The primary aim of BLOODHOUND has never been to get the Land Speed Record – that has always been a bonus. The aim has always and will always be to get children interested in STEM subjects – Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths. These are subjects that have suffered an enormous decline, and something that we are all going to depend on in the future if we are to survive.
The project is seeking to be an icon – a way to inspire future generations to take up these subjects and ensure that science is there to lead a way in the low carbon world of tomorrow.
There is however a second hazard in the way. A second tripwire that can cause children to falter when striding towards science and engineering. What is a scientist? When you sit down in a classroom with a pen and pencil and a teacher asks you to draw a scientist, what do you draw? Odds are that it will be an elderly man with white hair wearing a lab coat and holding a test tube. I know, because let’s face it, it is what most of us would draw.
The exact same goes for engineering. A colleague of mine in PR at a presentation recently asked the audience to name a famous engineer. The majority came up with Isambard Kingdom Brunel – no doubt a great engineer, but slightly outdated when it comes to 21st century engineering.
How then do you shed this stereotypical image of science and engineering and get the public – both young and old – to widen their understanding of what a modern day scientist really is? Well, it appears there is an answer – an amazingly simple answer – get them to talk to the scientists. I shall explain in a moment.
First though, let us be brutally honest. Science and engineering seem to have a bit of a barrier when it comes to communication with the outside world. Not all of this is due to the experts themselves – often research and industrial practices mean that information cannot be freely and easily shared with the masses. Media has also inevitably played its part in the slow decline of STEM subjects – most seem to be of the opinion that science needs to be ‘dumbed down’ so that everyone can understand it.
This however, is completely the wrong way to do it. The public loves technology, loves science, and loves engineering. Quietly there is the whisper of change fluttering in the breeze. Children out there are fascinated by these pioneering subjects. They want to learn more, they want to know how things work, why the world behaves the way it does and why their television sets spend more time on celebrity gossip than on scientific discovery. The people have asked, and the scientific community has sat up and listened.
And so I come back to my earlier question – how do you get rid of the stereotypical view that a scientist carries? You introduce interaction. Enter I’m a Scientist.
I’m a Scientist is a novel program that takes 100 scientists from all fields and 8,000 students from across the country and mixes them together. Split into zones, the students get to ask any – and yes I mean any – question to the scientists. The scientists then answer, as well as participate in live chats and lively discussions until the students vote them off one by one – leaving one scientist victorious in each zone.
What does the winning scientist get? £500 to spend on a way to increase their engagement with children, but most importantly the title of overruling scientist in their zone. What do the students get? They get to see that scientists are real human beings, they get to have their questions answered, and get to ultimately make a decision on what they feel is important.
Everybody wins.
That stereotype of a scientist is corrected, and children get to see that science can actually be a cool thing to do.
So why am I telling you all about this? Well, because through an odd series of events I have ended up as one of those 100 scientists. Today I watched with amazement and an equal amount of fear as other scientists were bombarded with questions. I am up against some amazing people – including a researcher in renewable energy, a senior lecturer in bone biology and tissue engineering, a research fellow and a senior lecturer in Neuropharmacology.
Will I win? Perhaps, perhaps not. All that I can say is that I am waiting on tender hooks for that one question that I cannot answer… It’s the taking part that counts, but saying that I wouldn’t mind being crowned overruling scientist.
Now just as I have finished this post, my phone has bleeped to tell me I have received an email. I think my first question is in…
Tags: bloodhound ssc, boron, engagement, i'm a scientist, ias2010, science
