During their Science Week, Year 6 primary school pupils from Great Binfields Primary School, Basingstoke, were joined by Alba Vega Alonso Tetilla, BiD4BESt PhD student and Post Doc Tobias Grubenmann, both from the University of Southampton Physics & Astronomy Department. They presented two interactive workshops on the concepts of Galaxies and Black Holes. Pupils thoroughly engaged with the prepared games and presentations. Some of the content included facts and learning about the Earth, the Solar System, Gravity, Black Holes, and the Milky Way, what a Galaxy is, how scientist obtain galaxy images, and what is and impact of space debris. Pupil feedback offered a good insight into the understanding and enjoyment that these sessions presented. Statistically 80% liked the Astronomy workshops ‘a lot’, 90% will tell parents/friends about the sessions, 45% most likely to work in something space related when they grow up, just under 50% thought the most interesting Astronomy fact was the different shapes of galaxies, with the same % being able to describe a galaxy. A whopping 90% knew which galaxy we lived in, and lastly just under half could describe what space junk was. Great job by Alba and Tobias and potential scientists in the making!
