Potters Bar school picked for science project

A SCHOOL in Potters Bar has been chosen by the Royal Society to implement an innovative science project.

Dame Alice Owen’s has received a partnership grant of �2,300 from the national academy of science, to look at the effects of ultraviolet radiation (UV) from the sun on skin cells.

Entitled ‘How much sun does it take to bake a skin cell?’, the project will enable scientists from the Cancer Research UK’s Clare Hall Laboratories, in South Mimms, to work with teachers and pupils from the Dugdale Hill Lane establishment.

A school spokeswoman said: “Year 10 students aged between 14 and 15 will take on the challenge of calculating the doses of UV received during a typical school day and then investigate the effects of these doses on cultured skin cells.

“The students involved will use their new found knowledge to pass vital information about sun exposure on to children at local primary schools in Potters Bar.”

Professor John Pethica, vice president of the Royal Society, said: “We’re pleased to be supporting this project at Dame Alice Owen’s School and are looking forward to seeing it come to life over the coming months.”