Meteorites at the Papworth Everard Day Centre in March 2025

 

The Papworth and District Day Centre is a charity that aims to provide social events for senior citizens feeling isolated. Dr Diane Turner (Dr Di) visited the centre with the meteorite collection, who were very excited to hold the pieces, even the 8 kg Gibeon iron meteorite. 

The centre manager commented 'On The 11th March we were delighted to have a fascinating talk by Dr Diane Turner PhD FRSC who told us lots of interesting facts about meteorites and passed around meteorites for us all to examine. As the meteorites were passed around they prompted much discussion and curiosity. Many thanks to Diane for a very interesting morning.'

Diane commented 'It is a pleasure to get involved in outreach from young to old, from public events to those in schools. March has been a busy and exciting month!'

Visit to Comberton Village College STEM Club in March 2025

As part of British Science week, Dr Diane Turner (Dr Di) joined the Comberton Village College STEM club after school on the 10th March 2025.

The club leader commented 'Diane came and spoke to a selection of staff and students during Science Week. There was lots of interest with staff and students alike keen to get their hands on the meteorites.

A teacher said: “I found the presentation engaging and informative. While I’d hoped for an opportunity to get a closer look at some meteorite samples, I never imagined I’d get to hold a fragment of Mars in my hand, having only been admiring its distant light in the night sky the previous evening: amazing!”

A year 7 student said: “I found it incredibly intellectual, knowledgeable, and helped me learn more about space. I had never dreamed of holding some of those amazing specimens! Like one of them was super dense and really hard to pick up for its size, and another was a piece of the moon…or, should I say, a piece of the Earth that has been away for a while. It inspired me to set up my telescope!”

A year 11 student told me it had been his favourite science club session of the year.

We look forward to welcoming Diane back next year.'

Newton Primary School visit in March 2025

In March 2025 Dr Diane Turner (Dr Di) spent the morning with the meteorite collection at Newton Primary School in Cambridgeshire. The school only has 3 classes, therefore Dr Diane Turner was able to visit the whole school, from foundation level up to year 6! 

The headteacher commented 'Dr Diane was excellent! The children were fascinated by the talk and responded brilliantly to being able to hold, examine and pass round the items! They could not BELIEVE they were holding a piece of the moon!

The children had some great questions and Diane answered them really well, especially including lots of visuals and videos to support what she was teaching us. Thank you for a fabulous presentation!

Dr. Diane was a fabulous addition to celebrating British science week at Newton Primary School. The children were very excited when she opened her big case full of meteorites! The presentation was well thought out, and each class found the presentation targeted the audience at an age-appropriate level. The children were very engaged and absolutely loved holding actual meteorites and a piece of the moon! They couldn’t wait to go home and tell their families. All round, a very informative and enjoyable experience.

Thank you so much for taking the time to come and visit our school.'

Public event in Cambridgeshire in March 2025

 

Dr Diane Turner (Dr Di) organised a local, public event, at the Courtyard Cafe, Papworth Everard, Cambridgeshire in March 2025. The staff and the local community were excited to have Diane present the Meteorites and have the opportunity to hold a piece of the Moon, Mars, and much more. The staff said it was a great atmosphere to have in the cafe and look forward to welcoming Diane back again soon.

“We had a great time. My girl was so interested. She loves all things to do with space. Thank you!” – One parent who attended the public event.

Thank you to the Courtyard Cafe for opening especially to host the meteorite event, that was attended by around 60 members of the public, from young to old!

Swavesey Village College visit in March 2025

In March 2025, during British Science Week, Dr. Diane Turner (Dr Di) embarked on an outreach tour across Cambridgeshire to showcase pieces from one of space science’s most fascinating subjects, meteorites.

Dr Turners first stop was Swavesey Village College in Cambridgeshire where all Year 8 students  enjoyed a unique opportunity – the chance to touch and hold meteorites from space, including pieces of the moon and Mars!

Their teacher commented 'Swavesey was lucky enough to host Dr Diane Turner in all our Year 8 classes where students were able to hold a chunk of the Gibeon meteorite made of iron and weighing 8 kg, as well as rocks from the moon, Mars and many more meteorites discovered all over the world. The students thoroughly enjoyed the chance to get hands on with this subject, which is usually difficult to get involved with in more than pictures and videos online.

Dr Turner also gave the students an introductory talk about meteorites, including where they come from, where they’re found and some of the more interesting stories linked to some of them – who knew that most meteorites are found in Antarctica?! Dr Turner linked careers including astronomy and chemistry into the presentation and meteorite experience, giving our students science capital to help them link STEM into their developing ideas about the world and their own futures.

The students also had the chance to work on a space themed science projects which were presented to their peers. This was a great opportunity to build independence, teamwork and presenting skills. Some projects were directly inspired by the experience with Dr Turner and the meteorites.

Many thanks to both Dr Turner and The Open University for this possibly once in a lifetime experience.'

A Visit to Europa School

 

A visit to Europa School UK

Open Meteorites / June 29, 2023

Last week (22/06/23), Dr Richard Greenwood visited Europa School UK in Culham, Abingdon, bringing a case, containing all sorts of exciting meteorites . Europa School is a multilingual, IB Diploma state school, which offers lessons in both English and a foreign language (French, German or Spanish). Richard, who teaches Chemistry to Sixth-Form students at the school one day a week, showed his students some of the meteorites. The most impressive one is the large piece of Gibeon that he presented to a group of S5 (Year 11) students, who were enjoying a taster day for the IB Diploma Programme they will be starting this September. Dr Greenwood also talked about how valuable the meteorites are, with some being valued at around £20,000! Overall, it was a very fun day and the students were all captivated by the meteorites.

 

Investigating craters

Open Meteorites / January 29, 2017

On Wednesday 25th January Simon Sheridan visited Stoke Goldington C of E First School. Simon organised a fun session, in which the children spent the afternoon investigating how the size and speed of meteroids (that’s meteorites before they hit the ground) affect the size and shape of craters. The session was rounded off with the children getting a chance to handle some real meteorites.