‘Be a Scientist’ Competition

The National STEM Centre is delighted to announce the winners of the ‘Be a Scientist’ competition which took place at the York Science Fair.

The winning entry for the secondary level was from a pupil at Huntington School, York, whilst the primary level prize went to two joint winners from St Olave’s School, York. Congratulations to all the prize winners.

The competition asked pupils visiting the National STEM Centre stand to observe and explain what happened when they shook a poly density bottle. The sealed bottles, containing salt water, alcohol and white and green plastic demonstrated how materials of different density interact when mixed together.

The Grand Tour was launched by the Lord Mayor who visited the National STEM Centre’s stand to watch a demonstration led by John Walker, a professional development leader from the National Science Learning Centre. The demonstration involved adding dry ice (solid carbon dioxide) to a large flask containing water, a small amount of alkali and a few squirts of universal indicator. The result is a lot of “smoke” (which is in fact condensing water vapour present in the air) and a pleasing gradual change in the colour of the liquid in the flask.

York Science Fair was part of York Science and Innovation Grand Tour. The tour comprises of 60 captivating images displayed round the city centre that celebrate the city’s achievement in science and innovation. The National STEM Centre and National Science Learning Centre’s image can be seen adjacent to the west end entrance to York Minster.