Iris Festival of Ancient and Modern Science Tuesday 7th February, 2017, 3 - 7pm Cheney School

Speakers: Professor Robert Winston, Professor Anthony Grayling, Professor Helen King Stalls, Activities, Demonstrations, Performances and more - for all ages Welcome to the Iris Festival of Ancient and Modern Science

This event is a celebration of science through the ages, from ancient Greece and Rome to modern times. A very wide range of organisations and speakers are running activities, stalls and talks which you will be able to find throughout the school.

The stalls, performances and activities run from 3 until 5.45pm. The Brighouse Building is hosting activities and stalls themed on biology, and areas such as Astronomy, Archaeology and Technology can be found in the Lane Building. There are also performances in the Lane Building from Flux Dance Company and Comitatus, as well as a refreshments stall.

In our Library, you can explore the ancient city of Pompeii, and find out all about volcanoes and visit the Hellenic Bookservice with their wide range of books and other classical merchandise.

Don’t forget to get your brochure stamped in each region!

The Classics Centre at Cheney is founded and run by educational charity The Iris Project. We are privileged to work in partnership with Cheney School. Many Cheney School students and staff are helping at the festival. We are also very grateful to volunteers from the University of Oxford, other HE institutions, businesses and other organisations who are taking part in the festival.

All our classes, projects and events are offered free of charge to the local community and beyond. We are therefore grateful for donations and support for our work. If you would like to offer support, you are able to do so through our website at www. irisproject.org.uk or by contacting us at [email protected]

Many thanks indeed and we hope you enjoy the Festival!

Dr Lorna Robinson, Director of The Iris Project Mr David Gimson, UCAS and Higher Attainers Co-ordinator Our Speakers

Professor Robert Winston: Opening words and Q&A 3 – 3.30pm, Assembly Hall

Lord Winston is Professor of Science and Society and Emeritus Professor of Fertility Studies at Imperial College . In the 1970s he developed gynaecological surgical techniques that improved fertility treatments. He later pioneered new treatments to improve (IVF) and developed pre-implantation diagnosis. This allowed embryos to be screened for genetic diseases and has allowed parents carrying faulty genes to have children free of illnesses such as cystic fibrosis. Robert Winston has over 300 scientific publications about human reproduction and the early stages of pregnancy. Robert Winston is also Chairman of the Genesis Research Trust – a charity which raised over £13 million to establish the Institute of Reproductive and Developmental Biology.

Dr Kyle Grant: Growing Plants on Mars 3.45 – 4.15pm, Assembly Hall

Have you ever wondered if you could really grow plants on Mars? You’ve seen the movie, now come see the science behind The Martian, with Kyle Grant. His project specialises in the design of bacteria and plants that can colonise and survive in Martian and Lunar settings. In collaboration with NASA, the project hopes to one day provide crop plants and engineered bacterial counterparts for the support of astronauts on space missions. Dr Ben Kane: Archimedes and Weaponry 4.30– 5pm, Assembly Hall

Ben Kane is a veterinary surgeon turned novelist, specialising in historical fiction. He is best known for The Forgotten Legion, Spartacus and Hannibal book series. Eight of his ten novels have been Sunday Times bestsellers. In 2013, Kane and two friends walked the entire length of Hadrian’s Wall for charity while wearing full Roman military kit, including hobnailed boots. They raised nearly £19,000 for Combat Stress and Médecins Sans Frontières. In 2014, they walked again in Italy, raising over £26,500. A documentary film was made about their walk, entitled The Road to Rome. Ian McKellen provides the voiceover, and the film can be viewed on Youtube. In 2016, Kane cycled more than 1500 miles from Spain to Italy, following much of Hannibal’s trail, and in the process raising another £17,000 for charity.

Professor Helen King: What’s wrong with me? Symptoms and labels in Hippocratic medicine 5.15 – 5.45pm, Assembly Hall

Helen is Professor of Classical Studies, and moved to the OU from the University of Reading in 2011. Her first degree, at UCL, was in Ancient History and Social Anthropology; she then held research fellowships in Cambridge and Newcastle, taught in Liverpool for 8 years, and came to Reading on a University Award in 1996. From her PhD (on ancient Greek menstruation) onwards, she been interested in setting ancient medical thought within its social and cultural context, as one way - among others - of making sense of life. She has therefore looked at ancient ideas about creation, the role of women, and sacrifice to illuminate Hippocratic gynaecology Professor Allan Chapman

Professor Allan Chapman will be splitting his time between the outside space (with a telescope) and the Brighouse building, where he will be speaking informally to visitors about his work.

