Last term several Rushcliffe School girls took part in the Girls into Geoscience event held by the University of Leicester Geology department. The event included a range of presentations from women and men who work in geoscience including Martha who talked about her job as a volcanologist working on lava flows, Hedi who dives amongst coral reefs to understand climate, and Mark who talked about investigating the human impact on the earth.
Students also attended a live event where they could ask questions about the careers in geoscience, as well as taking part in a range of activities. One activity aimed to demonstrate how geoscientists can investigate the diet of animals that lived 100 million years ago! The girls that took part in this activity investigated the shape and structure of teeth of the Carcharodontosaurus dinosaur and found they had a serrated edge, great for tearing meat! The girls then had the opportunity to create 3D models using their smart phones, just like scientists do when modelling these teeth.
The girls could choose to carry out their own experiment to investigate the impacts of earthquakes. The girls taking part in this activity made a shaker table using household items to find out if the design of a building and geology of the land can influence its ability to withstand an earthquake.
They also found out about the ‘Vardy Quake’ which was an earthquake generated by the crowd celebrating Jamie Vardy scoring a late goal for Leicester City against Norwich in 2016. It was recorded by a seismometer in a local school!
It is fantastic to see our students taking part in events beyond the classroom to pursue their interests and find out more about future careers – 12 of the 80 participants in the event were from Rushcliffe School, showing once again our students shining brightly!
The University of Leicester Geology Department also tweeted to say a huge thank you for attending – well done to the following girls for taking part: Aditi Prashanth 9A, Caitlyn Beardsmore 9B, Lena Ucbasaran 9D, Daisy Burnip 9L, Isla Miller 8K, Meenal Agrawalla 7C, Lillie-Mae Hickman 7E, Sophie Williams 7E. Zoe Campbell 7F, Alisa Chesney 7H. Ciara Maloney 7H, Layla Bagci 7I.