CLASSROOM work came to a standstill today when pupils in York and North Yorkshire joined a nationwide attempt to make the earth move.

Pupils at Pickering Junior School, Carlton-in-Snaith Primary School, near Selby, and Archbishop Holgate's CE School in York were among those who joined today's "giant jump", aimed at causing seismic activity across the UK.

All the pupils and staff had to do was jump up and down for a minute from 11am until 11.01am and the aim was to get the giant jump into the Guinness Book of Records.

The event was organised to launch Science Year, a Government initiative to "wake people up to the importance of science in society, and make the subject appealing and engaging to a wider audience than ever before".

In schools, efforts will be concentrated on secondary schools and boosting the take-up of science subjects after the age of 16.

But the year is designed to win wider attention too, which presumably explains today's giant jump.

As we went to press it was not clear whether there had been any earthquakes in Pickering, seismic movement in Selby or tidal waves down the Hull Road, but seismometers were set up across the country and the world to ready to record the effects of the jump.

Lord Puttnam, chairman of NESTA, which is organising Science Year, said: "Some school children often consider science dull and boring - strictly for boffins stuck in a lab. That's way off the mark. Science is a vital part of brilliant human achievement. It affects our everyday lives and can offer exciting and rewarding career opportunities - after all, astronauts are scientists!"

Updated: 10:52 Friday, September 07, 2001