Blue Skies students attend Brian Cox’s live tour
Over the last weeks, pupils from our Blue Skies partner schools in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire have been guests at Professor Brian Cox’s live show.
JET students from York High School and Easingwold Sixth Form attended along with our Yorkshire JETLO Alli Guiton and Interim Head of Youth Programmes Sue Byatt when it stopped off in York. They were treated to a mind stretching and entertaining show and the students absorbed an array of fascinating cosmology facts, illustrated with stunning imagery. One highlight was a video clip describing how, in the absence of air and other interfering factors, gravity affects objects in the same way, meaning a bowling ball and a feather will fall at the same rate. To prove this, Professor Cox visited the world’s largest vacuum chamber, which normally tests spacecraft, to drop the ball and feather from a great height in space-like conditions.
Sophie, said ‘Having previously not known much about space and life beyond earth, seeing Professor Brian Cox’s show was a very eye opening experience. I loved his passion for the subject and the very complex talk about galaxies and the universe. I’m very thankful for this opportunity through the Jon Egging Trust, I learnt so much and thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience!’
Geri said ‘It was brilliant, I am definitely studying Astro Physics at uni now”.
Three Barnes Wallis Academy pupils attended as VIP guests at his sell out gig at The Engine Shed in Lincoln. The students were accompanied by Vice Principal Emma Day along with Eve Darwood (East of England Youth Programmes Manager) and CEO Emma Egging who organised for the pupils to have a private meeting with Brian during the interval. Professor Cox talked to the pupils and answered their questions about the universe, the potential for alien life and what advice he would give to students preparing for their exams.
Part of his fascinating talk on cosmology was on the Red Shift theory, a GCSE topic for the pupils. When he realised, Brian presented each pupil with a special ‘Red Shift’ T-shirt which he personally signed and gave them their own private tutorial.
Mason was thrilled commenting ‘This is the best day of my whole life! It was on my bucket list and I cannot believe I have had the opportunity to meet one of my all-time heroes’.
Abbie described the evening as ‘The best school trip ever!’
Luke was mesmerised by the evening and when asked what was the best part he said “All of it; everything!”
Emma Day said ‘This is an amazing experience for the students – to have your own personal tutorial from Brian Cox is a once in a life time opportunity. We are so proud to be linked with the Jon Egging Trust.’
If you get the chance, it’s a show well worth seeing and the students and staff from JET were thrilled to witness our patron doing what he does best: making science relevant and riveting.
Giz, a JET volunteer, said ‘From a Big Bang 13.8 Billion years ago, we now live amongst trillions of galaxies! Professor Brian Cox has a true passion to get his knowledge out there. Interesting, funny and pitched at a level easy enough to follow, we all realised our place in the gigantic universe!’
