Project Light

The University of Sussex Department of Physics and Astronomy will be working with educational theatre performance company Ensonglopedia to create a stage show that uses live experiments, simple explanations, comedy and newly-written songs to explore the properties of light. We will also develop an accompanying online video and teachers' resource pack tying in the show's learning with the Key Stage 3 syllabus.

During this initial phase, the live performance will be presented 10 times in 3 locations:
- twice at the University of Sussex, timetabled as part of pre-arranged outreach events
- three times in Spilsby, Lincolnshire, as part of the "Spilsby Lights" family celebration event
- three times at Brighton Fringe Festival in May 2024

The teachers' resource pack will be piloted in 2 locations:
- at St Andrew's C.E. High School in Worthing, West Sussex
- at West Sussex Alternative Provision College (WSAPC), a pupil referral unit in Burgess Hill, West Sussex

Additionally, we will roll out the live show on a wider national tour later in 2024 to both schools and public audiences. Performances will be paid by the venue at public theatres and independent schools, and we will seek Arts Council, IoP and other funding to present the show free-of-charge in state schools and low science engagement settings. We will also make the accompanying video and teacher's pack available online for a broader audience.

The chief aim of all parts of the project will be to educate and enthuse young people (particularly those aged 11-14) and their families about the science of light, including:
- the history of our understanding of light, incorporating ancient concepts as well as breakthroughs by Newton, Maxwell, Einstein, Herschel and others
- properties of light, inc. the speed of light & visible light as part of the electromagnetic spectrum
- the workings of the eye (human, compound, imaging devices etc.)
- recent breakthroughs in the gathering of light of different wavelengths from distant galaxies, e.g. using the JWST
- contemporary light technology, e.g. LED technology, Virtual and Augmented Reality, and institutions such as Diamond Light Source
- the importance of light to life, through an examination of photosynthesis, vitamin D, circadian rhythms etc.

We will be producing a song about each item on the above list, and developing a relevant on-stage experiment, to form part of the live show.

The work will be disseminated in four main ways:
1. At live performances
2. At school outreach sessions
3. Via the internet to a broader public
4. To our peers within education and science communication.

To take these in turn:

1. LIVE PERFORMANCES

Audiences at the University of Sussex performances will be captive audiences attending the University as part of school trips. Audiences at Spilsby Lights will be public audiences who attend a roster of performances offered on that day, and we have budgeted to provide some signposting in the form of flyers and social media posts to divert these audiences to our show in particular. At Brighton Fringe, the marketing strategy will be more rigorous, involving a campaign of promotion through print media, postering / flyering, interviews with news outlets with whom we have pre-existing relationships, and an email newsletter campaign to two mailing lists: Ensonglopedia's 1000+ strong Mailchimp list, and the University of Sussex's Physics & Astronomy Outreach Department's schools list.

Once the show has been created, and this initial tour completed, Ensonglopedia will offer it for nationwide touring, following in the footsteps of previous shows by the same artists (which between them have visited 200 venues to an audience of 50,000+).

2. SCHOOL SESSIONS

All outreach sessions that form part of this funded project will take place during school hours to groups of KS3 participants. Further school sessions delivered by the company will be rolled into future funding applications through the Arts Council, Institute of Physics and others, and the stand-alone teachers' pack and accompanying video will be offered to schools on the University of Sussex's Physics & Astronomy schools list free of charge to support the learning of KS3 pupils.

3. INTERNET

The teachers' pack will be freely available on Ensonglopedia's website, and will be signposted through social media, the University of Sussex schools list, and dedicated online science outreach forums. Similarly, the accompanying video will be freely available on YouTube, and disseminated widely through the production company's channels, and those of their peers and partners. A small online marketing budget has been allocated.

4. PEER SHARING

We will inform other scientists, educators & communicators of this work, and the learning we've made in best practice of science communication through the arts, through our links with the following organisations & networks:
- South East Physics Network
- Institute of Physics teacher networks
- Royal Astronomical Society
- BIG STEM Communicators Network
- VOICES music in STEM
- Association for Science Education (ASE)

Articles about the project will be submitted to RAS Astronomy & Geophysics and The Guardian's Brain Flapping blog (for whom John Hinton has previously written 2 guest articles), and to the newsletters and internal publications of all partner organisations, and will be published on the project's own website www.ensonglopedia.com.

In Ensonglopedia's experience of touring, the live shows are well attended by scientists, science educators and communicators, particularly at science festivals. Anecdotally, educators often comment on how useful the shows have been in providing ideas for classroom teaching, which will be greatly enhanced with the additional resource of accompanying video and teachers' packs.

A detailed evaluation of the project, including an evaluation of the co-operation with each of the project partners, will be distributed to all partners.