Last week members of the Thomson Unicomarine team gave a talk to pupils at St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School, Guildford, on “Water Day” which was part of the school’s Science Week.
Laura and Dale, marine biologists from Thomson Unicomarine, hosted six 30 minute sessions for the children, aged 10 and 11, including an introduction to Thomson Unicomarine, the surveys that the biologists do, and the work that takes place in the washroom and in the lab. The children then had the chance to try on survey and laboratory equipment – oilskins, lab coats, waterproofs, waders, goggles and gas masks – which was a highlight for most of them, and resulted in a lot of questions being asked!
Laura and Dale talked about some of the animals that we had collected – and showed specimens including urchins, cuttlefish, starfish, gobies and polychaete worms, which the children found fascinating.
Lots of questions were asked including: “Why can’t you identify the samples with the animals alive?”, “What is the biggest specimen that you have in the lab?” and “How long does it take you to process each sample?”
Laura and Dale were very pleased that the children seemed interested and engaged, and hope that this may encourage a future interest in marine sciences, and perhaps inspire the children to find out more.
