The Orange Zone ran from 30 November to 18 December 2020 and was funded by the Wellcome Trust. It was a general science Zone featuring scientists working across a broad range of fields.
The activity ran as a part of I’m a Scientist: On Demand, which offers greater flexibility to teachers in how, and when, they can take part. This is in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and greater restrictions and uncertainty in schools. I’m a Scientist: On Demand runs throughout term-time, with month-long Zones.
Scientists
- 31 scientists took part. They included:
- Kate Dobson – singing volcanologist and engineer, University of Strathclyde
- Zahara Mortimer – research engineer, Deep Branch Biotechnology Ltd. and University of Nottingham
- Alex Ramadan – Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Oxford
Students
- 746 students from 21 schools logged into the Zone.
- 72% of active students were from target schools: 38% from widening participation schools and 59% from underserved schools.
Live Chats and Questions
- 40 live Chats took place took place during the activity.
- 55 live Chats were booked, but dropout was higher than usual with 12 cancellations and 3 ‘school no shows’.
- On average, 5 scientists attended each live Chat session.
- 2 teachers typed questions in a live Chat on behalf of their students, so the number of students engaged may be higher by up to 50.
- 179 student questions were sent to scientists, who responded with 280 answers.
