Focus on Cellular Biology at Southampton Uni

This week, 10 pupils from Lower Sixth Form went to Southampton University for an exciting, biology filled day! The day consisted of both a cellular biology workshop (where the students looked at different protoctists under a light microscope) and a neurology workshop. In the latter, students monitored fellow pupils’ heart rates, sweat production from their fingers and read electrophysiological signals by attaching electrodes to the wrists and skin conductance sensors on the fingers. Before jumping into the activities, we learnt a brief introduction to the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system as well as the theory of Endosymbiosis.

A particular highlight of mine was using the skin conductance test (sweat production monitor) in a bid to ascertain whether someone was lying! Monitoring each other’s heart rate was also thrilling when different photos were shown to each other to try to evoke a response, including scary, funny and cute photographs. Furthermore, I was fascinated to look at Cholera under a microscope and observe it moving around using its two flagella as well as the spherical Volvox – and we even identified a colony of Volvox!

Overall, everyone had an amazing time and it was a valuable experience for anyone thinking of a career in the biology field.

Holly C, Lower Sixth