On Tuesday 15 December 2015, a group of Year 9 students from The Ramsey Academy, Halstead, attended the BIG BANG STEM Event at The University of Essex. This was an exciting opportunity for our students to see how science and technology are used within various industrial and commercial environments.

One of these workshops included ‘Life on Mars’ during which we looked at some of the major obstacles that have to be overcome in order to live there. Learning how to survive on Mars was a fascinating adventure and made us all think.

Following on from this we attended a workshop on the spread of disease and the work being done by health organisations to slow down and eventually eradicate some of these conditions.
The final session of the morning was an interactive presentation delivered by the Ugly Animal Roadshow. This highlighted the importance of science and technology in the conservation of certain animal species and how they have adapted to suit the environments in which they live.
The final event was a careers market place; this allowed the students to discover how various industries apply science and technology, with many of us coming away with a new insight into potential career paths.

All in all this was a very rewarding experience for us and we have gained a valuable insight into the world of science and technology. - Josh Lingley and Scott Firman (Year 9)