A new Science Image Award for primary schools – to inspire children to learn about cell biology and microscopy – has been officially launched by the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB).
Teachers wanting to take part in the competition will find it an easy, free way to inspire primary school children (aged 8+) about science.
The competition is open to schools from across Cambridgeshire. To take part, schools apply to borrow a handheld digital microscope with built-in camera and accompanying computer from the LMB for two weeks. The pupils can then use this user-friendly equipment in the classroom to take images of biological samples they have collected. The activity has been piloted with great success by two local primary schools, which have already submitted their entries.
Information on how to enter the competition is now available on the Microscopes4Schools website. Visitors to the website can also see a selection of photographs of flowers and invertebrates taken with the equipment.
The school judged to have submitted the best image during the year will win a microscope with a digital camera and receive a certificate signed by Dr Brad Amos (co-inventor of the laser scanning confocal microscope). The top images from the entrants will be exhibited on the Microscopes4Schools and LMB webpages.
The competition was inspired by the LMB’s popular Microscopes4Schools outreach programme. The programme has been a great success in introducing young children to cell biology and in inspiring teachers to perform similar science activities in the classroom.
The Science Image Award is jointly funded by the Medical Research Council and the Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine.
Further references:
Science Image Award
Microscopes4Schools
Medical Research Council
Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine