Sciences combine for new 'CheMUDstry' project

The 'CheMUDstry Investigation' gave young people in Stoke the chance to get messy and learn about local soil geochemistry.

By Joanna Wragg

For many of us, our first experiments with and exploration of the natural world started off with a messy examination in the dirt to create a mud pie. Our 'CheMUDstry Investigation’ project was created around this simple experience to provide hands-on engagement with the ‘natural laboratory’ that is our outdoor environment and to show that chemistry is everywhere.

In a mash-up of chemistry and geology, we developed a series of experiments around mud pies to explore the chemistry beneath our feet. The emphasis was on outdoor messy play learning, supported by linked classroom experiments and activities.

Aimed at Key Stage 2 students and STEM clubs in primary schools, the project provided resource kits to six schools in Stoke-on-Trent. This area was chosen as British Geologic Society researchers have worked in Stoke for many years to understand its soil geochemistry. This particularly relates to the area's industrial history and relationship with human health.

We wanted to share this with schoolchildren in Stoke and involve them with our work on local soil geochemistry. Additionally, the Stoke region is recognised to have many areas of low science capital and is one of the 12 'opportunity areas' for the Department for Education.

The government department is prioritising resources, and bringing local and national partners together. All of this is to break the link between a child’s family background and where they get to in life – with scientific aspiration a key element of this.

In addition to lab equipment, tools and reference charts, the resource kits included a specially designed laboratory notebook to give a feeling of what it is to be like a scientist while getting nicely dirty! The workbook provided straightforward instructions, as well as spaces to record results and to collect reward stickers for the completion of each activity.

We also created an accompanying teachers’ notes book, which contained help and guidance for the experiments, as well as extra information for discussion. The addition of this book meant that a school could tailor the experience to the specific age of the children and provide the teacher with the knowledge and confidence to deliver a subject that they may not be familiar with.

Now that we have produced the workbook and teachers' notes book, we can provide electronic copies to STEM clubs at other schools to be used in their own 'CheMUDstry Investigations'.

One young boy had great fun making his mud pie so much so that he named it Castle McMudPie. Arthur, aged eight, learned that soil has a smell and was so enthusiastic about this part of the task, he got a muddy nose!

At the start of the projects, the children were asked to draw what they thought a chemist looks like. One said they thought a chemist was someone working in a pharmacy, with "clothes like a doctor" who "gives people medicine".

At the end of the investigation, they could easily describe several of the people who might do the jobs mentioned in the laboratory notebook. The children also plumped to describe a farmer, as they decided a farmer would need to know about soil chemistry to grow healthy crops.

Teachers highlighted that the equipment and activities can be used in future years, and provide sufficient flexibility that the kit can be used as a complete project (for example, in an after-school STEM club), or activities selected and incorporated into the current curriculum.

A representative of Ball Green Primary School told us: "The boxes look amazing and we are extremely lucky to be able to take part in the project you have sent. I have been through the boxes and we can see lots of ways of incorporating them into our science lessons."

Teachers also praised the practical nature of the project, with one saying the children loved the hands-on nature of the activities, which she believed meant the children wouldn't have stayed so engaged or retained so much information without such practical involvement. The CheMUDstry investigation has effectively used natural, messy play in an outdoor setting as a fun and educational tool.

The project was a team effort, with Jenny Bearcock writing and trialling out some of the experiments with her own children; Eilidh Dunnet and Eloise Ward checking that everything made sense and sorting out the purchase of equipment and proofreading; and Debbie Rayner and Amanda Hill, who produced a fantastic laboratory notebook and the teachers’ notes. We would also like to thank the kids and teachers for getting stuck in and muddy.