Biology Week at Kendrick 2024
To celebrate the amazing world of biosciences, the Biology Department put together a full schedule of activities to coincide with National Biology Week 2024. This year, our aim was to get as many students involved as possible and to embrace our enthusiasm for the subject. From crafting origami brain hats to DNA sweet bracelets, Spelling Bee (Biolobee) and brain dissections, there was plenty to choose from!
The week started with our Biology Week quiz, in which students not only had the chance to learn some fascinating facts but also possible careers in Biology.
BioCraft Competition and Boardgames
We had several entries to the #BioCraft competition whereby students had the chance to create their very own biology-inspired 3D artwork to bring the world of Biology to life! Two of the entries are pictured below - Aanya 7WM and embroidery by Ananya in the Sixth Form.
An entry for the 2D artist competition from the summer is also pictured here. Drawn by Navdha in 10DW.
Students enjoyed playing a selection of biology-based board games at lunchtime, including Strategic Ecosystems and Savannah card game, Rainforest ‘I saw it first’ and Bird species bingo!
'The Greatest Traders on Earth' - Online lecture
An interesting online lecture after school organised by the Royal Society of Biology saw Professor Lindsay Turnbull present ‘The Greatest Traders on Earth’. In this talk, Lindsay Turnbull, professor of plant ecology at the University of Oxford, explained why plants are the greatest traders on planet Earth. They stole photosynthesis - arguably the greatest invention of all time - and then took control of the international sugar market. Using this monopoly, they drove hard bargains with animals, fungi, and even bacteria, forming essential partnerships that support all life on Earth today.
Brain Hat and Protein Bracelet making activities
On Wednesday, students had a go at making an anatomically correct brain hat and the Protein Bracelet making activity was extremely popular! Students learnt how the correct sequence of amino acids (different coloured beads) are joined together to form a particular functional protein (the bracelet!).
The online lecture after school looked at studying wildlife from space using satellite imaging to track wildlife on Earth with Dr Peter Fretwell.
DNA
Cells are the basic unit of life and make up all organisms on Earth. DNA is the molecule that controls all cells' activities and students had a go at extracting DNA from strawberries on Thursday. You can see the DNA at the top of the boiling tube in the picture as a cloudy/white substance.
We finished the day on Thursday with a very interesting talk on ‘The Science of why we exist’ with Professor Tim Coulson. In this talk, Tim Coulson, professor of Zoology at the University of Oxford, took us back to the beginning of everything: the Big Bang. From there, he lead us through a 13.8-billion-year epic - a talk that culminates in the most astonishing thing we have yet encountered: the staggering complexity of the human mind. The talk described the history of you, the speaker and everything - of how we all came to be.
Lamb's Head and Brain Dissection
As in all previous Biology weeks, we ended the week with a lamb’s head and brain dissection! During the dissection, students had the opportunity to look at the eyes in the eye socket, the mandible (or jaw), the brain, the tongue, teeth, nose and the sinus cavity, as well as the muscles of the face and the lip.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the Biology staff, as well as the newly appointed Biology prefects, for all their help in making Biology Week 2024 another successful one!
Mrs Kenward - Head of Biology