The Young Engineers & Science Clubs Scotland is a Scotland wide primary and secondary programme run by the Scottish Council for Development and Industry and supported by many of its members including BP, Skills Development Scotland and the Lloyd’s Register Foundation.
Through a network of over 700 science, engineering and technology clubs throughout Scotland, from Orkney to Dumfries, pupils from P5-S2 test their problem-solving skills on a number of themed investigations. So far 12,000 members have worked alongside their teachers, real engineers and scientists on a variety of STEM projects.
Projects for the coming year include:
2015 Junior Saltire Awards Challenge- Design and Build a Wave Energy Convertor
Free Watt’s Watt Kit – Marks the 250th anniversary of James Watt’s invention to greatly improve the steam engine
The Ultimate STEM Challenge – Primary and Secondary Challenges
Further information, advice and contact details can be accessed through the YESC website:
It’s week 3 of the Disruptive Innovation Festival: an online festival exploring emerging ideas and technologies that have the potential to reshape our economy. The Festival is curated by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
So far you will have had the opportunity to drop in on events covering ideas such as self-driving cars, powering cities with coffee bean waste, cradle-to-cradle design, restructuring the financial system, biomimicry design and the sharing economy.
This week – the penultimate week – has a strong focus on education. This includes a Headline Act by Sir Ken Robinson on Thursday where you will have the opportunity to put questions to him and hear of his thoughts for a transformed educational system. Sign up for free here: http://thinkdif.co/headliners/sir-ken-robinson
Transforming D&T Education
04 Nov 16:00 GMT – 04 Nov 17:00 GMT http://thinkdif.co/emf-stages/transforming-d-t-education
Steve Parkinson of Teach Design will host this session where he will take a look at the changing face of D&T education, and what he and his students have learned from studying the circular economy and Cradle-to-Cradle design.
—
Product Teardown
05 Nov 17:00 GMT – 05 Nov 18:00 GMT http://thinkdif.co/emf-stages/product-teardown
Kyle Wiens will walk us through product teardown, showing us the process the iFixit team go through when rating products for their repairability. Kyle will take your questions on how designers could re-educate themselves to design for disassembly and repairability.
—
Transforming Learning: Beyond the $1,000 Pencil
06 Nov 13:00 GMT – 06 Nov 14:00 GMT http://thinkdif.co/emf-stages/transforming-learning-beyond-the-1-000-pencil
Join the renowned Alan November to hear how we can equip our students to take responsibility to manage a large proportion of their learning, and to help others to learn.
—
The Circular Economy Workshop
06 Nov 17:00 GMT – 06 Nov 18:00 GMT http://thinkdif.co/emf-stages/the-circular-economy-workshop
Watch this video to learn how the circular economy can be introduced to a large group of students by taking a group work approach. Download the presentation and lesson plan so you can replicate the session in your setting
—
Education: What are the new stories?
06 Nov 17:30 GMT – 06 Nov 18:30 GMT http://thinkdif.co/emf-stages/education-what-are-the-new-stories
Is the traditional narrative of school, qualifications and a ‘good job’ still relevant? Oliver Quinlan doesn’t think so, but he wants to hear from YOU in this session as he asks for the new stories around education
—
Professor Martin Hendry, Head of the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Glasgow, is visiting Ardrossan Academy, on the afternoon of Monday 3rd of November, to deliver a talk on the astronomy and cosmology content in the CfE Higher Physics course.
In order to allow as many students as possible to experience this event, Ardrossan academy has kindly agreed to host a Glowmeet to stream the talk live. After the event the talk will be available in Glow TV’s Watch Again.
The talk is scheduled to begin around 1.50 – 2.00 pm and will last until 3.30 pm.
If you do not receive your confirmation of registration email please don’t worry you can still join the event live on the day by following this link – Higher Physics Astronomy and Cosmology.
A reminder too of tomorrow’s professional learning Glowmeet.
Particle Physics features in the new Higher and Advanced Higher courses.
For those who would like to brush up on your knowledge of this topic, a Glowmeet will be run on November 6th a 4 pm (“doors open” 3:30 pm) featuring Dr Aidan Robson of Glasgow University. Aidan will cover the theory for the new courses and will then answer questions from participants.
