Hundreds of school pupils have attended the first day of an Elgin science festival, designed to capture their imaginations.
About 500 youngsters from P4 classes spent yesterday at Moray College UHI carrying out experiments and tests.
Dry ice hung around the venue as the children examined how air influences objects, while oranges and bananas were used as part of computer programmes to create musical instruments.
The day of activities at the college, which was the beginning of a week of events, was run by college students to encourage the pupils to consider choosing Stem (science, technology, engineering and maths) subjects when they start secondary school.
Festival coordinator Sam Bright said: “We have found that running activities that are fun, smelly and a creative is a good way to inspire them.
“By the time they are at P4, they are starting to think about what they might like to do as a career so it is a good time to focus their minds.”
Today, S1 students will be at the college for an event with 15 employers, including representatives from the armed forces, NHS Grampian and the Institution of Civil Engineers, to host interactive sessions with students studying Stem subjects.
Later in the week, talks will be held for S2 pupils while further engineering experiments will also be held on Thursday.
Sarah Baxter, programme manager of DYW (Developing the Young Workforce) Moray who has helped fund and organise the week, ran sessions at yesterday’s festival opening to expose youngsters to binary code used in computing.
She said: “One of our main objectives is to upskill young people in careers in this area. Ultimately, getting them involved in interactive areas is going to end up getting them more prepared for the world of work in the fullness of time.
“Giving secondary school pupils the chance to talk to potential employers is a fantastic opportunity too, because they will be able to see how science fits with their jobs.”
