Category Archives: Sciences

CfE, Early Years, Expressive Arts, Gaelic Learners, Health and wellbeing, Languages, Literacy and English, Literacy and Gàidhlig, Research, Responsibility of All, Sciences, Social studies

Learning about Scotland in the Early Years

May 21, 2012 User deactivated 2 Comments

Saturday was a very inspirational day for the Early Years team at Education Scotland. Our Saturday Conference, Learning about Scotland in the Early Years was a great success. There was singing, poetry writing and even a competition!

If you would like to follow up on any interesting discussions from the day or revisit and reflect on the presentations then visit our Early Years CPD community. The presentations are within the Early Years Saturday Conference mini CPD site.

If you have not joined our community yet, then please do. We had a queue of enthusiastic delegates who couldn’t wait to join on Saturday and you can meet them (virtually!) when you do.

Well done to Sharon from South Lanarkshire who won the well deserved prize of two Scots books to share with her establishment.

Thank you

The Early Years Team

National Qualifications, Sciences, Senior Phase

Learning for the new NQs: Carbon Capture and Storage

May 19, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

If you are planning for learning and teaching associated with the new National Qualifications in Environmental Science, Physics or Science, the BBC’s short video “Norway tests carbon capture and storage” may be of interest. What is the science behind carbon capture? What are the risks associated with use of this technology? Do we need it? NASA scientist Dr James Hansen discussed the future of coal-fired power stations with carbon capture technologies in a Scottish and UK context at the recent Edinburgh International Science Festival, ahead of his award of the prestigious Edinburgh Medal. As experimental capture gets underway in Scotland, the Zero Emissions Platform website provides a wealth of information.

CfE, Health and wellbeing, National Qualifications, Research, Sciences, Senior Phase

Learning for the new NQs: Research tie in with Food Security

May 18, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

At the beginning of May, The James Hutton Institute announced the award of £1.25 million to work towards more sustainble, disease resistance crops to enhance our future food security.

This ties in with Education Scotland’s recently published work on Food Security for National 4 Science and National 5 Biology, along with work associated with Inheritance for National 5 Biology. Published advice and guidance is intended for use by practitioners in creative and innovative ways, to plan approaches to meet the needs of learners. Flexibility within the new National Qualifications offers the ideal opportunity to plan for learning and teaching which incorporates cutting edge Scottish and global research, and builds in meaningful partnerships from the rich STEM landscape in Scotland.

Looking ahead to the forthcoming school year, we are developing the theme of Food Security for first through to fourth level as a context in STEM Central, providing scope for working within clusters to build a continuous learning journey. More news will be published on the ES Learning Blog later this year.

Literacy, National Qualifications, Sciences, Senior Phase

Learning for the new NQs in Sciences

May 17, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

Have you had an opportunity to explore the advice and guidance published to support practitioners in planning for learning and teaching for the new National Qualifications? Education Scotland has published a suite of advice and guidance exemplifying skills, teaching approaches, challenge, the use of context and incorporation of literacy, numeracy and ICT in learning and teaching in sciences.

The published advice and guidance is intended for use by practitioners and is non-mandatory. It is intended that practitioners will use it in a reflective and selective manner.

Throughout, reflective questions for learners are provided to aid practitioners in planning learning and teaching to meet the needs of learners. In many cases, investigative work and inquiry-based practical learning will supplement the learning and teaching described.

Health and wellbeing, National Qualifications, Sciences, Senior Phase

Learning for the new NQs: X-ray machines – a 20th century icon

May 16, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

Is the x-ray machine a 20th century icon? If you are planning for learning and teaching using the published advice and guidance associated with Nuclear Chemistry and Physics then this 7 minute video from The Guardian’s Newton Channel “X-ray machines – a 20th century icon” may be of interest. What is the connection between the work of Marie Curie and this crucial advancement in diagnostic and therapeutic healthcare?

CfE, Expressive Arts, Mathematics, RME, Sciences

Education Scotland Identified Good Practice – Aboyne Academy

May 16, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

The practice of inter-disciplinary learning in the Secondary context is one that is central to the underpinning ethos of Curriculum for Excellence. Schools all over Scotland are looking at ways in which this can be made as purposeful and meaningful as possible for both pupils and teachers and in that aspect Aboyne Academy is no different from any other.

Aboyne Academy’s efforts in this area were given favourable comment during a recent inspection so much so that the inspection team recommended that this practice be celebrated and shared via Glow TV.
During this Glow Meet you will be able to meet the teachers from a range of departments who have begun to collaborate in order to make inter-disciplinary learning work for them. You will see how Geography, Science and Maths, Drama and Guidance and RME and Physics have all worked together on different projects in a complementary fashion. You will be able to hear how the teachers worked together and what impact they feel such working has had on the teaching and learning at Aboyne.

Join in the Glow Meet in Glow TV on Tuesday 22nd May at 11am and get the chance to ask questions of colleagues who are are making inter-disciplinary learning work in their setting. Sign up and join us in Glow TV.

CfE, Early Years, Expressive Arts, Sciences, Young people, children & families

Creativity and You! Embedding Creativity Across Learning – National Event

May 16, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

25 May, Glasgow Science Centre, 10 am – 3.30 pm

#creativityandyou

http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/newsandevents/events/2012/eventgeneral_tcm4720739.asp

This national event, organised by The Scottish Government, Education Scotland and Creative Scotland, will showcase innovation across teaching and learning in a range of subjects beyond the expressive arts.

