Building experience in teaching science post-16

by Sheila Curtis

We all know that there’s a big jump from GCSE to A level and for too many students it is a hurdle that seemingly is impossible to overcome.

Post-16 science students

A recent statistic based on 2011 data showed that, for whatever reason, 31% of science students did not move on from year 12 to year 13. So nearly one third of students who had good enough grades to begin science A levels did not complete the full course.

Currently there is a trend for schools to change their provision from 11-16 to 11-18, so requiring them to have the skills and experience to teach post-16 for the first time.  Whether experienced or not, teachers in a school that is new to post-16 need time to reflect on the challenges that they and their students face. Encouraging independent learning, whilst at the same time developing subject confidence in young people at this higher level, requires support and careful planning.

Walking into my first teaching post I felt lucky to be given the opportunity to work with a post-16 chemistry group. However, as with many newly qualified teachers, I faced challenges including gaps in my subject knowledge, a lack of confidence working with students so near to my own age and, to be honest, a personal experience at school of very didactic teaching.

My experiences were not unique. It is with this experience and the aforementioned trend for schools and academies to change their provision, with this in mind, the network of Science Learning Centres has developed  continuing professional development (CPD) opportunities to support teachers of post-16 whatever their starting point. The topics aim to keep teachers’ subject knowledge updated and the programmes offer a clear route of progression to support post-16 teachers throughout their career.

• Getting to Grips with A level – for those new to teaching at post-16.
• Active Approaches in A level – explores how active and collaborative approaches support student learning.
• Masterclasses for A level – enables more experienced teachers to discuss the wider implications and applications of their subject.

Throughout this CPD suite, teachers are encouraged to engage with modern scientific ideas as well as cutting edge technology to enrich teaching and learning.

CERN Visit

by Chris Baker

Conseil Europeen pour la Recherche Nucleaire or CERN to be brief is the Mecca of physical sciences and it has been my pleasure as an interested chemist to escort hundreds of physics and science teachers on this pilgrimage. (by the way they try to play down the “Nucleaire” bit – something about the public associating the word nuclear with very bad things ). So, what is it like?

Well on the surface it is a bit like a cross between a university campus and a light industrial estate, spread-eagled across the Swiss/French border.

Large Hadron Collider courtesy of CERN

You can choose to eat in Restaurant 1 which is in Switzerland or Restaurant 2 which is in France and somewhere in between you can straddle the border if the mood takes you. You may wonder why I mentioned restaurants? Well it is in these restaurants where staff dine on refectory style tables where much scientific discussion goes on. Teachers have reported exciting conversations with scientists they sat next to at lunch although no one has claimed to have spoken to a Noble Prize Winner to date – but give it time. CERN prides itself on its openness and there is no restriction on taking photographs.

I will get on to the LHC (large Hadron Collider) later, but first it is worth remembering that CERN is not just world class in particle accelerators. It was where Tim Burners-Lee, a scientist at CERN, invented the World Wide Web as a means of sharing information for scientists around the world. You can visit Tim’s old office – an unassuming room in a dingy corridor now resplendent with brass plaque recording the historic event, and yes, you can get your photograph taken next to it! This helps to get across the message that CERN is a collaborative venture of scientists spread across the world who may work full time in Geneva or just visit to do occasional research and experiments.

CERN teachers’ programme

The teachers’ programme is mixed and varied. There is a practical activity – making a cloud chamber using aquarium tanks which one teacher improved on tremendously with an ingenious design using cheap seed propagators and and LED rope light. There are lectures which focus on academic particle physics – useful for teachers who are a little rusty in this area and great for snippets to teach how science works.

Rolf Lander, antimatter scientist and Head of Education at CERN, explains how historically models were developed and become accepted until someone disproves the model and new models are put forward. We had a good example of HSW (how science works) recently when the scientists in CERN found unusual results when they timed how long it took for neutrinos to travel from CERN to Italy. They appeared to travel faster than the speed of light and this made headlines in TV News and newspapers around the world. CERN scientists invited other scientists to investigate and try to replicate their data. The invitation did not last too long as CERN scientists discovered the reason for these anomalous results – a loose wire! Strangely this did not make the news to such an extent.