Having attended the local Cromwell Road Secondary Modern School for Boys, Sefton Road, Pendlebury (1957–1962), Professor Chapman gained his first degree from the University of Lancaster. Subsequently he undertook a history of science DPhil at Wadham College, Oxford. He is a historian by training and his special interests are astronomy and scientific biography. He has been based at Oxford University for most of his career, as a member of the Faculty of History, based at Wadham College.

He is also a television presenter, notably Gods in the Sky, covering astronomical religion in early civilisations, and Great Scientists, presenting the lives of five of the greatest thinkers.

Professor Anthony Grayling: The Science of the Pre-Socratic Philosophers 6 – 7pm, Assembly Hall

Anthony is a British philosopher, and the author of about 30 books on philosophy, including The Refutation of Scepticism (1985), The Future of Moral Values (1997), The Meaning of Things (2001), The Good Book (2011), and The God Argument (2013). He is a Trustee of the London Library, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and a Fellow of the .

He is a director and contributor at Prospect Magazine, as well as a Vice President of the British Humanist Association. His main academic interests lie in epistemology, metaphysics and philosophical logic. Stalls and Activities

We are the Mindfulness and Resilience Brighouse in Adolescence (MYRIAD) project. This Building Wellcome Trust Strategic Award will ask whether mindfulness training for teenagers can improve their mental health and resilience. We will offer you an opportunity to find out about our research and try out some activities that are part of Visited? the programme.

We study how embryos and embryonic Brighouse hearts of different species, e.g, fish, Building chicks and mice, develop using high power microscopy. We will be bringing microscopes, live fish embryos and 3D printed models of developing hearts. We work closely with Micron who will be bringing a 3D printer and other displays. Visited?

Cancer is not a new problem, and we’ve known about it for at least 2000 years. Brighouse But, what is cancer? The answer depends Building on when you try to answer it. The Greeks and Romans knew it as an imbalance of humours, the 19th and 20th century struggled with ideas of numbers and sizes of cells. The 21st century sees it as cells that share characteristics. Join us and Visited? explore three eras of thought.

The Communicate Project is a Community Brighouse Interest Company exploring different Building forms of communication and expression through the use of languages, drama and the arts. At our stall you will be able to see the human body through Roman eyes, looking at modern ailments and ancient remedies, and learning some Latin on the Visited? way. Brighouse The Centre for Personalised Medicine brings Building people together to discuss new ideas and learn about cutting-edge science. Come along and extract the DNA (the material that every living thing shares) from strawberries Brighouse using common kitchen ingredients. Visited? Building

Medical Marvels with Science Oxford Which treatments will you choose to use Visited? on our casualties; ancient remedies or Brighouse modern medicine? Will swallowing a spider Building cure their fever? Or munching woodlice ease a cough? Maybe blood will need to be let to improve their temper! Perhaps the more modern options of oxygen to help the Brighouse injured breathe, pressure to reduce bleeding Building or a sling to protect a fracture would be more fitting? Join the team from Science Oxford and students from the MSc course in International Health and Tropical Medicine at the Nuffield Department of Medicine, Visited? Oxford University to discover the wonders of Visited? medical science past and present, as well as trying out some first aid techniques yourself.

Brighouse Tick tock goes your body clock! Brighouse Have you ever wondered why you feel sleepy Building in the morning and more awake at night? Building Come and pick the brains of our scientists to learn more about yours! Find out how your brain controls sleep and why researching genes in mice can tell us more about human disease. Make your own neurones, explore a Visited? 3D brain model and challenge each other at Visited? our vision goggles game.

Brighouse Brighouse Building Come and handle 3D prints of the inside of Building cells and learn from our researchers about how plant and animal cells work. We’ll also be able to show you how to transform your own mobile phone into a portable microscope! Visited? Visited? Brighouse Oxford Sparks aims to share the University’s Building amazing science, support teachers to enrich their science lessons, and support researchers to get their stories out there. Come along to tell us what Big Questions you’d love answered, watch our animations and get some freebies. Visited?

Brighouse Have you ever wondered about the wildlife on your doorstep? Are the birds you see on Building your garden feeder the same every day? Are & there certain individuals that arrive early Outside or late? How will the climate change affect our species here in the UK? These are just some of the questions we try to answer here in Oxford. Working in Wytham Woods since 1947, we investigate how great tits are responding to a changing climate and their social interactions throughout the year. Come along to find out how we try to answer these questions and what we have Visited? found out. You might even get a chance to see some of the birds up close!

