Clean World and Healthy World Zone Report – January to May 2022
Two Zones were run between January and May 2022 funded by Johnson Matthey’s Science and Me programme. The Clean World Zone ran from 24 January to 18 February 2022. Based on advice from our school recruitment partner the Healthy World Zone ran from 21 March to 20 May 2022 and was extended to accommodate spring-break.
The Zones featured 46 scientists from a variety of roles working towards sustainability and healthier minds, bodies and communities. 310 (93%) students actively participated by writing Chat lines, asking follow-up questions and voting.
The Zones connected 333 students from 9 different schools with 46 scientists across 8 states in the USA. 85% of active students were part of Title 1 schools receiving funding support from state and local education agencies. A total of 32 live Chats were requested across the two Zones, with 21 having taken place. Students asked 195 follow-up questions of which 95 were approved and 74 were duplicates.
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Genomics Zone Report – March 2017
The Genomics Zone was a themed zone funded by Genentech and Human Longevity, Inc.
The zone featured scientists working on a range of genomics related topics from genetic diseases in children to cancer. The zone had 329 participating students from 13 schools. Class sizes ranged from 5 to over 30 students across grades 4 to 11. Most of the classes had two live chats with the scientists with more live chats taking place in the first week than the second.
There were more questions submitted in the genomics zone than average during events and there was also more activity in live chats. The live chats were well attended, with the students from one school, Wyoming Virtual Academy, all logging on from their individual homeschool locations. All the scientists were very engaged and quick to reply to the students’ questions with very detailed answers. They were very willing to interact, creating a dialogue of answers in response to ASK questions, corroborating answers, and supporting each other.
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Helium Zone Report – May 2016
The Helium Zone was a general science zone featuring scientists working across a range of life science and medical subject areas. The zone had 299 participating students in 
comparison to 262 in the previous year’s Hydrogen Zone. Students were spread fairly evenly across the schools taking part with classes ranging from 6 to 28 members. Some schools enrolled multiple classes and some classes undertook multiple live chats. There were more chats in the first week than the second, with eighteen chats overall.
There were a very large number of questions submitted and approved, with more questions asked by the students than the previous hydrogen zone. Chats were well attended with many featuring three or more scientists and an average of three scientists per chat. Schools attended all their live chats and the scientists were quick to reply to the students’ questions in ASK. Kevin, Melissa and Jonathan answered almost the same number of questions, 23%, 22% and 22% respectively,
with a total of over 700 answers.
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Soil Zone Report – May 2016
The Soil Zone was a themed zone funded by the Agronomic Science Foundation gateway fund.
The zone featured scientists working on a range of soil related topics from nodulation in roots to generation of electricity. The zone had 315 participating students from 8 schools. Some teachers had multiple classes take part in the soil zone and class sizes ranged from 13 to over 30 students across grades 4 to 12. Most of the classes had two live chats with the scientists with more live chats taking place in the second week than the first.
There were fewer questions submitted than other zones but 70% of those submitted were approved and over 80% of the students were actively engaged with the scientists. The live chats were well attended with Mark Ritchie even joining in from Africa. All the scientists were very engaged and quick to reply to the students’ questions with very detailed answers. They also engaged with each other, frequently commenting on the students’ questions in ASK as well as conversing in CHAT.
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Hydrogen Zone Report – May 2015
The Hydrogen Zone was a general science zone and the first ever USA event. The zone had a promising number of participating students (262) compared to the average for the UK March (383) event, spread fairly evenly across the schools taking part. Some schools enrolled multiple classes and some classes undertook multiple live chats. In some cases success in the first chat led to 
teachers wanting a live chat the following day to enable students to continue their interactions. The majority of questions submitted were approved and chats were well attended with nearly all live chats featuring three or more scientists and schools making 89% of booked chats. Zoe, Jeff and Lindsay were particularly well engaged, answering over 90% of questions and contributing over 90% of the live chat content.
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