In the lecture on Medical Physics. Manjit Dosnajh helped to answer a key question that many people have about CERN i.e. what tangible benefits do taxpayers get from funding all these scientists. Manjit illustrated how work on Positron Emission Tomography (PET) carried out at CERN in 1977 led to hospital imagers which now run alongside CT and MRI scanners (often in combination) to provide information to treat cancers. A specialised version of a PET scanner has been developed which can detect small tumours missed by other scanners. This has proved very successful in the detection of breast cancers – and using the same technology as the LHC. This shows that technology developed at CERN is in use in our hospitals to increase survival rates from life threatening conditions

Physics in the movies

Rolf Lander provides an excellent lecture on the physics behind the film Angels and Demons. In the film 1g of antimatter is stolen from a laboratory in CERN and the plan is to use this to blow up the Vatican. In an entertaining lecture Rolf explains the physics behind the film and if it is really possible to create 0.5g of antimatter (enough to make a powerful bomb), just how long and how much electricity it would theoretically take. The cost by the way is: 1,000,000,000,000,000 euros with a delivery time of 1,000,000,000 years. Great stuff for teachers who can now legitimately intersperse physics lessons with clips from the Angels and Demons film. For the antimatter enthusiasts, CERN have produced a teaching module on antimatter.

The hunt for the Higgs Bosun

Data from CMS. courtesy of CERN

The highlight of the programme is a visit to CMS – Compact Muon Solonoid. CMS is just one of the LHC experiments but it was CMS that confirmed the existence of the Higgs Boson in 2012 and it was enthralling to hear how this was done. When I got home my painter and decorator asked about my last visit. He had heard of the Higgs Boson and was interested. “Can you see it?” he asked. Several cups of tea later I had managed to explain that the Higgs Boson was detected by analysing signals and that the detection instruments took the equivalent of 4,000 pictures a second. He was still none the wiser and it really brought home to me that to teach particle physics successfully, it helps if you have a physics background but more importantly that you have the models, analogies and experiences which enable you to help students with the associated complex abstract thinking. This is one of the greatest benefits of a visit to CERN.

Huge Electromagnets

So the highlight for the teachers was CMS or maybe it was the magnet testing facility where you can stand next to some of the biggest electromagnets in the world. When fully operational over 21,000 amps flow through five huge coils to produce a magnetic field of between 4 and 8 tesla. One teacher proudly demonstrated a magnetic field detecting app on his iphone. He planned to use this in the magnetic testing area. We were expecting a fried iphone but he reported it worked really well!

The magnet testing facility also houses a mock up of the particle accelerator tunnel. This is very useful as access to the tunnel during operations is forbidden for obvious reasons. The tunnel is roughly the width and height of a poly-tunnel greenhouse with enough room to ride a bike along the side which is the primary mode of transport (when not operational!).

CERN programme highlights

The highlights of the CERN programme for me did not come from CERN but from the follow up day at the National Science Learning Centre in York. The programme has some interesting inputs on nuclear fusion amongst others, but the real stars were the teachers and what they did with the ideas, materials and experiences picked up at CERN. They were “fired up” by their visit and the enthusiasm of the CERN scientists and had completed a myriad of activities and projects. Many of them had gone on to arrange a CERN visit for their students. Others had woven anecdotes, models and analogies into theoretical topics. Some had run whole school assemblies on CERN and some showed pictures of their students and projects in their local newspaper.

If you have not made your pilgrimage to CERN, 2013 could be a good year to start.

The National Science Learning Centre is running a study visit to CERN in February 2013.

If you have already been to CERN we’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences of the trip as well as how you have applied it back into the classroom.

Newly Qualified Teacher (NQT) support in chemistry

by Dr Robert Bowles. Guest blogger.

Dr Robert Bowles from the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) writes about the continuing professional development courses run in partnership with Science Learning Centres.

The Royal Society of Chemistry supports new or inexperienced teachers of chemistry (including those teaching ‘out of specialism’) to develop greater levels of confidence and expertise in teaching chemistry in the classroom.

In conjunction with the Science Learning Centres, the RSC has recently launched a new one day course, “Developing Expertise in Practical Chemistry”. At the RSC we call it “Chemistry for NQTs” as it is aimed at newly qualified teachers and it has been developed to focus on aspects of how class practicals, demonstrations and models can be used to enhance teaching and learning.

When you’re an NQT embarking on your teaching career, one of the hardest skills to master is how to deliver demonstrations and practical sessions effectively and safely to your classes. Knowing the mechanics of how to do an experiment or demo is one thing, being able to use it as a quality learning experience is quite another! This course provides a supportive environment in which NQTs have time to reflect on how they plan and deliver practicals and demos, whilst also having the chance to learn some new ones.

Many teachers also find it difficult to explain abstract ideas in chemistry – being able to use simple and then more complex models can be a really useful tool. When explaining abstract ideas, teachers often find themselves faced with students who have a bewildering number of misconceptions about chemical concepts; often stemming from the use of words which have one meaning in day to day use but a quite different and specific one in a chemical context.

For example:

A solution to a problem vs.  A chemical solution.

The Developing Expertise in Practical Chemistry course gives NQTs a chance to consider how models can be used to teach abstract ideas and concepts and empowers them to develop the best model to explode the misconceptions they are faced with in the classroom.

