IAS students

I’m a Scientist Stay at Home - Disease Detectives Zone 

Date: 1 May 2020

Supporting home learning and keeping students connected with biomedical research this summer term.

We are very excited to be funding the Disease Detectives Zone with I’m a Scientist Stay at Home.  The Zone is now open and running until the 20 July 2020.  Students across the UK will be able to ask questions to and chat online with a range of staff from across the Wellcome Genome Campus and other research organisations find out more about how we study DNA to understand lots of different types of diseases.

 

What is I’m a Scientist?

I’m a Scientist is an online, free to enter, STEM engagement activity for school students. It provides a safe, moderated space for students to be inspired by science.

This summer, I’m a Scientist, Stay at home is here to help students stay connected with STEM and each other. From any computer or tablet students can:

CHAT with STEM professionals across the UK, and with each other and their teachers, in 40-minute text-based chat sessions

ASK questions to scientists about everything and anything they like, whether that’s discovering a career path they’d never thought of or finding out what scientists are really interested in

VOTE for their favourite scientist each week to be named “Scientist of the Week”.

Students can submit questions at any time throughout the event as well as have live chats booked at a time to suit each class. Questions are moderated and each school’s live chat is completely private; only students who’ve been given access by their teacher can log in to the Zone, along with the scientists and moderators.

The Disease Detectives  Poster Competition

Following the Live Chat students can enter a competition to win Amazon Vouchers. There will be a 1st prize of £100, 2nd Prize of £50 and 3rd prize of £30. The first prize
winner will also win £300 for their school science department.

Students have to produce a poster discussing how studying DNA can help us understand and make new discoveries about disease.

All entries will be judged by scientists from the Disease Detectives Zone.

We will be looking for:

  • Creativity
  • Engaging content
  • Use of images (not just lots of text)
  • A correct understanding of the science
  • Something that you have learnt from taking part in in the Disease Detectives Zone

 

The winners and highly commended entries will be displayed on the Disease Detectives Zone page and our website. The closing date for entries is 20 July 2020.

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