the-BA : Nations Favourite Experiment Results

Sodium bicarbonate rockets have been voted “The Nation’s Favourite Experiment” in a nationwide poll carried out as part of National Science and Engineering Week. Rockets, explosions and slime went head-to-head with flash-frozen fruit and coke-and-mentos-toting cowboys. The BA (British Association for the Advancement of Science) invited the public to view film clips of these and other popular, eye-catching experiments and vote for their favourite online.

The winner, entitled “Fizz Fizz Bang Bang” showed how to make a rocket using an effervescent stomach pill. Its success goes to show the ongoing appeal of rockets and simple experiments that you can perform for yourself.

The complete list of experiments and the percentage votes they received is:

Blow Me Down	4%
Can-tastic Electricity	5%
Chemists in the Mist	5%
Fizz Fight	5%
Fizz Fizz Bang Bang	28%
The Banana Hammer	18%
Slime Time	5%
It IS Rocket Science	9%
You've Got Gas	21%

‘I hope that the debate, discussion and discovery prompted by ‘The Nation’s Favourite Experiment’ poll will continue,’ says Science and Innovation Minister Malcolm Wicks. ‘All the experiments that people have been voting for are a great reminder of how exciting and intriguing science can be at school level. It is critical that we enthuse the next generation so that we have enough skilled scientists and engineers to tackle the great challenges of the 21st century.’

‘To encourage students towards studying science and engineering it is important that experiments are centre stage in the teaching of science,’ says Roland Jackson, Chief Executive of the BA, which coordinates National Science and Engineering Week. ‘The comments we’ve received whilst running this poll support the desire, among teachers, parents and students alike, for more demonstrations and practicals such as these in the classroom to ensure that the subjects are engaging as well as informative.’

Many of the children who voted wished they could see or do something similar in school because they were fun and exciting. But there was some concern expressed that access to practical science demonstrations was being limited by intimidating or laborious health and safety procedures: ‘Nowadays teachers seem frightened to conduct experiments in school, so kids miss out on practical experience - if they're lucky, they might see experiments on TV or interactive whiteboard, but not for real - because of fears for safety of teacher and children,’ commented one adult. ‘Science has unfortunately become worksheet based… bring back hands on science and let kids ask and answer their own questions,’ said another.

However, there was also evidence that there are a lot of enthusiastic teachers out there who are committed to bringing practical science into the classroom: ‘Love these experiments, and where we can we use them to pep up science at school! I never had rockets at school...but we do now,’ commented one. Another said, ‘As a year 6 science teacher I am always looking for ideas that will excite my students, but there should always be something to learn from an experiment.’

National Science and Engineering Week 2007 took place from 9-18 March. Following on from the success of last year, significantly more events were held throughout the UK. These included an expanded programme of engineering events. For more information about National Science and Engineering Week, including free activity packs, click here.

National Science and Engineering Week is coordinated by the BA in partnership with the Engineering and Technology Board (ETB), and funded by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

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