Interactive science at the Royal Institution in London

A trip was arranged by Dr Tuncel Tack, the chemistry teacher at the ISC to the Royal Institution in London. This included the opportunity to work in their laboratories for half a day and an exploration of the museum for the other half of the day.

The students assembled bright and early and following a coach journey through Henley to London we arrived on time at Albemarle Street. The 38 students from the ISC were then split in to two groups and given their tasks for the day.

The work in the laboratory fascinated all the students. They were able to extract strands of their own DNA. This involved chewing the inside of their cheeks to release some cells and then using the fluid from their mouth. They then had to use very carefully measured amounts of various chemicals to breakdown cells walls and then using heat they were able to finally using very cold water to isolate the tiny strands of DNA on the interface between the two fluids. It was amazing to see our own DNA without a microscope. The students were then able to take home a vial of fluid with their DNA strands. It was a memorable experiment.

Museum Tour


The museum at the Royal Institution has examples of the wok of many of the scientists attached to the Institute. We learned that 10 of the elements on the periodic table were discovered by scientists at the Institute. There was an interactive activity to find these based on the Elements song by Tom Lehrer which is a parody of the Major General's song from Pirates of Penzance by Gilbert and Sullivan. There was much to see at the museum and we had a questionnaire to help us to find out as much as we could.

It was a good day for staff and students alike and many thanks to Tuncel for organising it.

Pantomime!

Students at the International Study Centre are excitedly awaiting the release of their very own pantomime DVD which should be available from Friday 14th January. They are looking forward to seeing how their show looked on the night, having worked really hard in the build up, not just rehearsing, but also helping make the costumes and props and designing and painting parts of the set.


Their production of ‘Snow White and the Seven Deadly Sins’ – a unique twist on the story of Snow White - transported the tale to Transylvania and turned it into ‘horror panto’. As ever, the audience was wonderfully supportive and the performances completely hilarious.


The cast and crew were delighted to receive rave reviews from avid pantomime fans, including the College Bursar, Peter Talbot, who had this to say: “What a masterpiece of entertainment! It really was a fantastic start to Christmas and a real ‘tour de force’ from all your remarkable students. As always I find it thoroughly humbling to think they are learning all the words in a foreign language after only a few weeks of studying in the UK — and then making it humorous. Awesome!”


The cast wowed other audience members, too. “The kids all did brilliantly! Special big shouts out to Count Von Tusrey, the Dancing Girls, and Blumenthal, but they were all great!” wrote Rebecca Wood in an email to the students. “In my humble opinion, it was the best one yet.”

High praise indeed from someone who has helped produce all the previous ISC pantomimes — and was in the audience for the first time to enjoy it.

— By Helen Wood, Director

Watch a slideshow of photos from the show