Dr Francisca Wheeler, Withington Girls School, Manchester. The project is a continuing one. A robust and permanent set up allows the girls to make a wide study of the growth of crystals in a water mist produced by a nebuliser in a dedicated chest freezer environment. The project involves about 10 sixth form girls working on specific projects each year.
Work is carried out in a dedicated environment and accessed regularly during the lunch hour.
The objective of this project is primarily to give the girls the chance of finding out what scientific research really involves. The area under investigation concerns the effect of different pollutants on the components of clouds. This area of work is of particular interest because it concerns everyone, being relevant and important environmental research. With increasing concern about the pollution of the atmosphere and environment, the girls have been able to identify topical problems and translate them into problems which they can research. A cloud is simulated in a large chest freezer by rapidly freezing a water mist produced by an ultrasonic nebuliser.