The Oxford Vaccine Group (OVG) are part Brighouse of the University of Oxford Department of Building Paediatrics, and enrol thousands of adults and children to studies evaluating vaccines against diseases such as meningitis, typhoid, pneumonia and ebola. Our activity will focus on ‘Plague: new approaches to defeating an old disease’. Visited?

Brighouse Are you an owl or a lark? Find out if you are Building a morning type, evening type or somewhere in between by taking a sleep quiz. Scientists from the Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience Institute (SCNi) will be available to answer your questions on sleep and sleep disorders. Visited? Brighouse Lane Building Building Discover how we use very small particles to look deep within materials to understand the world we live in, from spider silk and soaps, to ancient swords and superconductors. Visited? Visited?

Brighouse Brighouse Building Discover how the eye works and “see” how Building & different visual disorders can affect your Outside vision. Meet scientists, from the Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology (NLO), who investigate how eye disease impacts on vision and how we develop treatments to help. Visited?

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Oxford Archaeology is one of the largest and longest established independent Lane archaeology and heritage practices in Building Europe, providing heritage services to both public and private clients. As an educational Brighouse charity, OA undertakes research for a variety Building of national and regional bodies, providing opportunities for the public to engage in the field and post-excavation activities.

Come along and meet the archaeologists, handle finds and learn about our sites Visited? Visited? through scientific techniques.

Lane Brighouse The aim of The British Sundial Society (www. Building sundialsoc.org.uk) is the advancement of the Building education of the public in he science and art of gnomonics. Sundials were widespread in Ancient Greece and Rome. Some examples of typical ancient sundials will be on show and visitors will be able to make and take Visited? away a small working sundial. Visited? The Antikythera Mechanism is the oldest known advanced scientific instrument. It is a dedicated astronomical computer working with gears, constructed by Greek scientists during the Hellenistic period, probably Brighouse around 150 to 100 BC, somewhere in the Building Greek World. The Antikythera Mechanism is one of the greatest discoveries of ancient artefacts globally, as it proves that humans conceived and constructed a Mechanical Cosmos much earlier than we believed. In this stall Dr Maria Pavlidou, from the University of Birmingham, School of Physics and Astronomy, will discuss with visitors the recent Computer Tomography research analysis on the archaeological Copyright: Mrs Evi Sarantea fragments, give visitors a chance to see and manipulate the photographs of the largest Visited? archaeological fragments of the Mechanism, allow visitors to play around with a computational model of the mechanism and have a chance to read about our current knowledge on the Antikythera Mechanism

Oxford University Museum of Natural History is one of the six University collections. We Lane have close to 7 million natural objects that Building are used for research, teaching and public engagement.

Handle a variety of types of fossil evidence and use a range of skills to find out how Visited? scientists build up an accurate idea of the prehistoric world.

Lane The Panoply Vase Animation Project makes animations from real ancient Greek vases. Building Watch some of our animations and to take part in drawing activities based on ancient vases and Greek mythology. Visited?

Diamond Light Source is the UK’s Lane synchrotron. It works like a giant microscope, harnessing the power of electrons to Building produce bright light that scientists can use to study anything from fossils to jet engines to viruses and vaccines. We will be running some hands on activities showing how cutting edge science can be used to preserve historic artifacts such as Turners’ Visited? paintings or the Mary Rose. Lane Visit a Greek and Roman science Building demonstration of artefacts and their use. Brighouse This will be a flying journey through different Building materials, tools and medical implements. Not for the squeamish! 3pm, 4pm, 5pm Visited?

Could the Romans have predicted the eruption of Vesuvius? Library On 24 August, 79 CE, Vesuvius erupted with entrance Visited? devastating consequences. The eruption is one of the earliest for which we have first- hand accounts, since it was described a few years later by Pliny the Younger. Two thousand years later, are we any better prepared for the next ‘Plinian’ eruption of Vesuvius? Could the Romans have predicted the eruption? And, once it had started, could they have done anything else to escape? This hands-on activity will explore the science of Visited? Lane eruption forecasting, using party poppers; Building and the science of volcanic eruptions, using a 3D printed volcano model.

Visited? Library Take a step back in time and visit the ancient city of Pompeii! Explore its houses Lane and impressive use of technology through a Building range of activity stalls designed and run by Cheney students! Visited? Visited?

Lane Library Building The Hellenic Bookservice are bringing a very wide collection of books and other classical merchandise – visit them in the city of Pompeii! Visited? Visited? Lane Building Explore the sights, smells and tastes of some of the Roman herbs and potions used for healing in the ancient world! Visited?

