Today the Scottish Food and Drink Federation (SFDF), Abertay University, Education Scotland, and the Scottish Schools Education Research Centre (SSERC) are delighted to be launching a set of exciting new classroom resources that directly supports the chemistry curriculum and will help learners and teachers to understand the application of chemistry in the food and drink industry.
There are six food science videos available for use in learning and teaching environments across Scotland that will help bring chemistry lessons to life using food as a context. These include Emulsions; Enzymic Browning; Maillard Reaction; Oxidative Rancidity; and Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC).
These are available on Education Scotland’s Higher Sciences website.
On the 16th November, 2015, from 4.00-5.00pm, Education Scotland is hosting an exciting event in collaboration with Edinburgh Genomics – giving practitioners a chance to converse with some of Scotland’s leading experts in modern genomics research.
Edinburgh Genomics is embedded in the rich academic environment of the University of Edinburgh, offering genomic sequencing and bioinformatics services across the fields of medical, veterinary and biological sciences.
This twilight session has been organised in accordance with the specifications of the DNA and the Genome unit of the CfE Higher (H4KD 76). The session will be hosted by Karim Gharbi, Head of Genomics, who will explain the concepts of sequencing and bioinformatics; describing the cutting-edge technologies used at Edinburgh Genomics in this highly powerful and ever-developing field of scientific research.
This will be immediately followed by a second discussion hosted by Mark Blaxter, Director of the Genome Science Division, who will discuss the many applications for genomic sequencing, such as phylogenomics, comparative genomics and possible clinical applications.
The new British Science Week website has just launched. The site offers lots of resources for planning and organising events and activities for British Science Week 2016.
Here you can register events, apply for grants and request a FREE marketing pack, as well as find out about opportunities for getting involved in citizen science activities and some of our flagship events.
Grants available for schools:
Kick Start Grants – to support schools in challenging circumstances (Kick Start grants: up to £300 for your school to run an activity during British Science Week; or Kick Start More grant: up to £700 for your school to host a science event or activity which involves your students and the local community.
Scottish and Welsh grants offering funding of £200 to schools in Scotland and Wales.
Grants available for organisations:
Community Grants of £500 aimed to engage audiences who are traditionally under-represented and currently not engaged in science
Scottish and Welsh grants designed to help organisations in Scotland and Wales run events during British Science Week.
The Halo Harp project comprises the construction of a unique interactive laser based musical instrument exhibit. This is a Laser Harp which uses a circular ring containing 8-16 eye safe red laser pointers with photodiode detectors to monitor “plucking” of laser “strings”. Unlike traditional laser harps, it employs the novel concept of crossed laser beams, permitting great versatility for configuring output sounds, via an on-board Raspberry Pi microcontroller to synthesise sound. A prototype harp has been constructed (footage viewable at https://youtu.be/URPzP2IZZvc) as part of International Year of Light (IYOL) 2015. A second harp is currently being built, funded by Institute of Physics Scotland, which will be located in the National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh. The harp will be a permanent exhibit for general display as part of the museum’s new Science & Technology Gallery, due to open 2016. This will immensely broaden the audience who will be able to interact with the exhibit (the museum attracts over 1.6 million visits per annum).
The harp is also available as an open source project to allow schools to engage with the different subject areas including;
Physics: how lasers can be used with photodiodes as on/off sensors or strings
Engineering: Mechanical design of the harp structure
Design & Technology: Fabrication of the harp in wood or an alternative material
Art: utilising the possibility to pluck strings and play “colours”
Music: composition on the harp and studying the different musical tunings available
Computing Science: using a Raspberry Pi microcontroller to interface with the harp strings and sound system
Education Scotland News autumn edition now available
We are pleased to inform you that the autumn edition of Education Scotland News is now available, providing the latest information on some of our key activities across the sectors, from the early years to adult learning.
This edition has a particular focus on Developing the Young Workforce and contains some useful articles on the Scottish Attainment Challenge, How good is our school? (4th EDITION) and the National Improvement Framework.