It will highlight just how imaginatively schools and teachers are already embedding creativity into their daily work, often in partnership with external organisations.

Teachers and senior managers in schools and the education sector will be able to draw on a range of good practice in promoting creative learning and improving learners’ creative skills within all subjects.

The day is designed to:

Explore what is meant by ‘Creativity skills for learning, life and work’.
Experience new and exciting approaches to motivating children to learn.
Discover different approaches taken to working with professionals and partners in delivering creative learning experiences.
Find out about the many resources and networks available to support creative teaching and learning.

To book a place, please contact Elisabeth.zelger@creativescotland.com with your name, title, contact details and local authority and any special requirements.

National Qualifications, Sciences, Senior Phase

STEM Central Renewables and Learning for the new NQs: A Bright Solar Future?

May 15, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

Are you working with learners using the STEM Central Renewables context? Or planning for learning and teaching in the context of Energy Security associated with Physics or with Environmental Science?

The Guardian’s Newton Channel includes an 11 minute video about the world’s first commercial solar power plant, in Spain. Could this technology be used more widely to help the world build a sustainable, low carbon future? What are the limitations of this technology? What are the limitations of our ability to harness the sun’s energy? How much energy are we talking about? Learners in sunny places could try to recreate Sir John Herschel’s 1838 experiment or watch Brian Cox Measuring a Sunbeam.

National Qualifications, Sciences, Senior Phase, Technologies

STEM Central Electric Transport, the smarter Smart car and a context for learning for the new NQs

May 13, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

Electric cars – are they a viable option as we seek a low carbon future? What are the limitations of the technologies currently available? If you are working with learners using the STEM Central Electric Transport context The Guardian’s Newton Channel includes a 6 minute video “Making Smart cars smarter” may be of interest. Scientists at the University of Newcastle are working to enhance Smart cars to allow them to travel longer distances without recharging.

If your learners are interested in technologies associated with driving and transport, research from Newcastle University using an adapted electric car may also be of interest.

Or perhaps you are exploring Energy Security in the context of the new National Qualifications for Environmental Science, Physics or Science? In future, will we be plugging our electric cars into the Smart Grid to sell our excess energy to others at times of peak demand? The University of Strathclyde is working in conjunction with leading energy companies to kick start Smart Grid development here in Scotland, with world class facilities under development in Cumbernauld.

Energy, energy security and our sustainable future, whether exploring the future of transport or the National Grid, offers an exciting and engaging context for planning learning and teaching to meet the needs of a range of learners, working within a range of levels.

Health and wellbeing, National Qualifications, Sciences, Senior Phase

Learning for the new NQs: The rise of performance-enhancing genes

May 12, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

A recent article from The Guardian “The rise of performance-enhancing genes” provides a link between advice and guidance to support planning for learning and teaching associated with National 5 Biology and the 2012 Olympics.

An athlete’s performance can be enhanced significantly by a single ‘super’ gene, but is it fair?

CfE, Health and wellbeing, National Qualifications, Research, Sciences, Senior Phase

Learning for the new NQs and forthcoming Glow meet on Stem Cells

May 12, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

The forthcoming special edition of Talking Stem Cells Ethical Dilemma series featuring Dr Bill Ritchie who was involved in the creation of Dolly the Sheep is coming up on Thursday 17th May from 1100-1230. You can sign up and join in via Glow Tv – please drop in even if you can’t attend for the whole event.

This Glow meet, which incorporates an input from a patient who may benefit from stem cell therapy, comes at an ideal time to tie in with recent publication by Education Scotland of advice and guidance associated with the new National Qualifications in Biology. Why not take this opportunity for your current S2 learners who will be entering the Senior Phase in 2013/14 to learn more about a topic on which they can build for NQs in Biology? Or why not sign up as part of your own CPD, and consider how you can plan for forming partnerships with cutting edge research in Scotland to enhance learning and teaching?

Background on Dolly the Sheep can be found at The Roslin Institute webpages.

This event will be coming live from Gairloch High School in the Highlands and you can find a Student pack associated with this event in the Stem Cell Glow Group.

Expressive Arts, Health and wellbeing, Mathematics, Sciences, Technologies

STEM Central and The James Hutton Institute Water Works

May 12, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

An update on The James Hutton Institute’s Water Works competition with the announcement of the April winner.

The April winner is Aimee Holton, aged 16, from Banchory Academy with her picture “Droplets”. Aimee says “You don’t realise how precious water is until you see things like the hosepipe ban in England. It makes us appreciate every last droplet even more”.

This exciting competition could be used in many contexts, including to enrich the STEM Central water context. Details of the competition can be found on this blog, or in the competition details. Closing date is the 22nd of each month.

National Qualifications, Sciences, Senior Phase

Learning for the new NQs: Inheritance

May 11, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

University of Sheffield research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences indicates that Darwinian theories of evolution and natural selection continue to affect humans. This short article from The Independent “Humans still evolving” could be included in plans for learning and teaching associated with our forthcoming advice and guidance for National 5 Biology on Inheritance. More information on the research work associated with this publication can be found on the University of Sheffield website Human Life-History.

CfE, Sciences

The Ethical Dilemma- Special Edition

May 10, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

This is a special edition of the Talking Stem Cells Ethical Dilemma series with this event featuring Dr Bill Ritchie who was involved in the creation of Dolly the Sheep.