If you would like to join the Glowmeet, please let us know by emailing sts@sserc.org.uk with your Glow username and your school email address.
This is the first of a series of Glowmeets covering new Senior Phase topics. It is the result of a partnership between Education Scotland, SSERC, STEMNET and SUPA
Many thanks to Aberdeen City Council for sharing even more resources to support Physics learning and teaching at National 4 and 5. These materials have been posted on the NQ Course Materials Portal and can be found using this link.
Staff are encouraged to draw on these materials, and existing materials, to develop their own programmes of learning which are appropriate to the needs of each individual school.
The materials include National 4 and National 5 teacher guide and a complete set of problems and answers for:
•Electricity and energy
•Waves and radiation
•Dynamics and space.
Many thanks to Aberdeen City Council for sharing even more resources to support Chemistry learning and teaching at National 4 and 5. These materials have been posted on the NQ Course Materials Portal and can be found using this link.
The materials include teaching and learning activities for:
•Metal Chemistry
•Electricity and Chemistry
•Corrosion
•Plastics, Polymers, Ceramics
•Plant Nutrients and Fertlisers
•Nuclear Chemistry
•Chemical Analysis
Also in the package are updated materials for Volumetric Calculations. These materials will also be shared on the Sciences Glow 365 site.
The Education Scotland Sciences 3-18 impact report stated as an ‘aspect for development’ in Scottish Sciences was that ‘staff in secondary schools need to recognise and act on gender imbalance in physics and the biology where it exists’
To support Science departments action this as part of their development needs The Institute of Physics (IOP) has produced a support pack that supports teachers in planning to encourage increased participation of girls studying Physics. https://www.iop.org/education/teacher/support/girls_physics/action_pack/page_41739.html
The misconceptions amongst some teachers regarding the implementations of addressing such imbalance is –
– that this would be at the detriment of boys into Physics, which is not the case as these programmes are looking at an increase in girls on top of existing numbers, not as a balance of existing class numbers
– Focussing on Girls is in itself gender biased. These programmes are about how teaching pedagogy can improve perceptions of the subject amongst girls without affecting the perceptions of boys. In short, teaching pedagogy in Physics education has in past been biased towards the interests and needs of boys without intending to do so.
Some stats –
5% of young people who took up modern apprenticeships in STEM careers last year via Skills Development Scotland were girls. (Scottish Resource Centre for Women in SET (2010))
73% of female STEM graduates do not continue in STEM careers in comparison to 48% of male STEM graduates. (http://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/advice-papers/inquiry/women_in_stem/tapping_talents.pdf)
If gender equality in Sciences is part of your local, school or Science departmental improvement plans and you would like advice and support to use the resources then please contact Alison McLure of the IOP, Alison.McLure@iop.org.
Education Scotland in partnership with the Scottish Food and Drink Federation and Dundee Science Centre have create a series of Career Long Professional Learning events about Food Science. These events would be particularly relevant for those teaching N5 and Higher Biology, Chemistry and Environmental Science as well as those teaching Higher Health and Food Technology and Hospitality.
1. Cooking Bus Career Long Professional Learning at Dundee Science Centre 10th – 14th November 2014
Free 3 hour CLPL sessions available during 10th – 14th November 2014 – open to teachers and support staff. For more information and how to sign up for a workshop. https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CookingBusatDundeeScienceCentre2014
Please note the date and time you sign up for – your place will be confirmed in October.
2. Home Economics & Science staff Teach Meet Dundee Science Centre Tuesday 11th November
Teach Meet for Home Economics and Science staff offering support around Broad General Education, National Qualifications, positive destinations, progression with assessment. Presenters include Education Scotland, Scottish Food & Drink Federation, Food Standards Scotland, SQA, University of Abertay, SSERC & Dundee science Centre to name but a few.
Also included in the session will be a ‘Science of Gin’ presentation, discussing the use of botanicals to produce different styles.
TUESDAY 11th NOVEMBER 4.30pm – 7.30pm Dundee Science Centre.
