Successful Sweet Science Conference

What do a DNA molecule, candy cane and exploding marshmallows have in common? They were all stars of Bablake's fourth annual conference for Science Technicians.

This year's event was expanded with over 30 people - including theatre technicians, PGCE students, Food Science technicians as well as many Science technicians from around the county - attending the conference to discover how food can be used to model science concepts.

Miss Sam Holyman, Bablake's Junior Science Coordinator, who organised the event, said: “It was wonderful to share ideas and skills at the conference. One big change in the National Curriculum is that the structure of Deoxyribonucleic acid or DNA has moved to Key Stage 3 Science and A-level Chemistry.

This macromolecule is a natural polymer made from a sugar phosphate backbone, where the order of the bases locks all the hereditary information to make up a whole organism. DNA can be found in the nucleus of most cells and may even be extracted from fruit like kiwi at home! We used strawberry laces, a variety of other sweets with cocktail sticks and wire to make our own models. The concentration on people’s faces was immense!”

“If you would like to make your own DNA sweet model, go to this page on the Guardian website,” she added.

The event is only made possible with excellent support from our Senior Science Technician Miss Amy Hardie and Breckland Chemical Suppliers. We were also delighted to welcome, for the first time, Dr Ruth Patchett, who is the Royal Society of Chemistry Education Co-coordinator based at the University of Warwick.

Sadly the conference will be the last at Bablake arranged by Miss Holyman, as she moves to her new role as Second in Science at Aylesford School in September.