October Round Up
What’s New on the Site
This month we’ve added a new page within Developing the Young Workforce for Gender Balance. This is a significant challenge in STEM careers; 50% of the workforce are women yet they represent only 8% of engineering occupations. We have also tidied up the General Support & Reference page by adding pages specifically for: D&G Risk Assessments; Dumfries & Galloway documents and links; Education Scotland & Scottish Government documents and links; Other useful sites, document & apps; and a page for printer friendly copies of our Newsletters.
We have also added links to: Developing the Young Workforce Career Education Standard (3-18); a number of links to funding sources; Royal Society of Biology; Careers HIVE video channel; The Brilliant Club; Education Scotland’s Moderation Hub; Education Scotland’s National Technologies Community (excellent source of resources); UK Mathematics Trust; OPAL (Open Air Laboratories).
Digital Parenting
The 6th edition of Digital Parenting has now been published. View it here and order your FREE copies to share with parents.
Roald Dhal – Teach the Stories
Check out these great lesson plans from Roald Dhal. There’s something for all areas of the curriculum, but when it comes to teaching STEM through Literacy we particularly liked: Danny, the Champion of the World: The Secret Methods; The Enormous Crocodile: The Crocodile Trap; Esio Trot: Tortoise; Matilda: Arthmetic; Matilda: Bruce Bogtrotter and the Cake; The Twits: The House, The Tree and the Monkey Cage; The Twits: The Furniture Goes Up; and, The Twits: The Monkeys Escape.
We are also grateful to Janey Irving, Primary Science Development Officer for Moray Council, for sharing some work she has done on Teaching Inquiry & Investigative Skills – Roald Dahl Experiment Ideas from STEM Learning. You’ll find a copy of it on our General Support & Reference page.
Up for a Challenge
Then why not try …
The 2017-2018 Talent 2030 National Engineering Competition for Girls. Sponsored by PepsiCo, Rolls-Royce and Centrica, girls aged 11-18 have until 15 December 2017 to show how they can use engineering to solve any twenty-first century problem. Winners receive up to £1000 and all shortlisted finalists are invited to showcase their ideas to thousands of people at the Big Bang Fair in March!
Wow!! Just Wow!!!
If you’re looking for teaching example that hits sustainabilty, enterprise, technology and engineering in a really cool way then you need to check this out – Gravity Lights.
Quote of the Month
… the strongest factor affecting pupils’ science scores is how well they understand written texts. …. poor literacy skills can affect how well a pupil is able to understand scientific vocabulary and to prepare scientific reports. This suggests that strategies to boost disadvantaged pupils’ reading comprehension could have a positive impact on their achievement in science too.
Review of SES and Science Learning in Formal Educational Settings – A Report Prepared for the EEF and the Royal Society by Oxford University – September 2017
