Science Snippets 2024

On Wednesday 8 May, the science department was delighted to bring a delegation to Tonbridge School’s third annual Science Snippets competition.

Entries had opened for this fantastic presentation challenge in the spring term, with competitors submitting sixty-second videos of themselves explaining an extra-curricular science topic in their field of interest. Ava (Fourth Year) and Stacy (Fifth Year) qualified for the grand final, with their presentations about photochemical smog and “the workaholic brain” respectively, as did Elle and Alice (Lower Sixth), with their summaries of molecular knots and biodiesel. We travelled east on Wednesday evening to join them for the grand final.

Our scientists combined their excellent understanding and explanations of the science behind their topics with a great stagecraft. To excel as science presenters, we must incorporate both of these skills, as anyone who has ever attended or delivered a Moncrieff-Jones, Darwin, Lavoisier, Dirac, or Radcliffe Punt Society seminar will testify. It was fantastic to watch eleven Key Stages 3-4 and eleven A Level pupils from across Southeast England excelling as science presenters.

Caterham’s competitors had succeeded in a very competitive process to reach the grand final. Their success in this process, supported by their self-guided science reading and regular attendance at our science societies, is a testament to the thriving culture of enriching one’s own learning in Caterham Science. We look forward to next year’s competition.

Mr R. Evans

Teacher of Chemistry and Science Enrichment