A big collection of free materials to support triple science teachers (and more to come)

By James de Winter

In recent weeks you will probably have seen details and information about the various types of support and training that is available for those teaching triple science GCSEs.  To add to this support, I can offer a place to go for free resources and materials that have been developed and used by teachers across the country. You may be familiar with the National STEM Centre Website  and its wonderful eLibrary but did you know that there is also a community part of the site where you can now get lots of free materials produced, trialled and refined by teachers to support your teaching of the units across all three triple science subjects as well as a place to share ideas and discuss issues online?

My job as manager and moderator of the Triple Science Communities is to be as nice to you as possible, finding and sharing things that may make your lives easier as well as trying to answer any questions. To start things off, I have created three resource community groups, one for each of the science subjects and added a whole load of materials for teaching. These are a combination of activities and worksheets, lesson plans, slideshows, teacher notes as well as other things that I hope you will find useful.

Inside the three subject community groups I have created a separate topic for the main content areas in that subject that are covered in the triple science extension modules. Use the links below to have a look and a rummage around and see what is there, no need to even log in to browse. You’ll need to log in to the National STEM Centre  to download anything but it only takes a minute or two and it may save you much more than that in planning time. I could put links to each of the sections that are included but it’s a bit dull and if it is in your triple science course then there is a section there, I promise.

Physics 

Chemistry

Biology

I have just finished uploading several hundred files produced by teachers working on the previous specifications. Whilst a few things have changed in the recent course revisions, much of this is still relevant and worth a look. In the coming months these groups will expand with more content and we’d be delighted if you felt happy to uploaded your own files as well as commenting upon what is there. I do really value the views of those who will be using these resources on a daily basis. Also, feel free to contact me if you are looking for something that I might be able to track down and upload to the community, or indeed if you have any questions – my email is j.dewinter@slcs.ac.uk 

Whilst you are there, drop in and have a look at the Triple Science Eye Community group. This has a more science staff room feel and is a place for any questions. Whether you are a teacher, technician or head of department, chances are that if you have a problem relating to triple science, someone has solved it already. So have a read, make a post or answer someone else’s questions and I’ll try and reply a quickly as I can as well.

Finally if you are one of those people who are looking at the options for introducing triple science into your school you may also want to watch our triple science case study videos on YouTube.

Valentine’s Day Science Lesson Planning Ideas

by Mark Langley.

With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, no doubt many of you will be looking for ideas to link your class activity with a day that may be on many of your students minds.  In our video, Mark Langley, one of the Professional Development Leaders at the National Science Learning Centre demonstrates how to make soft centred chocolates, using enzymes, which if created in a food safe environment, using food materials and following a scrupulous hygiene regime, can be eaten or given to loved ones.

This activity is a useful way to bring vocational science ideas into the classroom, and is a good demonstration of how science is applied in the real world – in this instance how creme eggs get their soft gooey centre.

If you have enjoyed this demonstration and are interested in learning about other ways and methods of delivering vocational science in your class activities, the network of Science Learning Centres has a range of vocational science courses going on across the country or you may be specifically interested in Mark’s own course BTEC and Applied: Successful pathways for 14 – 19 year Science.

You may also be interested in reading the National STEM Centre’s Valentine’s Blog.

Do you have any other Valentine’s Day Science activities you’d like to share?  How did they go?  How have you applied them?  Let us know and we can share them with others.

12 Christmas activities in the science classroom

Ho ho ho.  It’s the last few days of school before the Christmas holidays and your pupils are all far too excited to concentrate on anything other than the looming visit by the big man in red  – and the possibility of making snowmen.

So how do you keep their minds engaged on the subject, yet tie it in with the seasonally influenced lack of concentration in class?

We’ve come up with a range of websites and activities that should come in useful to provide stimulation, enrichment and entertainment before the school holidays, whilst retaining a modicum of scientific learning.

We’d also welcome your comments to share other resources or activities that you have used or found useful.  The #Asechat twitter feed on November 29 also provided other ideas.

12 Ideas for a Scientific Christmas Class

• Christmas Tree Buzzer Game

A great idea to get students to use what they know about electrical currents from Snapshot Science. Pupils use the templates and materials to build a fun game.  It’s showing its age with the requirement of a film canister (this may spark a discussion as to what one of these is!), an alternative may be a small yoghurt or cream pot.

• The Holly Leaf Miner investigation

The Holly Leaf Miner investigation.  The British Ecological Society has a number of investigations in this fieldwork booklet, page 40 outlines Ilkley Grammar School’s investigation into the Holly Leaf Miner.  An interesting way to get the class outside in the school grounds. Source: British Ecological Society

• Christmas Lights parallel and series circuits.