This workshop event is aimed at S1-S3 pupils (but is also suitable for P6/7 who would like to ask Dr Ritchie questions about his work) and is a mix of a short presentation from Dr Ritchie, interactive enquiry, student debate activities and live questions and answer interaction.

The Scientist

Dr Bill Ritchie is best known as the embryologist who, with a team of experts, produced the first cloned lambs from cultured cells, Morag and Megan. The following year he and his colleagues produced Dolly the first cloned animal from an adult cell. Following this success they produced Poly etc. the first cloned animals from transgenic cells. Later he produced the first cloned animal with a gene knocked out. This proved the principal that disease genes could be deleted from animals. There will be plenty of opportunity for the students to interact with the scientist.

The Patient

In addition to the scientist there will be input from a patient suffering from a disease who might have the potential to be treated by stem cell treatment.

This event will be coming live from Gairloch High School in the Highlands and you can find a Student pack associated with this event in the Stem Cell Glow Group.

Health and wellbeing, National Qualifications, Sciences, Senior Phase

Learning for the new NQs :Nuclear Power and Energy Security:

May 10, 2012 User deactivated 2 Comments

This week sees the shutdown of Japan’s last working nuclear reactor, in a country previously dependent on nuclear power for 30% of its energy needs.

Tomari shutdown leaves Japan without nuclear power

Energy Security is a rich context for learning which could meet the needs of learners for National 3, National 4, National 5 or Higher, in Environmental Science, Physics or Science. Advice and guidance aimed associated with Energy Security for National 4 Physics can be found on the Education Scotland website.

Advice and guidance associated with Nuclear Chemistry for National 5 has also been published. This has been written to intertwine the work of Albert Einstein and Marie Curie, exploring the issues associated with harnessing the power of the atom over the last 100 years and equally addressing the learning associated with National 5 Physics.

Throughout the advice and guidance, reflective questions are included to help you plan for learning and teaching to engage and challenge your learners. Does nuclear power play a role in our future? What about harnessing the atom’s power for other uses such as medical applications?

Health and wellbeing, Sciences, Technologies

STEM Central Bioengineering and a Marathon Achievement

May 9, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

Following on from our post about our most recent STEM Central context “Bioengineering” great news from the BBC about Claire Lomas’ successful completion of the London Marathon.

Claire was paralysed in a horse riding accident in 2006, and is the first person to complete a marathon in a “bionic” suit, taking 16 days to complete the 26.2 mile course. Find out more about how bioengineering and technology can change lives from BBC News Paralysed Woman Claire Lomas treasures 16-day London Marathon and “‘Bionic’ woman Claire Lomas completes London Marathon” and from the company which made the “bionic” suit ReWalk Bionics Research.

National Qualifications, Sciences, Senior Phase

Learning for the new NQs: Food Security

May 9, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

Recent headlines on GM food from the BBC tie in with the Food Security published advice and guidance for National 4 Science and National 5 Biology. Food Security and sustainability as contexts also lend themselves to planning for learning and teaching associated with Environmental Science.

The advice and guidance includes reflective questions to aid you in planning for topical, relevant and challenging learning appropriate for your learners. What is GM? Will it play a role in feeding the world’s population of 7 billion and rising?

Health and wellbeing, Sciences, Technologies

STEM Central Bioengineering: Mind controlled robots and robot legs

May 7, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

Our most recent published context for STEM Central “Bioengineering” provides a rich basis for learning in sciences and technologies.

The BBC reports on Claire Lomas. Following an horse riding accident in 2006, Claire was told she would never walk again. Now, using the ReWalk bionic walking device, Claire has set off on her Marathon challenge, aiming to finish within three weeks of the start on 22nd April 2012.

Paralysed Woman to tackle marathon on robot legs

Paralysed Woman continues London Marathon with bionic legs

The Telegraph reports on “Mind-controlled robot for paraplegics unveiled” tying in the Brain Computer Interfacing learning journey with recent news which provide hope for paraplegics.

Early Years, Mathematics, National Qualifications, Sciences, Social studies, Technologies

STEM Central and The James Hutton Institute’s Water Works

May 6, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

Earlier this year, we blogged about this exciting opportunity which can be used in many contexts, including to enrich the STEM Central water context.

A trickling burn, a flooded street, a horse’s trough or a grand Scottish loch – no matter what comes to mind when you think of water the Water Works competition wants your photographs. The James Hutton Institute has now announced the March winner of the competition, John Smith, Age 8, from Orkney. His picture, shown above, is called “The Flood at the Pumping Station” and shows his local pumping station at North Stronsay, flooded due to the nearby loch overflowing.

The James Hutton Institute’s Facebook page has more information on the March entries and how you can take part in May’s competition.

Need some more inspiration on water?

Whether you are working with the STEM Central Flood Management learning journeys in the context of social sciences, technologies or maths, or planning learning and teaching around themes of sustainability for new National Qualifications, this article published in The Telegraph, by James Dyson “Engineering can save us from drought” might provide information or inspiration. Perhaps you could use this year’s Dyson Challenge as a basis for learning, maybe your learners hold the key to saving water for a more sustainable future?

If your learners are considering the current drought and flood situation in large parts of England, why not use it as an opportunity to explore the role of engineers in sustainability? We would love to hear your ideas on our STEM Central in Motion blog.

