PLANET SCIENCE NEWSLETTER - ISSUE 17 Stardate: Friday 17th January 2003 Did you know you can choose to receive this weekly news update free by email? sign up here It may be mid-January on a distinctly non-tropical island off Continental Europe… but we’re here to bring you some lovely warm sunshine in the form of news, jokes, things to do and groovy places to surf to – in cyberspace at least. But first of all here's something to put you in a relaxed frame of mind... And put your feet up for goodness sake, you deserve it! Got your passport? Ok, here’s today’s itinerary: 01. OUTREACH PROJECTS – grants being made available 02. HORRIBLE QUIZ – for young people 03. RESEARCH CENTRES – wanted for work experience placements 04. ACTIVITY OF THE WEEK – it’s heavy man 05. MOUSES AT THE READY – for the Centre for Life 06. LAST WEEK’S WINNERS 07. PARTNERSHIP GRANTS for schools 08. ROYAL SOCIETY COSMIC EVENING – you’re invited! 09. SCIENCE BEHIND THE NEWS 10. RECOMMENDED WEBSITES OF THE WEEK 11. CARIBBEAN JOKE OF THE WEEK O1. REACH OUT… FOR OUTREACH CONTRACTS If you’re interested in devising and implementing creative science-based projects for use in secondary schools, here’s news of an opportunity that may be right up your street... Planet Science wants to fund some really good outreach initiatives – and we’ve been advertising all this week. In case you missed the ads, which appeared in the national media over the last few days, here’s what we said: • Planet Science will be awarding grants worth nearly £1 million to support innovative projects that reach out to maintained schools in England • Projects must target schools which have low levels of achievement in science and have not yet benefited from Planet Science initiatives • Projects must target Key Stages 2, 3 or 4 and aim to be sustainable • Lead applicants must be based in England There will be a meeting in London on the 6th February for organisations interested in applying. For full information, email outreach@planet-science.com . So if that sounds like something you’d like to get find out more about, get in touch. Back to top 02. AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY HORRIBLE… ER… DIFFERENT Fancy some ‘Ugly Bugs’, Deadly Diseases’ or ‘Bulging Brains’? What??! You’ve never heard of the ‘Horrible Science’ books? If so, you’re missing out – these are books that feature, as their catchphrase states, ‘science with the squishy bits left in’. All the gore, accidental deaths, football-sized insects and involuntary bodily functions that kids and all kid-like adults love to ponder… We have secured a full set of these books, and you can win 4 of them if you answer all the questions in our Horrible Quiz correctly. Ooops – just one thing to mention, you’ve got to be under 18. Because adults have enough horrible things to deal with, right?! Back to top 03. CALLING ALL RESEARCH CENTRES Planet Science are launching a new pilot project with the National Education and Business Partnership Network (NEBPN) to generate opportunities for Year 10 and 11 students to see science in action on two-week work experience placements in June-July 2003 at interesting research centres. The type of placement can be a series of one-day sessions at different laboratories (including, for example, a tour and talk on what the group is doing), work shadowing, a small discrete research project or helping a research group. Teachers, provided by the NEBPN, in liaison with research centre staff will write the programme that a student will follow on work experience. The research centre will set the numbers of students taken and they can also be involved in the selection of students. If you’re interested in this project please send an email to chloe@planet-science.com for full details and she will be happy to sort you out! Back to top 04. ACTIVITY OF THE WEEK Meanwhile back on that Caribbean island… maybe you’re getting a bit bored by now and need something to fill in your long sunny hours? Here’s an activity from the LBE we think will amuse and amaze you… we like to call it Bad Breath, but don’t worry it doesn’t stink like old Mr McCrotchety in the newsagents – we’ve just called it Bad Breath because it shows what a powerful, and potentially dangerous gas Carbon Dioxide is … You will need: • Pint jug (anything with a lip you can pour from) • Small candle (e.g. night-light) and matches • Vinegar, hot water and baking soda Instructions: • Prepare a hot water (from a tap is fine) and vinegar mix, (50-50 of each). • Light the candle. • Put about a dessertspoon of baking powder in your jug then pour on the vinegar-water mix. • Let the fizz subside for a second or so, then take the jug and “pour” the CO2 over the candle. It will go out, ‘suffocated’ by the lack of oxygen. So why is it ‘bad breath’? CO2 is heavier than air, so when you lean the jug over the candle CO2 falls out and sinks onto the flame extinguishing it. Where CO2 issues out of the ground in high concentrations it stays low and in sheltered areas it has killed birds, mice and cats. In Cameroon a sudden efflux of CO2 from under a lake flooded a village and all the people died. This experiment was recommended to us by Professor Paul Jarvis FRS at the University of Edinburgh – and if you’d like to look at the rest of the experiments, have a look at our online ‘Little Book of Experiments’ which is packed to the rafters with instructions for demonstrations