Monkey Business could win science prize (From The Northern Echo)

Monkey Business could win science prize

6:25pm Friday 13th November 2009

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NORTH-East students are counting on a spot of monkey business to win leading science prize for their teacher.

Pupils from Teesdale School, in County Durham, are spending a year working with staff at Chester Zoo to design and make a toy for a group of Mandrill monkeys.

Their science teacher Rob Aspden is among nine finalists in the Rolls Royce Science Prize, earning him £6,000 to spend educating his pupils about animal behaviour Mr Aspden was a primatologist before becoming a teacher so hopes to inspire his students through his passion for the subject.

Other Teesdale teachers are involved in mentoring the group as they develop ideas and build models.

The students, who are aged between 11 and 17, will follow industrial procedures similar to those used by Rolls Royce and could win £15,000 when the national prize is awarded in October 2010.

They will start by visiting the zoo to observe the animals before producing prototypes and choosing the best design to manufacture in the school’s technology department.

At the same time other departments will work on separate topics linked to the mandrake project.

Mr Aspden said: "This is a unique project as schools do not get opportunities to work with or for a company like Chester Zoo and actually contribute to the running of a company.

"It offers our students an opportunity to see science beyond their typical curriculum and see also that it is not just a laboratory subject."

Once the mandrills receive the toy, a doctor of primatology from the University of Liverpool, Dr Sean O’Hara, will be studying the group to measure whether the device has enriched their lives.

Rae Lowe, from the Science Learning Centre North East visited the school yesterday to watch the students at work.

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