Twilight session for Glasgow secondary teachers, and P7 working towards transition, looking at new approaches to teaching Air Quality. Three short workshops will cover different ways of getting pupils involved in real science research, learning about pollution and Air Quality in a way that is meaningful for pupils and produces useful scientific data along the way. The event will cover a diverse range of topics from Outdoor Learning, to data analysis and a wealth of available resources to use with your pupils. Come along and find out how you and your pupils can get involved in Air Quality research at your school.
Workshops:
Lichen bio-indicator of air quality: Find out how to identify some of the lichen bio-indicators of air quality to get a measure of air pollution in your local environment. This survey is one of the Open Air Laboratories citizen science surveys that enable pupils to carry out real science research in their local environment. OPAL Community Scientist Joanne Dempster
Scotland’s Environment Web: Exploring existing air quality data to investigate air quality near you. Education Scotland Citizen Science Development Officer Stuart McGrath.
Clear the Air: An educational resource for secondary school pupils to learn about air pollution and how it is measured in their area by finding out about the Clear the Air Citizen Science project.Riccardo Energy and Environment: Riccardo Energy and Environment, Susannah Telfer and Jennifer Simpson.
Hillpark Secondary School. Glasgow. November 25th. 4pm – 6pm.
The funding will go towards four separate initiatives as follows:
Generation Science – Edinburgh International Science Festival – £50,000 (Science shows for primary schools)
Young Engineers and Science Clubs – Scottish Council for Development and Industry – £40,000 (for primary and secondary schools)
British Science Week – British Science Association – £25,000 (for primary and secondary schools and community organisations)
GeoBus – University of St Andrews – £20,000 (Geo-scientific activity and learning days for secondary pupils)
Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning Angela Constance said:
“Earlier this month the Science Minister met pupils from Alness Academy’s Science Club who have represented Scotland and won national prizes for their science and engineering. This is just one example of the range of talented and enthusiastic young people we meet in our schools on a regular basis.
“Recent surveys have suggested that younger children and parents can feel that STEM subjects are difficult or not suited to everyone, but activities that complement simple classroom learning clearly enhance enthusiasm to beyond the school day.
“The technology and engineering sector in Scotland generates turnover of £24.4 billion each year employing 155,000 in total which shows how nurturing an interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) while children and young people are in school has the potential to be literally life changing.
“I hope the funding I am announcing today will stir even more of our young people, particularly girls, to take an interest in science and develop a career in an area that makes the most of their talents.”
To celebrate the International Year of Light the Institute of Physics in Scotland is running a competition for primary and secondary schools. The challenge is for pupils to tell a story about light through a poster and a supporting essay.
There are three age groups: primary, S1-3 (BGE) and S4-6 (senior phase).
The aspect of light that pupils have to explore varies across the age groups and full details on the competition, including the format of the poster and detailed curriculum links, can be found at: www.iopscompetition.org.uk
In December 2015 Tim Peake launches to the International Space Station (ISS) and will become the first British European Space Agency Astronaut to visit. Whilst there, in amongst many science and engineering activities, he will take part in research to understand how the body reacts to being in space for long periods of time.
Whilst living on the ISS Astronauts come into contact with radiation from a variety of sources. Particle detectors developed at CERN are on the ISS. These detectors measure the type – alpha, beta, gamma, etc. – direction and energy of radiation. Through this project you will be given access to this data to carry out your own research.
This project offers schools the unique opportunity to access Timepix detector data from the ISS during Tim’s stay. Where possible schools will also have the chance to host a Timepix detector to carry out their own experiments. By taking part in this project schools will contribute to research that will improve our understanding of radiation in space.
Participating schools will be provided with:
A research guide offering background information and starting points for experiments and data analysis;
An opportunity for a teacher to attend a CPD session in the autumn of 2015 to find out more about the technology and data;
A chance to share and exhibit their work at a research symposium in 2016.