and experiments – have a look at the Teachers area for now (The Non-teachers section will be along shortly!) Back to top 05. MOUSES AT THE READY Yes yes yes – more fab freebies this week. This time we have four family tickets to give away for the brilliant ‘Centre for Life’ in Newcastle. If you’ve ever been before, you’ll know that this is an amazingly full-on interactive day out. It’s all about the science of life – from our own human biology, to the story of evolution, and how DNA holds the key to all life on Earth. All explained through the medium of bang up-to-date entertainment technology for maximum fun. You can find out all about it at http://www.centreforlife.co.uk and even go on a virtual tour around the facilities so that when you get there it’ll already seem familiar… Fancy it? If so, all you need to do is send an email to anne@planet-science.com with IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE! in the subject field. N.B. In a slight change from our previous procedure, you have until Monday at 5pm to get your email to us, and then the lucky winners will be selected at random – this is to ensure that everyone has an equal chance, not just those with speedy internet connections. Back to top 06. LAST WEEK’S WINNERS… … of tickets for Explore in Bristol were: Sylvie Prouse, Alan Woolhead, Carol Porter and Mike de Bono. Congratulations and your tickets will the in the post shortly. And the winners of the WEATHER QUIZ were: Matthew Tosh, Kiera Waldock and John Tunnicliffe. Back to top 07. PARTNERSHIP GRANTS FOR SCHOOLS The Royal Society have been in touch to remind you that the closing date of the Partnership Grants scheme is Friday 14 February. The grants on offer are up to £2500 in value, and are available for teachers and scientists or engineers to work together on creative investigations involving 5 -16 year olds. For successful applicants, the grant is awarded directly to the school involved, enabling the school to pay for any specialist equipment needed for the investigation, travel expenses for the scientist/engineer and/or the school group and possibly teacher supply cover. For more information or an application pack contact 020 7451 2561 or email kirsty.brown@royalsoc.ac.uk. You can also download the application form and other information from here. Back to top 08. ROYAL SOCIETY EVENT - THE QUANTUM AND THE COSMOS - 22 January Meanwhile, if you’re in the London area, you might be interested in a somewhat mind-bending free event coming up next week. Rocky Kolb of Chicago University will be exploring ‘the connection between the "inner space" of the quantum and the "outer space" of the cosmos - a connection that may hold the key to the nature of the dark matter holding our galaxy together and the dark energy pulling our universe apart’. This event will take place at 6.30pm on Wednesday 22 January at the Royal Society, 6-9 Carlton House Terrace, London, SW1Y 5AG. For free tickets contact the events desk - 020 7451 2572 or email events@royalsoc.ac.uk. For details of future events please visit the Royal Society’s own site at http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/events Back to top 09. SCIENCE BEHIND THE NEWS This week, Science Line have been taking a long hard look at LPG, or ‘Liquid Petroleum Gas’ technology and its potential as a realistic type of car-fuel for the future… Why are they so interested? Well perhaps it could be because if the Science Line fleet of Limos can be converted to run on LPG, they’ll be exempt from the new congestion charge in London… Seriously though, LPG is a form of technology that could have a radical impact on the 21st century if it’s taken up widely. (It’s certainly changed the face of the heated-curling-tongs industry already.) Read all about it at here Back to top 10. RECOMMENDED WEBSITES OF THE WEEK A family of health websites for young people this week… http://www.welltown.gov.uk is for 5-7 year olds; http://www.galaxy-h.gov.uk is for 7-11 year olds; http://www.lifebytes.gov.uk is for 11-14 year olds, and http://www.mindbodysoul.gov.uk is for 14-16 year olds. Each of the sites are colourful and informative, and cover topics such as personal hygiene and avoiding accidents, as well as ‘life issues’ such as your-family-and-other-animals type topics. The two younger sites feature prominent advice for parents and teachers in how to use the site and get the maximum from it. The two teenage sites leave the visitors to get on with it – and also provide advice about more adult topics such as sex and relationships, mental health, alcohol and drugs. They’re fun to explore and not preachy – have a look for yourself. Time for another Caribbean daydream! Why not send yourself or a friend a postcard from Barbados? The tourist board in Barbados have sorted out a few that might suit you… sigh sigh sigh. Here they are: http://caribislands.net/postcards/postcard.html Enjoy! Back to top 11. JOKE OF THE WEEK And while we're in the Caribbean... Three guys are alone on a desert island: an engineer, a biologist and an economist. They are starving and don't have a thing to eat, but somehow they find a can of beans on the shore. The engineer says: let's hit the can with a rock until it opens. The biologist has another idea. "No. We should wait for a while. Erosion will do the job." Finally, the economist says: "Let's ASSUME that we have a can opener..." Next please! Back to top