Why do the lights of a christmas tree not work if one of the bulbs is blown? Use this question as a great way to demonstrate practical electricity in real terms… and maybe get all your christmas lights sorted to go up on the tree!  The pupils could be encouraged to bring in their own faulty christmas lights to fix and test?  Another way of demonstrating how science affects us in all sorts of real life activities.

• Hold the front page

A  fun scientific history lesson here, to help understand the progression of scientific endeavours through a calendar of The Sun’s front pages: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/hold_ye_front_page/science/. Inspiration courtesy of our own Lynne Cooper and The Sun.

Firstly produce a list of selected front pages(12?) without dates from the website .

1 Get the pupils to put the front pages into possible date order, earliest first.

2 Then group the pages (into threes) and split the pupils into teams to find out more about their front page/pages either from the site or other websites.

3  Pupils are then asked to Post-it note the date order for the front pages as  a class . Or do something brilliant on your interactive white board so kids can move around the  front pages .

4. In true 12 day of Christmas fashion get the teams to give a one minute jingle (including everyone in the team) singing back information on the front page that they have been researching! In date order of course!

Can be as long or as short as required there are 60 front pages on the site all have more information and some have video clips and of course that are put into date order!

• Make your own real snow

With predictions of a white christmas receding for this winter here is an opportunity to turn this around and make your own real snow.  This page also has some interesting notes about how ski resorts plan and make their own snow, so a good opportunity to relate science to a real world application. Source: About.com

• Christmas chromatography -  Deck the Halls

Explore chromatography with your students by making a string of “light bulbs!” Students cut light bulb shapes out of coffee filters or filter paper and use water-soluble markers, pipe cleaners, and water to create a colorful display. Source: Science Spot and T.Trimpe of  Havana Junior High, Havana, IL. USA.

• Just one Father Christmas?

Who are Father Christmas’s ancestors? Are all British Mr Christmases descended from one ‘Father’ Christmas? After finding out how researchers plan to use DNA fingerprinting to discover the answer to this question, students play ‘Call My Bluff’ or sort true/false cards to reinforce their understanding of inheritance. Source: UPD8

• Santa’s sleigh race

A second offering from Snapshot Science is Santa’s Sleigh Race, which involves making a racing sleigh and then having a race.  The science in the race is to test whose sleigh travels the furthest and then use force diagrams to explain why the sleigh moves.

• Track Santa

In past years Norad (North American Aerospace Defense Command ) have tracked Santa Claus , a tradition started in 1955 after a Sears Roebuck & Co. advertisement for children to call Santa misprinted the telephone number and put them through to the Commander-in-Chief’s operations “hotline.” It is now possible to follow it on google earth and google maps. http://www.noradsanta.org/

• Reindeer Quiz

Here is an easy quiz to help develop knowledge and understanding of Reindeer (as recently starred on David Attenborough’s Frozen Planet series).  Some quick facts can be found here to help answer the quiz questions.  Link courtesy of Enchanted Learning

• How to cook the perfect turkey

Another example from the very good UPD8 website.  This time looking at a combination of chemistry (the chemical reaction of cooking meat)  and physics (heat transferral)  using the cooking of a turkey. Source: UPD8

• Will Santa make it?

Santa is planning ahead for when humans colonise the rest of the Solar System – he may decide to move to another planet! In this fun activity pupils analyse planetary data to find which planet best satisfies Santa’s future requirements.

They then e-mail Santa to advise him of their decision and – if you wish – design a Christmas card to show why this planet is such a great place to spend Christmas, http://www.upd8.org.uk/activity/58/Santa-2025.html

We hope that some of these ideas prove useful in the run up to Christmas.  In a similar vein you may also be interested in two of our courses that will help enrich your teaching or provide you with new ways of demonstrating scientific principles:

Leading Science Enrichment

Demonstrations: Teachers and Technicians Inspiring Science Learning

Halloween – The Three Hags

Late last night our cameras captured these three individuals who had  infiltrated our laboratories and were creating mischief.  It appears they were making plans for Halloween…..

Halloween 2011-vimeo

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On a more serious note this video demonstrates an effective way to tie in  a very popular date on the calendar with conventional science, and have some fun at the same time.  Here are some of the principles demonstrated in the video

Physics – The Stretchy Bugs are a great way of demonstrating forces at work, measuring them and experimenting to test how far the bugs stretch in relation to the amount of force applied.  Having different types of bugs helps as their stretchiness can then also be compared against the same amount of force.

Chemistry – The Slime is an excellent demonstration of a polymer.  It is also very easy to repeat and experiment with what happens when you vary the amounts of each ingredient going into it.

The explosion is the very simple and straight forward Custard Powder Flame Thrower.  This is a great demonstration for energy and can also be used to demonstrate the effect of surface area.

Here are the ingredients required for  Slime and the Custard powder explosion.

Slime

Custard powder flame thrower

Happy Halloween!