Or try using the mindmap tool in Glow Science to kickstart thinking for you or your learners.

The James Hutton Institute via the Centre of Expertise for Waters are running a year long competition aimed at raising awareness of water and water-related issues across both primary and secondary ages. The competition, with monthly prizes, aims to encourage learners to think about the natural environment and make the link between CfE curriculum areas Sciences, Technologies and Expressive Arts. The competition page gives background on the competition and entry instructions.

Mathematics, National Qualifications, Sciences, Senior Phase

Learning in the new NQs: numeracy in sciences

May 5, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

Education Scotland’s recently published advice and guidance includes exemplification of skills appropriate to National 4 and National 5. These have been exemplified in a biological context for National 4 Science, and in a physics context for National 5 Physics and can be used by practitioners to consider the level of challenge appropriate to N4 and N5 in terms of Building the Curriculum 4: Skills for Learning, Life and Work, the SQA’s Skills Framework, and the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework.

One area of numeracy you may be planning to explore with learners is the issue of causality and correlation. Can we use data to draw conclusions? Among the examples included in the advice and guidance for science is a consideration of whether or not there is a link between Type 2 diabetes and obesity. A starting point for discussion comes from the BBC’s Go Figure series in this article Watching out for Wimbledon-washing machine links. Does Wimbledon fortnight really affect demand for washing machine repairs?

Health and wellbeing, Sciences, Technologies

STEM Central and a Focus on the Eye: Electronic Eye Implant Trials Prove Successful

May 5, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

Another UK first which you could link into learning around the STEM Central Bioengineering context. The Glasgow Herald, The Telegraph and the BBC have reported on this breakthrough, in which the 3mm x 3mm electronic implant fitting with over 1500 light sensitive pixels replaces the function of the rods and cones. In this short video ‘How pioneering eye implant helped my sight’, Robin Millar explains how the implant works for him.

This clinical trial ties in with the BBC’s Bionic Body series which provides information, videos and images which perfectly complement our most recent STEM Central Bioengineering context exploring how bionics can transform lives.

Perhaps the learning and teaching you are planning is focused on the eye? This could be an opportunity to compare and contrast advances in sight restoration by learning about the electronic implant approach, compared with the other recent advances, for example in stem cell therapies.

BBC News Scientists restore sight in blind mice

BBC News Acid attack modelKatie Piper gets sight back

BBC News Hope for eye treatment using STEM Cells

Who would benefit from each of the different approaches? Are the risks and benefits of the different approaches comparable in terms of development and for patient use?

CfE, Sciences

Marine Science Glow meet – answers now available

May 2, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

Thank you once again to the 58 schools and 1700 pupils who took part in our Marine Science Glow meet on 23 Feb 2012 which was organised in partnership with Marine Scotland.

Congratulations too to Abbi from St Mary’s Primary School in Bannockburn who won her school a visit by the Edinburgh Science Festival Marine Detectives Workshop. Abbi’s question was chosen by the judges as the winning question on the day from the hundreds that were received. She asked, ‘Do whales have bellybuttons?’

If you want to find out the answer to this question and the many other questions asked by pupils on the day then visit: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/marine/education/faq/creatures

The answers to the questions put directly to the presenters on the day are also available and can be downloaded from the link below.

Download presenters answers to Glow questions >>

Special thanks to Marine Scotland all all their staff who have gone to great lengths to provide answers!

Sciences, Technologies

Stirling University Investigate STEM Central

May 1, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

On Friday I visited Stirling University to complete a Technologies workshop with BEd2 students. We began by discussing the misconceptions surrounding Technologies within Curriculum for Excellence, and spent the rest of the time looking at draft second level learning journeys for STEM Central. The students thought the website was easy to use and felt that there was lots of ideas that they could adapt to their own lesson planning.

You can find the presentation here. (Glow log in required)

We ended by looking at some of the other resources available from Education Scotland to help with teaching Technologies:

STEM Central in Motion

Technologies Staffroom (Glow log in required)

Glow Science (Glow log in required)

Technologies area of the website

Exploring Climate Change

Weather and Climate Change

Working in the Energy Sector

Health and wellbeing, National Qualifications, Sciences, Senior Phase

Advice and Guidance for new National Qualifications: the nature of risk

April 30, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

A theme which comes through in a number of the new National Qualifications for sciences is that of risk, risks and benefits, and risk management. What does this look like for the learner? Is it a list of pros and cons or something more sophisticated?

In a BBC article from the Go Figure series, the question is posed “How risky is it if you don’t know the risks?” which explores this in the context of understanding the ‘risk’ of mobile phone use. The article was published in June 2011 but of course the issue of mobile phone ‘risk’ was raised again in the media very recently. This could also be the basis for discussion around risks associated with

radioactivity, in the context of the Advice and Guidance for Nuclear Chemistry, or Nuclear Physics

different energy sources and energy security within Physics or Environmental Science

developments in DNA science in our Health and Disease, or Inheritance Advice and Guidance.

Mathematics, National Qualifications, Sciences, Social studies, Technologies

STEM Central Water water everywhere…engineering solutions needed!

April 30, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

Sciences

STEM Central: Sounds like Bioengineering

April 25, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

Doctors in Dundee have recently announced the successful restoration of a patient’s hearing using an implant known as the “vibrant soundbridge”. This could make an ideal link between our most recent STEM Central context “Bioengineering” and our forthcoming context on Sound.

