L'Oreal Women in Science Forum
On the 16th of November, a few year 7-9 girls from Cheltenham Secondary College were given the opportunity to attend the L’Oreal-UNESCO for Women in Science Forum.
The trip to the city was about an hour and was held at The University High School. Five exceptional female scientists who are at the forefront of research from Australia and New Zealand presented their stories and challenges against systemic barriers.
Dr Noushin Nasiri, Dr Hui Fern Koay, Dr Rebecca Morris, Dr Georgia Atkin-Smith and Dr Essie Rodgers came together, all having diverse perspectives and priorities but the same passion for science. We, as students, got to learn about what they did as a scientist and how they got there.
Nanotechnology, cell-based therapy, habitat restoration, cellular life and death and humans and environments, all these topics inspired us, young women, to work in male-dominated fields. After the guest speakers shared their experiences, we were given the chance to ask them questions.
After an afternoon tea provided by the venue, we were guided to our second activity, where we were given an opportunity to learn about bees. Each station had student helpers from the neighbouring universities who guided the groups through fascinating facts about bees. Using different types of microscopes, we examined the different features of bees such as their legs, eyes, hair, etc. These included the scanning microscope, stereo microscope, light microscope and fluorescent microscope. We discovered that bees have hairs on their eyes to prevent pollen getting stuck directly on their eyes as well as detecting wind direction. Did you know that bees have FIVE eyes??!? Yeah!
THINGS WE DID
- Buffet food mmmm good
- Box water SPARKLING WATER
- Comp bee acre apple tree
- MAIA AND KAYLEY WON A BEE HOME !!!!!!!!!!
Chloe Wong 9A
The L'Oreal Girls in Science Program has inspired me to follow my dreams into studying in the field of science. We met 5 wonderful women working as scientists and they gave us amazing and motivational speeches as well as dug deep into the study of bees! The day was incredible and I would definitely go attend the program again! - Chaya Reddy 7A
It was so interesting to see bees up so close and learn just how many different types of microscopes there are. - Angelina Palavestra 7A
It was really fun and it was very interesting learning about and operating the microscopes. It was really cool hearing about the scientists. Also, the food was really good. - Luca Papworth-Lopez 7A
