This is the challenge taken up by many teams of A-level students each year in the Institute's Paper Clip Physics Competition. The difficulties of explaining physics without using the shorthand of scientific jargon do not deter these young people. In the South Western region alone this year we had 29 teams entering, with heats in Cheltenham , Bristol , Bath and Exeter . Of the three judges, one is a non-scientist whose understanding of the demonstration is checked by the others. The teams are marked primarily against this criterion, but, of course, scientific validity is important, as are the ingenuity and the quality of the presentation.
Topics chosen by the teams are as varied as the ingenuity shown in the presentations.
This year in Cheltenham one team used a tin can and a candle to demonstrate the airflow that enables an aeroplane to stay up. After the heats comes the regional final. This year the winner in the South West was a team from Beechen Cliff School in Bath with a layman's guide to Ohm's Law. The regional finalists compete in London at the national final. Everyone who has taken part as competitor, judge, or organiser has found it a very happy and enjoyable experience.