FameLab Academy - judging!

As part of my FameLab academy mentor-ing, I went to another school (St Edwards in Cheltenham) to judge their final. They had 10 students in the final, and I was sent a list of topics in advance, so I knew (vaguely) what they would be talking about. There was a wide range of topics, and I was excited to learn new things! I got to the school and met the other judges before the final started. It turns out that I wasn't the only one nervous about asking questions! After each talk, each of us was going to ask a question: either about the topic, or the research process the student had done to make their talk.

Just like the "adult" version of FameLab, the students were all required to talk for a maximum of 3 minutes on a science topic of their choice. I think I was expecting a lot of nervousness, and a lot of mumbling. But I was so impressed by all of the talks! From chocolate, to steam trains, to bugs that live in your face the topics were all interesting and the facts were delivered clearly. All of the students were very confident in their delivery, but there were some that really stood out. They were passionate about their topic and that really showed. I never thought that steam engines or bugs that live on our faces (yes, I know - yuk!) could be so interesting. It was a tough job picking the top 3, with some disagreement amongst the judges, but we managed it…  If that is what the rest of the schools’ finalists look like – I cannot wait until the final!!