posted by Mel Richards, Primary Science Development Officer, Schools and Learning

A major new educational resource is now available to all Scottish schools via the Glow Technologies Community which utilises the output of recently completed 3D digital documentation of the three Forth Bridges to support the teaching of the Technologies curriculum and supports the Social Studies curriculum through games based learning.

This initiative has its origins in the Scottish Ten digital documentation project (www.scottishten.org), carried out by the Centre for Digital Documentation and Visualisation LLP (CDDV), a partnership between Historic Environment Scotland and The Glasgow School of Art.  The Scottish Ten involved the recording of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in five different countries using cutting-edge 3D laser-scanning technologies. In 2013, the experience gained allowed the CDDV team to assess if it would be possible to record the Forth Bridge to help support its nomination for inclusion on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

Scanning and documenting of all three Forth Bridges commenced in 2015 with funding from the Scottish Government. The next phase was to create photo-realistic 3D models from the accurate point cloud data.

Using digital models for all three Bridges, learning resources have been designed to inspire school pupils. Their aim being to generate an interest in the Bridges themselves, and to stimulate an enhanced take up in associated STEM subjects.

CDDV has used its enormous digital datasets to create several education packages which include lesson packs, resources and PC games for end of P4 learners onwards.  These include:

• Go Forth and Discover – digital games based learning pack comprising of a PC game for download (via an .exe file), lesson pack and range of archival images.

• Go Forth and Design – focusing on Design Technology and Engineering, the STL 3D files will allow learners to access CAD software such as Tinkercad. This includes a learning pack and links to partner organisations to develop STEM based learning. A copy of the point clouds created from the survey and short film clip on how the bridge was scanned are also included.

• Go Forth and Create – Scratch coding resources and learning support pack based on Scratch is also included.

Additionally, there is an app Go Forth and Explore as well as Go Forth, See and Hear 360 virtual reality experiences which can be used with AR/VR  headsets which can be viewed / downloaded from YouTube via https://youtu.be/u4F45RoghR4 .

All resources can be found via Glow
https://glowscotland.sharepoint.com/sites/PLC/technologies/SitePages/Home.aspx (login required)