As part of their work in the ‘Scotland the Great’ unit, S2 pupils have to conduct research into the work of scientists from Scotland and beyond.

This class have taken a slightly different approach to the normal ways of completing this task by researching scientists working in Scotland today.

Pupils were put in pairs, given the name of a university in Scotland and a department within that university. They were then asked to find the name and contact details for someone conducting research in that department, and to send them an email asking the following –

• what were their qualifications and experience?
• what was their research about and why was it important?
• what advice would they give to young people studying science?

Not all of the pupils received replies – this is entirely understandable, as it might not always be easy for these busy people to respond. In these cases, pupils were given the name of a scientist to find information on from the usual internet sources.

With the information they had, either from the replies to their emails, or from their research, pupils were instructed to put together a presentation using Sway – a new presentation tool built into the Office 365 tools in Glow.

David & Tyron – Dr Victoria Martin

Mhairi & Rebecca – Dr Matthew Pitkin

Billy & Cal – Dr Alison Pease

Aaron & Robert – Prof S Ashbrook

Harvey & Craig – Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell

Chahna & Nadia – Prof Ian Wilmut