Westbury Leigh Primary School Year 6 pupils had the opportunity to have a zoom conversation with the author and scientist Dr Lisa Mullan, who is a specialist in biochemistry and has spent several years teaching biologists all over the world.
The children were able to talk about the building blocks of life, DNA, with Dr Lisa and how evolution, inheritance and mutations in genes cause changes in characteristics.
Lisa Cox, science lead explained, “The children especially enjoyed using a dice to highlight the randomness of mutation and how this could potentially change a camel into a weird and wonderful creature over time. It’s great to see Year 6 inspired by the pleasure of finding things out!”
Corrissa said, “It was really interesting because I learnt lots of new things about evolution from an actual scientist!”
Harvey explained, “I enjoyed seeing all the weird adaptations and learning about how these would work in the real world!
The school added, “The children were really inspired hearing about the work of a scientist first hand; not only does this give them an insight into the world of careers and enable them to aspire to work in this area, but it also ensures they make connections and understand the relevance of their learning, which impacts hugely on their achievement.”