|
 |
 |
||||
|
|||||
 |
|||||
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
01. THE SCIENCE YEAR CURRICULUM REVIEW
You should never hurry a good thing, and it's fair to say this one's been a while in the pipeline, but we can finally announce: THE SCIENCE YEAR CURRICULUM REVIEW is now available to be downloaded from the Planet Science website. The Curriculum Review was a pioneering survey initiated by the Science Museum in London and run as part of Science Year. The idea was not only to ask 16 and 17 year olds to review the current GCSE curriculum for science, but to ask student groups to devise the content of the questionnaire itself. As far as we know, this kind of student-led survey had never been conducted before, and over 2000 pupils took part. When the results had been processed, they were presented by the national group to a national education conference which included, amongst others, Baroness Cathy Ashton. The students were enthusiastic and keen to be involved in the review - but they did not pull their punches. Science as a subject was generally seen as 'interesting', 'useful' and 'relevant'. But when they were asked to comment in detail on the nitty gritty of current curriculum content, teaching methods, practical classwork, and the treatment of controversial and ethical issues, it turned out they had plenty they wanted to get off their chests... If you'd like to read the two documents that comprise the full report, here's where you'll find them.  |
|||||
|
|||||
| 02. NEW HOME PAGE PS, while you're there, check out the new Planet Science homepage, it's put on its autumn coat ... Here's the direct link: http://www.planet-science.com. Hope you like it. |
|||||
|
|||||
| 03. ACTIVITY OF THE WEEK: THE SPEED-SNATCH CHALLENGE Ready? Steady? OK, here's an activity that allows you to test your rapid-response reaction-time. GO! You will need: A ruler - or metrestick Lightning fast reactions An experimentee (or several, so that you can compare times) What to do: Hold the ruler near the end (at the highest number) and let it hang down. 1. Get your experimentee to position his or her hand at the bottom of the ruler. 2. Tell them to get ready to grab the ruler. (NB they should NOT be touching the ruler at this stage - that's cheating!) 3. Tell your experimentee that you will drop the ruler sometime within the next 5 seconds and their job is to catch it as fast as they can after it starts dropping. 4. Drop! Catch! 5. Record the level (ie number of centimetres) at which your experimentee caught the ruler. 6. Test the same person several times. Does their time improve? Here's a very rough guide to the reaction times taken to grab the ruler at different distances down the ruler (if you're good at physics, you'll be able to work out the values exactly!). 5 cm = 0.10 seconds 10 cm = 0.14 seconds 15 cm = 0.17 seconds 20 cm = 0.2 seconds 25 cm = 0.23 seconds 30 cm = 0.25 seconds 43 cm = 0.30 seconds 60 cm = 0.35 seconds 80 cm = 0.40 seconds What's going on: This experiment measures how long it takes for visual information to reach the brain, and for the brain to process the information, and send a command to your hand to say 'grab NOW!!!' Whatever time you recorded, you must admit it's pretty speedy considering everything that has to happen inside the brain - plus the time it takes the 'grab now' message to travel from Brain Central out to the Fingers Operational Depot! Why not take the experiment further: Compare boys v girls? Are there any differences? Compare the reaction times of young kids v their elders and betters if you dare... (Warning: theory says the older people will be slower. Though they're naturally still wiser, wittier and in many cases better-looking than today's young whippersnappers OF COURSE!) Try the experiment in dim light. What happens? (Hint: remember they always stop play at Wimbledon when the light starts to fade - and it's not for the crowd's benefit ...) If you're fascinated by the inner workings of the brain and you'd like to know more - here's some news for you. In fact it's a ... |
|||||
|
|||||