Is the decision to have such an implant an easy one? Some of the issues are explored in this BBC article “Caught between two worlds”.

Additional Support for Learning, CfE, Health and wellbeing, Sciences

Glowing Thursdays – Passion for Paralympics

April 25, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

Thursday 26/04/2012 @ 10:45

Join us live from the Ottobock and International Paralympic Committee ‘Passion for Paralympics’ exhibition at Glasgow Science Centre for an exciting Glow Meet featuring British Paralympian, Jonathan Paterson from Motherwell, Scotland.

In addition we are also delighted to welcome Minister for Commonwealth Games and Sport, Shona Robison MSP who will also be taking part in the Glow Meet.

The exhibition is designed to create excitement for the London 2012 Paralympic Games and spread the Paralympic values of courage, determination, inspiration and equality. The exhibition also includes a history of the Paralympic Games, from its beginnings in Stoke Mandeville. It will inspire the nation to get behind the British Paralympic Team and provide an unprecedented welcome for the international athletes who will be in London to challenge them!

During the event viewers will have an opportunity to hear why Ottobock has a ‘Passion for Paralympics, Games Legacy for Scotland as well as being able to hear directly from Paralympian Jonathan Paterson who has just been named as one of the 22 footballers who will represent Great Britain at the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

It will be Jonathan’s second Paralympic Games, having helped the seven-a-side team finish seventh in Beijing. Find out more about his experiences and his hopes for the London 2012 Paralympic Games by asking him your own questions live on the day.

BREAKING NEWS- WE WILL ALSO BE JOINED IN THE GLOW MEET BY BOCCIA PLAYING BROTHERS STEPHEN AND PETER MCGUIRE!!

CfE, Sciences

The Beavers are Back!

April 25, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

Live from Edinburgh Zoo on Friday 27th April at 10.45am will be your chance to speak to Beaver Expert Robert Needham, Field Officer for the Scottish Beaver Trial.

Beavers became extinct in the UK 400 years ago, but now they are back in Scotland as part of a trial reintroduction, being co-ordinated by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland and the Scottish Wildlife Trust in partnership.

Since May 2009, four beaver families have been reintroduced to Knapdale, near Lochgilphead in Argyll and they have been busy since then making lodges, a dam and producing kits (baby beavers). This is your chance to ask lots of questions related to beavers and their habitat and to find out the latest news from the Trial.

Rob will be showing interesting photo footage of the beavers as well as showing you what beaver signs to look out for, just in case you want to go to Knapdale and find them for yourself.

This Glow meet is aimed at Primary and lower secondary learners. Sign up and join us in Glow TV!

Health and wellbeing, Health and wellbeing, National Qualifications, Sciences, Senior Phase

Food for Thought? Food Security in the new National Qualifications

April 20, 2012 User deactivated 1 Comment

One of the contexts for learning and teaching within the advice and guidance for the new National Qualifications is Food Security. This could provide a context for learning relevant within Biology, Environmental Science, or Science, and with approriate differentiation to meet the needs of learners, as a context for learning at National 3, National 4, National 5 and Higher.

How about using this image , published in The Independent newspaper on 17th April, to prompt discussion? Could a cupcake made of insects be part of our future to enable us to feed the world’s rising population? Researchers at the University of Wageningen in the The Netherlands believe so. More information can be found in the International Business Times article “Cupcakes made from Insects: Food for Thought?”

National Qualifications, Sciences, Senior Phase

Learning for the new NQs: Personalised Medicine links to the new National Qualifications

April 20, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

The advice and guidance shortly to be published for the new National 5 Biology links to this very topical breakthrough in “personalised medicine”: tailoring treatments to the genetics of the disease.

Look out for the forthcoming publication on the Education Scotland website, and meantime find out more about an international study funded by Cancer Research UK in this BBC article “Breast cancer rules rewritten in ‘landmark’ study”.

Early Years, Expressive Arts, National Qualifications, Sciences, Senior Phase, Technologies

STEM Central Sounds Inspiring, Sounds Amazing!

April 20, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

As we progress the development of our new context on STEM Central “Sound”, some ideas to link to your learning and teaching. The Glasgow International Festival of Visual Arts, running from 23-28th April 2012, is showcasing the work of six diverse artists with an interest in sound, space and place. The works of the artists, audio based pieces responding to the Clyde’s tidal cycle will be performed each day in public spaces in central Glasgow, and all will be performed on Saturday 28th in the circular, wood-panelled Trust Hall of Clydeport Authority Headquarters. Sounds inspiring? You can find out more on the Glasgow International Festival of Visual Arts website. What distinguishes music from noise? Why not view the Glow Science video “How do Musical Instruments work?” and explore this further?

And, it might sound like something from Dr Who but researchers at the University of Dundee have this week announced the invention of a “sonic screwdriver”, an ultrasonic device which has potential for developing new, more precise surgical techniques. Sounds amazing? More on this from the BBC. Unsure about ultrasound? Why not use the Glow Sciences videos Beyond the Range of Human Hearing, or Medical Marvels: Ultrasound for a bit of background?

STEM Central’s sound context will include learning journeys in sciences and technologies for early years, first, second and fourth level, incorporating work developed by the Engineering the Future project. The fourth level journey could be used to support your planning for learning and teaching for National 4 Physics.

