We did things a little differently in the science marquee at Latitude this year. We created an escape room style challenge for families!
Working with scientists from SAW founder Professor Anne Osbourn’s lab at the John Innes Centre, we wanted to showcase their research and make the topic of natural products from plants centre stage. Therefore, we called our plant-themed challenge the ‘Escape Bloom’!
Artist Jacques Nimki helped us transform fabric room dividers to create the rooms of a house, and some essential car boot buys were used to add some furnishings!
Visitors were welcomed into the lounge where some plant-based quizzes and a microscope entertained them while they waited for their turn to begin the challenge.
Teams were then invited in to explore plants in the three separate rooms, the pantry, kitchen and bathroom, with 3 tasks to complete in each room against a timer set for 7 minutes.
The teams had to work out the mystery number generated from completing the three tasks, to unlock the combination padlock on a box, which held a piece of equipment they’d need for the next room.
In the pantry we explored the amazing number and variety of foods that are made with plants, the parts of a plant that give us different ingredients and the seeds that produce our oil.
In the kitchen we delved deeper into the chemicals from plants (often with very scary sounding names!) that are used in many foods to give them structure, flavour and colour.
Finally in the bathroom we looked for chemical structures and explored plants that keep us clean, make bubbles and even protect us from infections.
On completion, the final padlock opened a box with Escape Bloom stickers and children were given a science goodie bag and activity book to take away to do experiments at home.
We had a great weekend with approx. 1000 people completing the Escape Bloom over the three days of the festival. We hope plants will be more visible around their homes now!
Huge thanks to the team (Shannon, Elliot, Sami, Noma, Dan, Adam, Jacques, Tony, Lydia, Daisy, Reece, Colette, John, Joe, Tansy, Zoe, Andrew, Rebecca, Raven, Alan and Lauren), to Sharon, Chloe and Georgia at Festival Republic, and to the BBSRC for funding this public engagement activity.
Head over to @sawtrust.bsky.social to watch a video of Escape Bloom in action!