Not only was it SAW’s 10th year running science activities in the kids area at Latitude Festival, we also branched out to take up residence in the Cosmic Shambles forest of science and culture!
The forest which is “part science festival, part book club, part comedy club, part music gig, part interactive museum, and all wonder!” is made up of a series of Discovery Sheds, a small satellite stage and a larger Apollo Stage. While the stages were the setting for an exciting programme of talks, the Discovery Sheds offered festival goers the chance to explore a diverse range of science topics while wandering through the forest.
With our Microbe Zoo pitching up in the kids area of the festival, we decided to use this opportunity to go deeper into the world of microbes. With the help of our friends from the John Innes Centre, we took over our very own Discovery Shed.
A bag of John Innes compost sat outside our shed with a sign above that read ” John Innes Centre – We do not sell compost! Come and find out what we do! “, proved an effective way to lure people in! Inside, an array of materials to enable people to explore the world of microbes was on display. We had activities that questioned what makes a healthy soil, helped visitors find out more about the important roles that microbes play in the soil, and even explained that they make medicines like antibiotics, that society relies upon.
Our scientist friends hosting the Discovery Shed have done many soil microbe-themed Science Art and Writing (SAW) projects in schools with us, and so we turned the inside of the shed into a gallery to display science images, poetry and artwork produced during these projects. We topped it off with a little table-top art activity for the youngest festival goers to have a go at.
As well as working the Discovery Shed, the team gave presentations on the Satellite and Apollo stages as part of the showcase event. Their talks were a hit, with gathered crowds asking lots of questions about soil health. The team reached an even wider audience by being interviewed by GenX Radio Suffolk and appearing on the Cosmic Shambles Instagram video feed.
Well done Dr Neil Holmes and your merry band of scientists!
We all had a great time representing JIC and the SAW Trust and getting to meet lots of interested people at Latitude festival!
Neil Holmes, Research Assistant, JIC.
It was a wonderful opportunity, and we hope to be able to take some more exciting Norwich science stories to the shed in the future!