A group of primary school children have been honoured by the Royal Society of Chemistry for disproving the theory that spiders are afraid of conkers.
Year 5 and 6 pupils at Roselyon School, in Par, Cornwall, responded to a nationwide challenge from the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) to discover whether spiders really are repelled by conkers. It was thought that spiders were frightened either by the conkers’ shiny surface or unique odour.
The youngsters undertook a series of investigations which they devised themselves which all showed that spiders are not repelled by conkers at all. They videoed their results, and were awarded a £300 prize.
The pupils placed the eight-legged creatures in boxes with conkers and stones - and noted that most of them climbed over the conkers. Spiders were also placed in a water tank with a choice of escaping across a bridge made of wood or conkers - and most chose the conker route.
Andrew Ferguson, science teacher at the school, said: “Many people are scared of spiders - but our children are not among them and were not worried abut handling them. The children are thrilled that their efforts have won this prize. Apart from being good fun, the project provided an invaluable learning experience. Many people are terrified of spiders, but one other thing our video also demonstrated is that Roselyon children are not among them.”