#scienceatlife

[creativesparknewcastle]

Horse skeleton #bodyworlds #scienceatlife #2016dailyphoto

[creativesparknewcastle]

Future scientist. #2016dailyphoto #scienceatlife

[yvonnechoo]

Good Friday Science Adventure

After much anticipation, my four-days-long Easter break have finally begun! Hooray! And the most exciting part is that I've decided to spend my first day, more specifically "Good Friday" at my favourite place-to-be....*drumroll* Newcastle's one and only, CENTRE FOR LIFE a.k.a. LIFE SCIENCE CENTRE. Why? Because their new experiment zone is finally here and I just have to be there to try it out! So I boarded the bus early morning and was all pumped up for the adventure. Did I mention this is not my first visit to LIFE? In fact, this is my third visit. I usually revisit whenever they change their exhibitions/events/shows. Which means, all of the events on the What's On Today? board are new to me :) All set! Now it's time to have fun! First stop, THE NEW EXPERIMENT ZONE! "Welcome to The New Experiment Zone where YOU are the scientist!" At this point, I was already in awe. Totally impressed by how the zone actually looks! That little kid in me was already jumping for joy, super excited to spend hours and hours in there, but from the outside, I could only "display" a quarter of that excitement I have inside (well, I'm guessing it would be kinda weird to see an adult jumping for joy in the public over an experiment zone like that?) LOL. I've decided to go for the Extracting DNA experiment because the other experiments are actually things that I have been doing in the lab. When I stepped into the zone, that's where I couldn't stop smiling. Boy this area looks awesome! Like the science lab you would imagine Jimmy Neutron in or other science lab you could see in movies/series etc. How I wish I had the chance to see such an amazing setup when I was young! Labcoats on my right... (LOVE the Life logo on the labcoat!) Nitrile gloves on my left... I put on PPE (labcoat, safety glasses and gloves) and moved to my lab desk. You know what!! They even have a touch screen monitor on each lab desk! (I have always dreamed of having a touch screen gadget near my lab fume hood so that I could look at the reaction scheme while I set up my reactions! So this was actually like a DREAM COME TRUE) So I started the experiment with the help of the touch screen monitor. The instructions were clear and easy to understand (saying this from a kid's perspective) haha. Waiting for my mixture to settle. Waiting for the "white stuff" = DNA to work their way through the bottom layer (water + surfactant + wheat germ) to the top (cold ethanol). Can you see the white stringy stuff in the top layer? It's DNA, million strands of it! :) Here's me in PPE with my extracted DNA sample :) So that was the end of my experiment. After cleaning up the apparatus, I've managed to have a chat with one of the facilitators/supervisors in red lab coat (totally resembles the red lab coat PhD demonstrators use in the Chemistry Department at Newcastle University). During the chat, I found out that the experiment zone was designed in such a way that it encourages family to work together (most of the time, parents would take up the role as "facilitators"). This learning environment will initiate more discussion within each family, allowing more "science-related topics" to be brough home to their dinner table. Thereby exposing kids to science in a long term. As a science (Chemistry) enthusiast myself and as a person who would like to inspire younger generations to pursue science related subjects, I think that this new experiment zone is a smart and precise move. This sciency environment will give kids/general public the opportunity to explore Science in a "user-friendly" way and experience being a scientist for a day :) Next stop, the science theatre! Time to learn more about our brilliant brain! I enjoy every bit of the presentation, especially the part when he told the story of Phineas Gage. Our body work wonders with the help of our brain :) Then I went for the Easter Chocolate Workshop and made some delicious choco egg :) And I've learned more about this plant and its pod! Went for the 4d ride right after. Guess what? It's SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS! *Spongebob's fans would definitely love this ride! and all the hidden spongebobs in the building LOL 3d glasses :) Spongebobs! There's even spongebob face painting! XD If you're a superfan, you should come and get one on your face haha. The planetarium show: We Are Astronomers was so good to the point that I actually shed a tear. It is amazing to see how much time and energy astronomers have sacrificed to reach where we are right now. All for the name of Science. Kudos fellow researchers! And so this is how I spent my day at the Centre for Life! Though this is my THIRD visit, I still find its content very interesting. I like the sense of surprise that I'd get in every of my visits. Will definitely come back for more!! Next visit would be.... Maker Faire 2015! Looking forward to that :)