Let's shake science out of the box
14-Feb-2010
Students will have the opportunity to 'shake science out of the box' in a fun-packed project in Funtington.
Dr Paul Strickland, from The Time Machine, said: "How things work and why, is at the very heart of what drives us all to use the little grey cells and make sense of all we see and experience."
He added: "The RECLAIM FUN programme is all about reclaiming fun in science and mechanics. We are trying to shake the science out of the box and to give young people a different way of looking at the ideas of re-use and recycle of reuse. They will be able to look at small interesting items and take them apart. We will then go on a journey of discovery to find out what the bits in the box do, why the box became redundant, what would be good to put in a new box (product), how much stuff goes into the box and how hard it is to recycle."
This simple journey is aimed at encouraging young people to go on a bigger journey of discovery and open up new ideas and career possibilities to them. It is hoped to show or give:
- the importance of science and engineering, appreciation of what goes into making a box. The value of careers in science and engineering
- appreciation of the box, that it can be repaired or bits of it can be reused. The project will highlight that throwing something away can be a waste of an opportunity to do something else with the item. If you keep using it, you can still do what you want and still have money to do other things. Young people will be encouraged to put their own creativity into the item and 'retro or steam punk it', or even repair it. They will be able to design a cover that takes it into the year 3010, not 2010
- a chance to learn about how the technology works, why it went wrong and what to look for in new systems. This is aimed at helping students make more valued purchases in the future
- an understanding of the considerable work that goes into creating and producing a product, recycling it and the landfill effect. At the end of every transforming session, the bits that are not used will go into special bins for recycling and other outlets will be sought where possible for the reuse of whole units.
The RECLAIM FUN project has two levels: the Transforming Tinkering Academy is aimed at children upto the age of 12 and the Its Time Academy at older students.
The programme is in need of a variety of items for young people to use including tracks from old railway sets to show the concept of orbits.
Paul said: "We have a high turnover of young people at the centre and they need lots of boxes to break open and explore. How can you help? Get rid of the clutter, don't take it to the dump, let us digest it and we will then give it to recycle agents, all sorted, Simple!"
Items needed for the project include:
- old video cameras, broken digital or out of fashion cameras
- metal detectors
- old alarm systems
- old cctv security systems (not the VDU monitors please)
- old battery powered tools, they are after anything which has a small motor
- old mechanical cameras and cinematic film projectors
- old record players
- old clocks and wind up mechanisms
- quartz clock movements
The Time Machine can be contacted by email.
The Time Machine, Chichester Clock Trust
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