Life on Mars?

10 lucky girls from Bassingbourn Village College spent a day in Cambridge figuring out the mysteries of life on Mars – before building their own Mars rover.

The Year 8 students were taking part in a Girls into Physics event promoted by the University of Cambridge.

The girls spent the morning as guests of Newnham College where they had a tour of the college and interviewed existing students about life there. The morning culminated in discussing potential student clubs and activities before making a presentation to their peers.

After lunch the girls moved to the Cavendish Laboratory where schools liaison officer Jacob Butler and Physics tutor Dr Steve Martin gave them a whistlestop tour of the Cavendish museum before moving onto a series of physics experiments.

By the end of the day the girls had learnt a great deal about building the perfect rover for Mars – from perfectly constructed tyres, the best materials to use given the severe temperatures and just how to make the buggy as aerodynamic as possible. (Clue: make it whale-shaped!)