National Qualifications, Sciences, Senior Phase, Technologies

Energy Security: Interconnectedness

April 12, 2012 User deactivated 2 Comments

Are you working with STEM Central to explore the role of STEM subjects in sustainability. Or looking ahead to the implementation of Senior Phase, and planning for learning and teaching around Energy Security for learners working towards new national qualifications in Environmental Science, Science or Physics.

Is the future interconectedness?

Health and wellbeing, National Qualifications, Sciences

Food Security: 6th World Fisheries Congress

April 12, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

Perhaps you are working with learners exploring food security as a context for learning? The 6th World Fisheries Congress is opening its doors to the fisheries scientists of the future. With the world population increasing to 9 billion within our lifetime and a rapidly changing global climate, the science needed to deliver sustainable foo from our seas, rivers and lakes is becoming increasingly important.

From 8-11th May 2012 Edinburgh will host the 6th World Fisheries Congress that with address “Sustainable fisheries in a changing world”. The Congress, the first ever in the UK, convenes only once every four years, and gathers the world’s most eminent experts on all issues that relate to wild capture and aquaculture in freshwater and marine ecosystems.

The Congress will open its door to the scientists of tomorrow to provide an insight into the exciting and rewarding challenge of ensuring sustainable world food supply.

The Congress is inviting applications from secondary schools in Scotland to send up to five Higher level learners plus on teacher to the event with free registration for the learners and the teaching.

The detailed programme can be found at www.6thwfc2012.com. Applications should be submitted no later than 19th April 2012 to info@6thwfc2012.com with the e-mail subject Secondary Schools WFC and should include the following information:

Name of the school

Location of the school (e.g. town and local authority)

Name of teacher accompanying learners

Names of learners

Please indicate which days you would like to attend (delete as appropriate those not attending)

Tues Wed Thur Friday or all days

Compete the following sentence using no more than 20 words:

“We want to attend the 6th WFC because…”

National Qualifications, Sciences, Senior Phase

World of Work Wednesday and groundbreaking Life Sciences Research in Scotland

April 9, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

If you are interested in signing up for the World of Work Wednesday Glow meet on 9th May at 2pm on Working in Life Sciences, these articles from The Independent “Scientists rewrite rules of human reproduction” and “Eggs unlimited: an extraordinary tale of scientific discovery” may be of interest. This article describes the ground breaking work with stem cells taking place at the University of Edinburgh in partnership with Harvard Medical School, and ties in perfectly with the contexts for forthcoming advice, guidance and exemplification for new NQs in Biology.

Wednesday 9th May at 2pm

You don’t have to do the traditional route of university, and a PhD to have a career in science. It maybe seems like the kind of job for which you have to spend years and years qualifying and training. Well, this is not always the case. Young people, some not long out of school, are working in science right now and you could be too.

Science requires individuals with many skills and interests – and not all scientists work in a laboratory. The panel for this session all have different jobs and their qualifications, training and experiences are varied.

With Life Sciences, you are already at an advantage when it comes to employment opportunties. Scotland is regarded as one of the most successful countries in the world for Life Sciences. The Scottish Government have made Life Sciences a Key Priority Industry, which means that they see it as a means of us expanding our economy in the future. The industry has roles in sales, business development, research, clinical trials and many more.

Click here to sign up to the event (Glow log in required).

Sciences, Senior Phase

Learning and Teaching Energy Security

April 7, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

Are you working with the STEM Central to explore the role of STEM subjects in sustainability? Are you looking ahead to the implementation of Senior Phase, and planning for learning and teaching around Energy Security for learners working towards new national qualifications in Physics? Recent news articles provide a way of keeping the learning and teaching topical and relevant, providing inspiration for exploration through open ended investigative practical or research work e.g.

Survey Finds Scottish Home Running Costs at 10 year high

Fife Energy Park to host new offshore turbine concept

New UK attempt to capture carbon

Coal fuelled power station plans for Grangemouth

Samsung wind turbine project to create 500 jobs in Fife

Scotland’s nuclear stations could stay open

Salmond Hails Hydrogen Energy Facility in Fife

The BBC’s Bang Goes the Theory episodes The Human Power Station and Exploring the Science of Fuel may also provide useful enrichment for learning and teaching.

National Qualifications, Sciences, Senior Phase

World of Work Wednesdays – Working in Sciences

April 5, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

Wednesday 9th May at 2pm

Science is part of our everyday life and Life Sciences are particularly important, with stories on the news nearly every week telling us about new medical technologies and treatments for diseases.

This World of Work Wednesday comes at an ideal time to enhance practitioners knowledge and understanding of this area of work, to tie in with the forthcoming advice, guidance and exemplification for new NQs associated with health and disease, and inheritance.

Click here to sign up to the event (Glow log in required).

Expressive Arts, Religious and Moral Education, RME, Sciences, Social studies, Technologies

National challenge: Design a billboard for Scotland

April 5, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

Education Scotland has launched a national challenge for learners to design a double-sided billboard to be seen by people entering and leaving Scotland.

The challenge is aimed at those working within second, third and fourth curriculum levels.

The challenge can be incorporated into planning for a number of curriculum areas including art and design, social studies, religious and moral education, technologies and sciences, and the themes of sustainability and global citizenship.

To find out more about the challenge click here.

Health and wellbeing, Sciences

Feeding the 7 billion

March 26, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

An expert panel discusses the main issues around food security and how science might help fill your plate in future. Part of Edinburgh International Science Festival.

