writing the first draft of an article for it. Alaric also things this is far more doable than last time - we are in a more stable position and I have back up money for it in case and it is going be less of an issue with finding child care solutions.
Having said all this I am still nervous that I will not get a space or that something will go wrong but I still have to try. And that leads me to module choices - I want to do them all to be honest :/
After the meeting I wondered out to meet Al who was in Bristol (almost getting myself hit by a car as I was looking the wrong way :/ due to being confused about traffic flow and the round about! I also had my waist length hair down which was stupid as it was sooooo windy). He popped over to pick me up and whilst I was waiting I found goslings!
The photos are not brilliant as the light levels kept changing and it was soooo windy - I tied my hair up!
There were ducks and moles too!
I also found a bench with The Personal is Political written on it.
Once home we went to get a cat tree to stop the kitten shredding everything - Mary was not impressed that I had gotten out of the car without her again at Bristol so was very clingy - as was the kitten.
When I got home - I sat down in the nursing chair for a rest and... was instantly covered in cute things!
Animals, Art and Craft, Domestic, Events and Outings, Health, Jean, Mary, Sarah, Sci/Tech, The Family, Work, Writing | sarah | 
Thu 9th May 2013 11:26 pm | 
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