Sign up here – https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/teachmeetDundeeScienceScentre
Log on to GLOW 365 and explore the various RM Unify tiles which support learning and teaching in the sciences.
Tiles include:
Twig, which provides films and learning materials which have been mapped to the CfE Experiences and Outcomes for Sciences, Maths and Geography
Tigtag the complete online resource for primary science
Scale of the Universe and NASA which includes video clips of the first moon landing
The tile giving access to the ever popular TED talks will ensure your lessons stimulate debate and discussion, while the TED lesson creator allows you to create an animated lesson to enthuse and inspire your learners.
The NAR tile gives access to exemplars on science assessment and you can access our sciences Glow meets through the Glow TV tile.
Use your Glow password, log on to the RM Unify Launch pad and explore all the materials available to support the science curriculum.
Education Scotland and Twig World are delighted to announce the launch of the newly updated and refreshed Twig On Glow website, which coincides with the switch over to the new Glow platform. Twig continues to bring you stunning film footage and learning materials for sciences, maths and geography all linked to Curriculum for Excellence. Twig has already started the process of mapping the content to the national qualifications and there are quick links now available in the top menu bar. More links will be added as further content is mapped, for instance to the newly included Science Experiments films.
Faster loading
As well as the refreshed design interface, users will find that the new Twig On Glow site loads faster, the mind map responds more quickly and the films cache more effectively which will improve streaming.
New content on Tigtag
People and Places is the new Tigtag module for geography. Matched to Curriculum for Excellence, the module includes 223 films covering six topics:
Environmental awareness and care
Future of energy
Human impact on the environment
Human geography
Physical geography
Mapping
Imperial College London and Tigtag launch free online resource to help Scotland’s primary school teachers with science
Thinking like a scientist is a valuable skill. Analysing information, asking good questions and recognising how evidence wins arguments; all these things help people make better decisions. The time to nurture this skill is when children are naturally most curious about the world around them – when they are of primary school age.
According to a 2013 National Science Learning Centre report, only 5% of primary school teachers have a science degree, and teachers themselves say that their confidence to give inspiring science lessons rises when they have access to appropriate training, guidance and resources, to help them plug the gaps.
That’s why Imperial College London (www.imperial.ac.uk) and education technology provider Tigtag (www.tigtagworld.co.uk) have come together to support every teacher to deliver the science curriculum.
Through Reach Out CPD (Continuing Professional Development) teachers can learn directly from Imperial experts about the science they need to cover in the classroom. Offering concise topic knowledge, short films, experiment ideas and more, this new resource aims to equip all primary teachers with the skills to excite children about science.
All training is delivered online in handy 20-minute units, so busy teachers can top up their knowledge anytime, anywhere on a computer, tablet or smartphone.
At the end of a course, teachers can download an official Reach Out CPD certificate endorsed by Imperial College London – one of the world’s leading science universities.
Reach Out CPD is free to Scottish teachers and will remain so!
Twig World has been nominated as one of the Top 25 Most Innovative Companies within Digital Education in a new report by Total Education, the global educational technology event company. The report was compiled by interviewing experts in the major education markets around the world including teachers, industry professionals and keynote speakers. Twig World is one of only four content providers in the report. This latest acknowledgement adds to a growing list of accolades for the company. Twig World has won many international education awards including the prestigious Bett Award for the past three years running. Anthony Bouchier, CEO of Twig World says: “To be selected with the likes of Google and Microsoft just three years after launching our first product is a huge achievement and testament to the talent of our teams in Glasgow and London. We are still at the start of our mission to empower teachers and learners as digital resources reach the classroom – there’s a much more to come from us in the years ahead!”
The new Primary Science Glow 365 site is currently under development but at the moment we have a Primary /Early Years blog page which is easily accessible and provides up to date relevant information for practitioners in each sector.
Our latest blogs include how to access the new FREE primary Reach Out CPD programme and you can download the recent Supporting Primary and Early Years science Glow Meet.
The Young Engineers & Science Clubs Scotland is a Scotland wide primary and secondary programme run by the Scottish Council for Development and Industry and supported by many of its members including BP, Skills Development Scotland and the Lloyd’s Register Foundation.