Food shortages, price rises, civil unrest and riots are all real threats as demand for food rises and the amount of land suitable for food production decreases. Journalist and broadcaster Viv Parry will lead our panel – Professor Julie Fitzpatrick (Moredun Research Institute), Professor Peter Morgan (Rowett Institute of Nutrition and Health) and Professor David Hopkins (Head of Life Sciences, Heriot Watt University) – in an accessible and interactive exploration of the main issues around food security and how science might help secure the future of our food. Presented by Moredun Research Institute and the Rowett Institute of Nutrition and Health.

This event is also being run in Aberdeen as part of the British Science Festival on Saturday 8th September. The panel will be the same with the addition of Dr. Cesar Revoredo-Giha from SAC.

Phone: 0844 557 2686

Website: www.sciencefestival.co.uk

CfE, Expressive Arts, Health and wellbeing, Health and wellbeing, Languages, Literacy, Literacy and English, Mathematics, Modern Languages, Religious and Moral Education, Responsibility of All, RME, Sciences, Social studies, Technologies

School Open Day – Bo’ness Academy, Falkirk Council

March 23, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

School open day – using international education to develop a whole school approach to global citizenship

Venue: Bo’ness Academy, Falkirk

9:30am – 3.00pm

Thursday 17th May 2012

Note: this event was due to place at an earlier date in the year but has now been rescheduled for the date above.

Theme: International Education

This CPD event offers practitioners and school leaders an exciting opportunity to visit Bo’ness Academy and attend Falkirk Council’s Global Citizenship Showcase Event.

Bo’ness Academy is an inspiring example of a school that has used international education as a vehicle to engage the whole school in global citizenship activities. Through the Comenius Programme and other well established links the school has developed a rich international programme connecting it to countries across the world including: The Gambia, The Netherlands, China, France, Germany and The Czech Republic.

A focus of the event will be to identify and share the practical lessons and ideas that have helped the school move forward on its journey including:

Making global citizenship a key priority in the school and a focus for the implementation of Curriculum for Excellence
Using international links to explore important issues in a global context and to create engaging, meaningful and challenging learning experiences
Developing strong international partnerships which can be sustained and which have made an impact on every learner.

Participants will have the opportunity to meet and talk with the Head Teacher, International Coordinator, staff and learners and also tour the classrooms and school. Time will also be set aside for participants to reflect and share their own experiences.

Download Programme for Bo’ness Academy Open Day 17May12

How to book

To book, please contact Megan Farr, Policy Officer, Falkirk Council. Email: megan.farr@falkirk.gov.uk or Tel. 01324 506671.

Places for the open day section of the event are limited so please book early to avoid disappointment. This is a free event!

Sciences

Will we ever grow replacement hands?

March 21, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

An ideal tie in between the STEM Central Bioengineering context, and learning around STEM Cells which ties into our forthcoming advice and guidance to support new NQs, the latest in the BBC’s Bionics Series. We face a shortage of organs for transplant, could this area of work be the key?

Expressive Arts, Literacy, Literacy and English, Sciences, Technologies

Guitar Hero

March 14, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

The ICT development team from Aberdeenshire Council was one of the first to engage with the Consolarium and as a result of this a number of games-based learning projects were identified. The idea of using the context of Guitar Hero as the main driving focus in a collaborative story that would enable cross-curricular work was one of the ideas that we wanted to explore.

A Sony PS2, the game and the guitars were placed with a willing teacher in a P7 class after the Easter break. This was the last term for the class so the teacher decided to use this as the main driver for the remainder of the term. Having teenage sons who played the game the teacher quickly became familiar with how it worked and devised a series of tasks that she believed would enable ‘connected learning’ to take place.

We then left the class teacher and the class with the resource and returned in the last week of term to discover a rich seam of creativity, learning and engagement from a class who had lost themselves in the world of rock and roll …

Click here to read the case study.

Sciences, Technologies

STEM Central: Rescue Vehicles

March 13, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

In the next few weeks we will begin working on a new context for STEM Central – Rescue Vehicles for second level. With learning journeys planned which incorporate forces and friction, based around boat design for stability, and looking at the RNLI vehicles and and helicopters used in rescues, sadly very topical in light of the tragic events of January’s cruise ship accident.

Early Years, Sciences, Technologies

Sustainability Event – Echt School share through GlowTV

March 13, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

Dual post from Glow Scotland Blog.

Echt School, Aberdeenshire, is holding a Sustainability Event on March 16th 2012 to share and showcase the learning the children have been engaged in this term around Sustainability and Global Citizenship.

From Nursery to P7, they have been involved in setting up a wormery, looking after chickens and hatching eggs, looking at our school’s Food and Waste Footprint, finding out about making paper to make their own compostable paper bags, Fairtrade and finding out about solar energy.

Go to Glow TV to find out more – click here (Glow log in required)

Sciences, Technologies

BEd3 at UWS Ayr Investigate STEM Central

March 13, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

Today I visited the University of the West of Scotland (UWS) in Ayr to complete Technologies workshops with BEd3. We began by discussing the misconceptions surrounding Technologies within Curriculum for Excellence, and spent the rest of the time looking at draft second level learning journeys for STEM Central. The students thought the website was easy to use, and the ideas on the website made it easy to plan a lesson.

