Phew! End of Week 1. Since the site went live for students to interact with on Tuesday we’ve had:

• 3350 unique visitors to the website
• 429 questions – including “What’s string theory?”, “How long will it take you to die if you head gets cut off?” and “Do people who play with lego have a higher IQ?”
• 26 half-hour live chats between scientists and classes – discussions have covered marijuana, kidney stones, salty oceans, animal testing, cloning and biotechnology.

Participants have said to us:

• “My office buddy says ‘When do we get you back’ #IASAus is super-addictive” :)” – Kate Patterson, Scientist in Food Zone
• “Thank you for the live chat before as well, you all taught me a lot in only roughly 10 minutes!!!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 :)” – Tamara, Student
• “There was a collective groan from the class at 3.00pm when the chat session ended. Students wanted to keep going. I can say the class really enjoyed the session and the time went really quickly. I think the class appreciated that the scientists were real people” – Robert, Teacher

So as we come into Week 2:

Scientists: You’re brilliant! The questions will keep coming, but you are half-way. Keep checking the live chat schedule for chat bookings, it’s been great to be able to have so many classes and scientists involved.

Students: Keep asking questions! You also want to ensure you’re reading others’ questions and answers and thinking of new questions that you can ask. Go to the ASK button to submit your questions. And don’t forget to Vote!

Teachers: Check your teacher booklet for the nanotechnology in the media activity. Your students should all have access by now. If you are still having any technical or other problems, remember we are available in the Staffroom to assist.

Visitors: Enjoy the site! There are some many fantastic Q&As being posted and things will also hot up with the first eviction this Tuesday 21st June at AEST. Spread the word to schools and scientists so we can turn this pilot into a big event in 2012.

Your admins,

James, Kristin & Sarah