Lane Clare Goodall is a freelance mosaic artist whose arts practice is divided Building between community arts projects, private commissions and public art. See examples of her work and projects at www.cgmosaics. co.uk

Clare believes passionately in encouraging the creativity that we all have to enhance, balance and empower our lives. Come and make Roman style mosaic coasters using traditional patterning. Visited?

Lane What was a Roman maths lesson like? Building How on earth did they do sums in Roman numerals? Come and find out with Eleanor Dickey (University of Reading) and Philomen Probert (University of Oxford). Visited?

Lane Building Do you know your star sign? Explore the Greek myths which lie behind the stars in the sky and make a star chart based on your star sign! Visited? Lane Lane Building Building Investigate ancient weighing systems and weights at this ancient business stall!

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Museum curator and ancient magic Lane researcher, Adam Parker (Open University) Building Lane will explore the weird and wonderful healing Building properties of the natural world, according to the Romans, with an opportunity to create a healing amulet inspired by Roman magical Visited? practices to take away.

Lane Building Find out how early Islamic scientists mapped the stars; discover medieval medicine Visited? through board games and activities. Visited?

Lane Find out about exciting new research into Building sunstorms and tree rings. Lane Visited? Building

Oxford University Department of Physics Lane - There are still some big questions in astronomy left unanswered, such as ‘are we Building alone?’, ‘how fast is the universe expanding? Visited? ‘and ‘what is dark matter?’. Oxford Physics will discuss with hands-on demonstrations some of the ways that we hope to find the Visited? answers!

FLUX: Moving Science is a performance Lane company which translates scientific Building research into contemporary dance theatre. Lane They work with both researchers and in Building schools to bring science to life through movement and theatre. Flux will be sharing a series of duets and trios from their new work ‘Launchpad’ based around the theme Visited? of space. Prepare to be sky rocketed into Visited? our solar system, and explore some of the greatest wonders of our universe. www.rumblemuseum.org.ukRun by The Iris Project at Cheney School

The Rumble Museum at Cheney is a unique partnership between an educational charity and a school. The Iris Project, a charity which promotes learning about the ancient world, is working with Cheney School to grow a museum within a school. We are working towards Museum Accreditation through the Arts Council Scheme.

The Museum is spread across various areas of the school, and features original and replica artefacts from a range of eras. At the moment, our largest collection is of Greek and Roman items, which are housed in our Classics Centre and in the Library.

The Iris Project has designed a main image for the Museum which incorporates hexagons to reflect its two main purposes: piecing the past together and connecting different areas of learning. Many of the artefacts are displayed on hexagon-shaped shelves around the school, so the Museum areas are easy to recognise. The bright, vibrant colours reflect The Iris Project’s ethos of bringing the past to life in vividly engaging ways.

The Museum is named after Jamie Rumble, a young man who devoted his life to improving the lives of young people.

Our collections

Our collection covers a broad range of periods and regions – from Mesolithic stone tools (approximately 10,000 years old), Ancient Greek and Roman pottery, glass, coins and lithics, Medieval pottery fragments to twentieth century pieces such as First and Second World War artefacts.

Archaeological artefacts can give us a privileged glimpse into many aspects of past life. Through them, we are able to better understand what people were eating, what parts of the world they traded with, where they stored their trinkets, how they did their hair up and even what an ancient Roman knees-up would have been like. In order to extract this information from the collection, we catalogue, photograph and publish all its archaeological artefacts. The stimulus behind this project has been to create a long-term resource that makes the most of the collection’s educational potential.

We are happy to see how the project is allowing students and visitors to experience heritage through workshops and artefact handling sessions. The database and photographs are also being incorporated into school syllabi, helping bring history to life. We encourage you to have a browse and hope that you will use this database in your own projects too!

The digital catalogue can be found online on the Rumble Museum and Iris Project website . If you would like to visit, and see the collection, please contact use through the website. We welcome community visitors and school groups, and run regular handling sessions.

Mural Trails

One of the most exciting new projects we are developing involves the design and creation of a number of murals which explore possible biographies for some of the many Roman artefacts we have on display.

Many of the items we have are pieces of much larger objects, and the idea behind these mural trails is to show the story of how some of these items would have been made and used, and eventually broken, and discovered centuries later as fragments. Each trail consists of three murals which trace these stories; the artefacts themselves can be found in the School Library. The trails are appearing all across the school campus. The murals have been created by artist Soham De.