You can find the presentation here. (Glow log in required)

We ended by looking at some of the other resources available from Education Scotland to help with teaching Technologies:

STEM Central in Motion

Technologies Staffroom (Glow log in required)

Glow Science (Glow log in required)

Technologies area of the website

Exploring Climate Change

Weather and Climate Change

Working in the Energy Sector

Sciences, Technologies

STEM Central Bioengineering and the BBC’s Bionics Series

March 13, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

Just at the right time for the publication of our latest context on STEM Central – Bioengineering – the BBC has a fantastic series of articles, images interactives and video clips which could be used to enrich the context.

CfE, Sciences, Senior Phase, Technologies

World of Work Wednesdays – Explore Your Future in Oil and Gas

March 7, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

Do you want a career with global opportunities? Are you interested in working for a pioneering industry? Do you want the chance to earn as you learn?

Join our World of Work Wednesday event to hear from oil & gas professionals to hear what types of jobs are available in the industry and what it’s is really like to be part of a dynamic sector that offers excellent rewards for hard work!

Also you’ll get the chance to ask real-life professionals anything you’ve ever wanted to know about oil & gas.

From HR to PR, drilling to design, accountancy to apprenticeships, onshore and offshore there’s something to inspire everyone.

So why not sign up and join us on Wednesday 14th March at 2pm to find out all about it?! – WOWW – Explore Your Future in Oil and Gas

Health and wellbeing, Mathematics, Responsibility of All, Sciences

Alcohol – using percentages to calculate units

March 6, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

Glow Meet with Tom Renwick – Monday 12 March at 2 pm

Education Scotland will be hosting a Glow Meet with a difference with Tom Renwick from Maths on Track. Aimed at third level and suitable for S1, S2 and S3 pupils, this live transmission from the Medical School at Glasgow University, will examine the percentage calculations required to confirm units of alcohol, given the volume and alcoholic strength of the liquid.

Please note that cans of beer, as well as bottles of wine and spirits, will be used as examples of numeracy in the context of everyday materials.

Colleagues from the Medical School will be on hand to help explain the effects of units of alcohol on the body.

The lesson will last about 45 minutes and be available shortly after on Watch Again TV. You will need a Glow login to view this event.

Sciences, Technologies

Can you build a human body?

March 6, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

If you’re working with the new STEM Central context on Bioengineering then the timing of this new BBC News Bionic Bodies series couldn’t be better. The first activity is a drag and drop to explore the possibilities for bionic arms, legs, ears, heart and even brains.

Early Years, Expressive Arts, Health and wellbeing, Languages, Mathematics, Responsibility of All, RME, Sciences, Social studies, Technologies, Young people, children & families

Wanted! Creative teachers and CLD staff

March 5, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

Are you creative in the classroom? Do you empower creativity in your young people?
Education Scotland is looking for teachers and CLD staff who use creativity in their work to speak up and share their creative learning and teaching approaches with the rest of Scotland through a series of very short online film clips.

Creativity in its purest sense involves generating original ideas that have value and crosses ALL areas of the curriculum (not just the arts) and we are looking for examples from subjects as diverse as PE, Languages and Maths. It could be the young people learning creative skills or an approach to lesson planning that is particularly creative. What creativity might involve can be found here: http://glo.li/xGyO32

Here are the questions we would like to put to you:

• What is creativity (to you)?

• Why be creative in your teaching?

• What happens when the young learners are engaged in a creative activity?

• What did you and your young learners do that was creative?
You might explain an example of what creativity looks like in your classroom or group.
You might detail day-to-day creative approaches or else explain a specific project, topic or development.
How did this specifically benefit you and the young people?

You will be filmed by a professional film company (they really put you at your ease) who will come to you, fit around your timetable, and the whole process of setting up and filming will take less than half an hour. Ultimately we are capturing just 3 minutes of glorious quality footage from you that will be shared through the Creativity Portal. This is a great opportunity to showcase your creativity to a national audience.

The filming will be arranged to suit you some time in the next three weeks.

It takes moments to offer your experience or suggest a colleague who you think would fit the bill:
Go to: http://glo.li/z0Mi3s
Email: Stephen.bullock@educationscotland.gov.uk
Phone: 0141 282 5194

Sciences, Technologies

Making Connections between STEM Central & Glow Science

March 1, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

STEM Central provides a rich, stimulating and challenging context for learning and teaching. It makes connections between sciences, technologies and mathematics through the context of engineering allowing learners to broaden their understanding of the applications of concepts and skills developed in curriculum subjects. It allows learners to develop solutions to problems and demonstrate creativity through inquiry.

Glow Science (Glow login required) is an online resource comprising hundreds of short films. The resource is for teachers and for learners from age 8 to 14. Their films are mapped to Curriculum for Excellence outcomes and experiences, and cover all four science disciplines: Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Earth Science.

If you visit the Glow Science Section on STEM Central in Motion you will find out STEM Central and Glow Science can be used together to support learning and teaching.

Assessment, Expressive Arts, Literacy and English, Moderation, Modern Languages, NAR, National Qualifications, Profiling, Religious and Moral Education, RME, Sciences, Technologies

CfE & Glow News – February Issue

February 29, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

The CfE and Glow News update provides you with information about Curriculum for Excellence and support for practitioners, along with all the latest developments within Glow. Read it here.

To sign up for this newsletter, please click here.

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A training blog for PLSuperheroes