How To Make A Bouncy Ball With YouTuber Jazzybum

Science might seem like a stuffy subject when you're stuck learning facts out of a textbook, but it's actually pretty damn cool when you consider how you can apply it to real life.

We're not just talking uni and careers either - we're talking fun experiments you can do at home. Just take the humble bouncy ball, which you can actually make using just a few things you'd find in the kitchen cupboard and a bit of know-how - as Jasmin from YouTube channel Jazzybum is about to prove with a handy little tutorial. 

Check out how it's done in the video below...

Want to know more about Jasmin and what inspires her love of science? Read our full chat with her below...

Hey Jasmin - what were you like at school?

I was really talkative.. and not surprisingly my school report always let my parents know that I’d been talking too much in class. But I always handed my work in on time. I was in the top class sets for most of my subjects... and I never had a detention. So it wasn’t all bad! 

Was there something in particular that inspired your love of all things scientific?

My parents brought me up to be curious about everything and never once told me to ‘stop asking questions’ and so I feel that natural curiosity really fed into my love of science and experiments. 

I was also a lot more interested in experimenting with things to see how the world works…. rather than just reading facts…which is why I found science lessons so much more fun than subjects like history. But luckily there is so much more to science than just wearing a lab coat…it can be really creative. 

How did you feel about exams at school – did you find them stressful? 

I’ve always struggled with revision.  I would leave revision until the night before an exam and then I would cram, which is definitely not something I’d suggest to others and so I did find it stressful but I did well and particularly in science, because I loved it.

Did you ever feel pressure to choose subjects based on the people around you? 

No.. I didn’t feel pressured into choosing the same subjects as my friends.  But I was swayed a little because I wanted to sit with them in class. So although I put my choices first… I also added dance to the list so that I could stay with my friend. That was a huge mistake! I’m not a dancer and I really struggled to keep up. I’d never recommend going down that route. Just catch up with your friends at lunch time.

It’s really important to do what you’re interested in. And that should make  the subject much easier… because you already have passion to learn… plus you’ll want to learn more than just the basic information you’ll need to pass a test…which you just forget straight afterwards. But it’s also really important to have an open mind and look around…as there will be some subjects you might not know much about, but that you could end up being great at, like science.

When I was at school I loved maths and experimenting in science lessons so I studied those subjects the bonus was that it opened up so many amazing careers that I hadn’t even thought of.  

https://instagram.com/p/BbcYMfUjbm-

Why do you think it’s so important to do what you are interested in, particularly for girls? 

Did you know that more girls than boys are getting the top grades in science based GCSEs? Problem is that not enough go on to do these subjects at A Level. We definitely need more female coders, robot engineers and scientists and that’s why I’m working with EDF Energy on the Pretty Curious campaign. It’s about inspiring girls to study STEM subjects …that’s Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths, and helping them to see the amazing career opportunities out there.

Knowing what you know now, what advice would you give girls picking their GCSE / A Level subjects now?

I think your decision should be based on two things… firstly… which subjects do you love?... and secondly.. what kind of career do you want?

So as an example, our biology lessons at school focused mainly on plants at GCSE but at A-Level focused more on the human body. I wasn’t really interested in plants but knew I’d absolutely love learning about the human body. It’s the same for most subjects…. some of it may not interest you but if you make sure you really look into what else that subject involves. It should help you make the right decision. 

What one piece of advice would you give your 15-year-old self now?

I’d love to tell my 15-year-old self to focus a little more on school work and a little less on all the day to day drama because hopefully the drama will sort itself out in the end. And friends may come and go…but only you can make the decision on what you want to study, so that you can get where you really want to go in life.

You can find out more about the Pretty Curious programme here and view an immersive Virtual Reality video created by EDF Energy here, which showcases three successful women currently working in STEM careers.