Rough Science
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Rough Science is a UK factual television series made by the BBC in collaboration with the Open University and has, as of 2005, had six series. It is broadcast in prime time on BBC Two and is considered something of a "break-out hit" for the Open University.
The series' formula consists of a group four or five scientists with specialities in different fields who are given a task which they must complete using the natural resources of the surrounding area together with a small set of supplies. Each programme features a different task and follows the scientists as they use their knowledge and ingenuity to in attempting to fulfil it and, in the process, educate the viewing public — despite failure being common.
The episode either requires the team to work together in smaller groups to create requirements for the overall challenge, for the small groups to fulfil vaguely related challenges or even to complete the same task in competition. It has been set in a different scenic location each series, typically somewhere with plenty of plants for use by the group. The presenter is Kate Humble and the scientists have been virtually consistent throughout.
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[edit] Series 1
This series was set on a Mediterranean island and featured four episodes, and hence tasks. The first challenged the team to discover the longitude and latitude of the island, create a radio from a saucepan and create an insect repellent. The second episode challenged them to create a camera with film, create a compass and dye a flag. The group are taken to a disused prison on the island during the third episode where they have to generate power and build a pharmacy (creating antiseptic using olives and myrtle and anti-flatulent with fennel seeds). The final episode involves the creation of soap and toothpaste though the general task is to put food on the table.
The scientists featured were:
- Vanessa Griffiths - a marine biologist who teaches ecology for The Field Studies Council at Orielton Field Centre in Pembrokeshire
- Anna Lewington - an ethnobotanist and an economic botanist, researching how people, and groups of people, use plants and how this is important to the societies in which they live
- Jonathan Hare - chemist, physicist, inventor and teacher
- Mike Leahy - virologist
- Mike Bullivant - organic photochemist
[edit] Series 2
This series took place on the Caribbean island of Carriacou and featured five scientists, including three (Mike Leahy, Mike Bullivant, and Jonathan Hare) from the first series. It had six episodes and many challenges. The first episode challenged the team to make a map of the island, paper and ink for the map, and a device to record sounds. The second episode's challenges were an antiseptic lotion, a microscope, and a weather station. The third episode's challenges were a radio, a clock, and a kite. The fourth's challenges were a freezer, thermometer, and sunscreen. The fifth's challenges were a lamp that could function underwater, and to generate electrical energy to charge up a battery. The sixth episode's challenges were musical instruments and fireworks for a party.
New scientists featured in this series were:
- Kathy Sykes - a science communicator and physicist
- Ellen McCallie - an ecologist and teacher
Anna Lewington and Vanessa Griffiths from the first series were not featured in this series.
[edit] Series 3
This series took place on the west coast of the south island of New Zealand, had six episodes, and featured the same scientists as the previous series. In the first episode they were challenged to collect gold from a river, build a metal detector, and construct a super-accurate balance. In the second episode they built an automatic panning machine, created cosmetics, and look for evidence of earthquakes in trees. In the third episode they tried to build a waterproof tent and a seismograph. In the fourth episode they tried to measure the speed and melting rate of a glacier, and keep themselves warm without fires. In the fifth episode, they built a device for measuring altitude to assist them in finding gold, and extracted gold from rock. In the final episode of the series, they tried to smelt the gold they found.
[edit] Series 4
This series took place in Death Valley National Park in California and had six episodes, all involving space exploration. Four scientists from the previous series (Ellen McCallie, Jonathan Hare, Mike Bullivant, and Kathy Sykes) were featured plus a new scientist, Iain Stewart, the show's first geologist. Mike Leahy from the previous series was not featured in this series. The primary challenge of the first episode was to build a rover, while the team also found a way of purifying any water that they found in the desert. In the second episode, they were challenged to send a communication in a way that didn't rely purely on sound (this was achieved by altering the vibrations of reflected sunlight, which was then detected by a transistor functioning as a light detector), and make a pen that would work in zero gravity. In the third episode, they were challenged to design a cooling system for a spacesuit. In the fourth episode they attempted to measure the size of the meteor that created Barringer Meteor Crater. In the fifth episode, they were asked to built a device with a camera that could survey a large area from the air. They were also asked to find the center of one of the largest earthquakes to hit America that took place back in 1872 in California, and estimate what it measured on the Richter scale. Mike was given the task of creating a system that could filter carbon dioxide, just as the astronauts of Apollo 13 were forced to do when an explosion ruptured an oxygen tank. In the sixth episode they were challenged to design rockets that could launch an egg into the air and return it safely to earth. Three different rockets were attempted by three of the scientist, while the remaining two worked on a parachute system.
[edit] Series 5
This series took place on the coast of Zanzibar and had a strong ecological theme running through the challenges. The line-up of scientists was Ellen McCallie, Jonathan Hare, Mike Bullivant, and Kathy Sykes.
[edit] Series 6
This series, shown in 2005, takes place in the San Juan Mountains in Colorado. For this series, geomorphologist Hermione Cockburn replaced Kathy Sykes. Challenges included making a fire extinguisher (using CO2), cleaning up the pollution of a stream by metals coming from a mine and making sunglasses (by melting sand).
