In Focus & OB Bulletin Summer 2014
Birkenhead School Physics Department recently borrowed samples of lunar rock returned from the Apollo Space missions, as well as a selection of meteorites from the Natural History Museum. During the week they were on loan to us, a special timetable was arranged so that every class in both Prep and Seniors had a chance to handle the meteorites and the samples of lunar rock. Jack Redhead, an A level Physics student, took a trip down memory lane and returned to Prep to give a talk to pupils. He shared some fascinating and sometimes bizarre facts about each meteorite. Each of them is special in its own way and highlights included the Henbury Meteorite, the most physically impressive of them all. It started its life as part of the iron core of an asteroid before smashing to earth in Australia 4000 years ago. He told them that, among Aborigines, there is still a legend about how a fire devil came down from the sun. The oldest meteorite was the Parnallee meteor which is made up of particles older than the solar system but the meteor with the strangest story is the Nakhla Meteorite which started life in a Martian Volcano before being blasted into space by a collision with a meteor that hit Mars. After travelling round the solar system for 11 million years, it finally came to rest in Egypt where, on colliding with the earth, it vaporised a dog! Pupils were able to handle the meteorites and, best of all, were able to examine rock samples brought back from the moon at a cost of about half a million dollars per gram. Students also had a chance to take a “selfie” with the meteorite and moon rock samples, and a Twitter competition ( #meteoriteselfie ) was launched to see which selfie would be retweeted the most. Special security arrangements had to be made by the School, including a visit to check the School’s safe. The samples were delivered in secret and collected in secret at the end of the week. During the week Mr Webster, Head of Physics, and Mark Turner, the Bursar, were the designated ‘rock handlers’ and the only two people with access to the rocks. Security was so high that the press could only be informed about the event once the samples were safely off the School premises. This was part of a series of events to raise the profile of physics even higher. It is already one of the most popular and successful subjects at A level and GCSE in BS. One third of all Lower Sixth students study A level Physics and the percentage of female physics students exactly reflects the percentage of female students in the school. Physics exam results have been outstanding with 86% of A2 physics results being A or A* and 97% of GCSE results being A or A*. However, it’s not all about raising numbers and getting our pupils excellent results, it’s also about making physics fun, interesting and enjoyable for the pupils. P Webster, Head of Physics
Sebastian Wilkes with the grains of Lunar rock
Tommy Keenan and Fay put the lunar samples under the microscope.
Right: Lucy Higgins and Kay McFarlane examine the Henbury Meteorite.
From the annual Art and D&T Exhibition of student GCSE and A Level work. 26