| 04. ... MIND-BENDINGLY GOOD OFFER FROM THE BBC If you've been enjoying BBC1's 'Human Mind' series - here's a chance to find out more about what makes us tick at the BBC's interactive discussion event, 'Making Sense of the Mind'. Amongst other delights, you'll be able to try for yourself the experiments from the series. The events are free, and they're being held across the country. Anyone 16 and over can attend, all you need to do is book your tickets in advance, as places are limited and entry is by ticket only. Here are the venues, times and booking lines: Thinktank, Birmingham Sunday 16 November 2003 at 2pm Booking Number: O121 202 2222 Explore @ Bristol Wednesday 19 November at 6.30pm Booking Number: 0845 345 1235 Manchester Museum of Science and Industry Tuesday 25 November 2003 at 6pm Booking Number: 0161 833 0027 Centre for Life, Newcastle Wednesday 26 November 2003 at 6pm Booking Number: 0191 243 8223 Dana Centre, London Wednesday 3 December 2003 at 7.30pm Booking Number: 0207 942 4040 W5, Belfast Thursday 4 December 2003 at 6.45pm Booking Number: 028 9046 7700 Glasgow Science Centre Tuesday 9 December at 7pm Booking Number: 0141 420 5000 Techniquest, Cardiff Thursday 11 December at 7.30pm Booking Number: O292 047 5476 For more information, and an opportunity to try out some online experiments - log on to http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/tv/humanmind/events.shtml |
|||||
|
|||||
| 05. THIS WEEK IN SCIENCE HISTORY: LEAPING LEONIDS! In the movies, a shooting star is a romantic little flash of light that flits across the sky. But shooting stars - or meteors - are not as rare as the filmmakers would have us believe and sometimes they rain down so heavily it looks like the sky's burning. The night of November 12th/13th is the anniversary of one of the most spectacular meteor showers of all, the Leonids of 1833. Meteors are lumps of rock in space that fall into the Earth's atmosphere. They come from the tails of comets, produced when comets come closer to the Sun. Frozen gases inside the comets melt, causing rocks and dust to explode into space behind them. When the Earth passes through the comet's path, some of the rocks left behind are pulled in by Earth's gravity, and the friction of the falling rocks plummetting through the atmosphere causes them to burn up. Comet Temple-Tuttle orbits the Sun once every 33 years, leaving more rocks behind each time. In November, as Earth passes through the comet's debris trail, we see the Leonids. In 1833, the comet had just passed by and its trail was full. The Leonids that year created panic! The meteors rained down hundreds every minute and the sky was so bright it woke people up. Many thought it was the end of the world... This year may not be so spectacular, but the Leonids are always worth watching. Astronomers are predicting two peaks this year, on November 13th from sunset to 7pm GMT and November 19th just before sunrise. If you can't make these dates, or if it's raining, all is not lost because many shooting stars will be visible between these dates too. |
|||||
|
|||||
| 06. RECOMMENDED WEBSITE OF THE WEEK This week, a site which aims to explore and explain science stories big and small. The WHY FILES at http://whyfiles.org/ is a regularly updated online science magazine with, literally, 'something for everyone' ... Every month there are new features and there are also online information-packs on the 'science behind the news' - the spotlight's on those Californian bushfires and the sun and its sunspots right now for example. When you've had a look around what's on the front page, have a rummage through the extensive archive of previous features. It's a treasure trove of topics that have accumulated over the years the site has been running. Look out for features on the science of love, the Galapagos Islands, the biology of anger, tsunamis, PoW psychology, and sex among snails (that's what the feature's called - check it out for yourself!) But that's only the tip of the iceberg - there are dozens of other fascinating pages, so arm yourself with at least one full cup of tea before you dive in, you could be there for a while! |
|||||
|
|||||
| 07. JOKE OF THE WEEK Not one but two classics this week. One from space, and one from the psychiatrist's consulting room... Pupil: Please Sir! Did you hear that scientists have found life on another planet? Teacher: What are you talking about? Pupil: They found fleas on Pluto! Patient: Doctor, my wife thinks I'm crazy because I like sausages. Psychiatrist: Nonsense! I like sausages too. Patient: Really? Do you want to come and see my collection? I've got thousands of them. Ah... the weekend starts here! The next round-up of Planet Science news will be issued next Friday as ever. If you have any news, activities, events or jokes you'd like to share with the class, please send them to Anne McNaught on anne@planet-science.com. Until then - have a great week! |
|||||
|
|||||
 |
|||||
