Pupils cook up fun

HARD-boiled eggs, marshmallows and spaghetti were key ingredients to a special event at a Suffolk school – but it was not a meal that they were cooking up.

HARD-boiled eggs, marshmallows and spaghetti were key ingredients to a special event at a Suffolk school – but it was not a meal that they were cooking up.

Youngsters were learning that it's not fiction, but science does play an important role in many aspects of day to day living and the world around them.

Trimley St Mary Primary School pupils have been taking part in Science Week and have enjoyed a variety of exciting activities both in the classroom and on trips around the county.

The dried spaghetti, marshmallows and hard-boiled eggs were used during a family fun evening involving parents and children. The challenge was to make the tallest structure possible on which the egg could be balanced for 30 seconds.

"Everyone had great fun and the commitment and concentration was incredible," said Val Dufor, co-ordinator for science at the school in High Road.

"Some of the constructions were very strong and held the egg for far more than the 30 seconds, so it came down to which was tallest.

"I was teasing them that some of them had been preparing for the test because when I went to Tesco to get the spaghetti, there wasn't a lot left!"

Mrs Dufor said the aim of the week had been to raise the profile of science and show that the subject could be interesting and fun and link with other topics.

The theme of the week had been "Living Things" and this had involved classroom work, visiting speakers and trips to investigate living things in the environment in Suffolk.

Trips out had included time at the Trimley Marshes Nature Reserve, Fornham Field centre, meeting the ranger at Holywells Park in Ipswich, and the RSPB reserve at Minsmere.

Speakers had included John Fletcher from the Shark Preservation Trust. Year groups had worked on topics such as insects, birds and sustainability and done poetry, artwork, and science investigations.