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01. APOLOGIES FOR MULTIPLE MAILINGS
First of all, apologies to anyone who received not one but six or seven copies of the last two editions of the newsletter. Intensive investigation this end has revealed that everyone complaining of the multiple mailings shares the same ISP - namely Lineone.net. We have been in touch with Lineone by phone, letter and email to find out what's going on, and have been told that the problem is/was 'temporary'. Hopefully the appropriate switch has been flicked by now, but please let us know if you do continue to receive extra newsletters.  |
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| 02. LAST CALL FOR NOMINATIONS FOR THE TEACHING AWARDS 2004 Red alert, red alert: Parents, pupils, former pupils, governors and colleagues ... you have only a few nano-seconds left in which to nominate your favourite unsung hero or heroine of the classroom for the 2004 Teaching Awards. We have just been reminded of the fact that the closing date for these nominations is ABSOLUTELY FIRST THING ON MONDAY. Repeat: FIRST THING ON MONDAY 2nd FEBRUARY - strictly speaking it's the 31st January, but luckily the Teaching Awards staff don't work weekends (or at least not until things start going bonkers in the run up to the event!) Here's what they say: "The Teaching Awards recognise, reward and share best practice in teaching and are an annual celebration of the work of inspiring headteachers, teachers and teaching assistants from across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. "By making a nomination the public can kickstart a process which will bring a wealth of benefits to their whole school community. In addition to the well-deserved recognition brought by receiving a nomination, Regional Winners will be awarded a prize package of cash and ICT equipment worth £3,000 for their schools. They will also be invited to attend the Teaching Awards Weekend of Best Practice next autumn. The 10 Teaching Awards 2004 National Winners will be announced at the National Ceremony which will be shown on the BBC. The National Winners take back a prize package worth over £25,000 of cash, ICT equipment and professional development courses to their schools." All nominations must be made online, and you can do that - and read all about the awards in general - at: http://www.teachingawards.com. The nomination process is very easy to complete, so if you you think you'd like to nominate someone but are put off by the "form-filling" - relax, the Teaching Awards web designer has taken away all the pain from the process. It's really easy to do - and you could make someone very, very happy. Oh go on! |
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| 03. ACTIVITY OF THE WEEK - AND MANY OTHER WEEKS Here's an idea for an easy project which demonstrates how that low sun in the UK sky in January and February rises higher week by week as the seasons turn into spring, and then summer. Which of course relates to the temperature we experience... You will need: * The Sun (star, not newspaper) - with no clouds in front of it * A telegraph post, or lamppost, or any similar object that will not move or otherwise change during the next few months. * A tape measure * A notbook and pencil What to do: 1. Work out the best place to make a measurement that you can replicate accurately every week from now until summer. 2. Create a table in your notebook, so that you can record the measurement alongside the date each time. You can create a graph too if you like, as this makes it even easier to see how things are going... 3. Taking a measurement every week is only slightly complicated in the UK by the fact that you need the sun to be shining brightly enough to create a shadow... but hopefully most weeks there should be at least ONE bright day.* 4. And that's it, basically. Keep the chart up to date, and watch how the sun rises in the sky... NB You could also take the temperature every day, for a second variable to plot on your graph... * If not, you may like to check your emigration options with the BBC's guide to webcams around the world at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/webcams/wwwcams.shtml What's going on? As winter changes into spring and then summer, the Sun's path across the sky - from our perspective - appears to rise higher each day. This is related to temperature because the rays from the sun are more direct in warmer weather, and more slanted in colder weather. To read more about this, have a look at this NASA website: http://vathena.arc.nasa.gov/curric/weather/adptcty/shape.html |
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| 04. QUICK BONUS ACTIVITY: RIPPING GOOD FUN Because the activity above doesn't really 'deliver' until you've done quite a few measurements, we thought a quick extra activity was in order for this week. It can't be said to have much science in it... and just a tiny bit of sort-of technology. But it's a good party trick and could keep a whole family or class scratching their heads for oh at least 2 or 3 minutes if done correctly! You will need: * 1 newspaper * 1 expert (you) * X number of observers who don't understand the trick What to do: 1. Take a sheet of newspaper and say you've been practising your paper-tearing skills all weekend and would like to take on all comers... 2. Demonstrate said paper-tearing skills by ripping a strip off the sheet, right the way down it. It's very good, very straight. And that's the challenge to the others - produce the straightest strip they can. 3. Someone volunteers and you hand them a sheet to rip. 4. They rip it... but oh no - wobbling all over the place, like a dog on rollerskates. 5. Give him/her another sheet. And give others a go too. With any luck they will ALL be wobbly tearers... 6. Unlike you, as you can demonstrate again. What's the secret? The secret is that because of the way newspaper-paper is made, it's much easier to tear in one direction than another. If you rip it in the direction of the lines of writing, it'll tear much more easily than if you tear it in the direction of the columns. So all YOU need to make sure of, is that when you hand the others their sheet, you need to hold it up in a way that subtly encourages them to naturally try ripping it the "wrong" way. Easy huh? Good luck! |
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| 05. RETURN OF THE PARTICLE-ULARLY GOOD OFFER FOR PHYSICS TEACHERS... "It is not very often, as a teacher, that one gets to spend the weekend in a European city, having enjoyed a free glass of champagne en route! However, that is exactly what happened to me on the weekend of the 1st to the 3rd of March in Geneva..." So begins one happy traveller's account of his trip to the world's largest particle accelerator at CERN in Switzerland. And who wouldn't celebrate with a glass of champagne if you knew that you were off to see for yourself what goes on in cutting edge 21st century physics research, meet the experts, and have a jolly good social whirl with colleagues from many other countries? If you're a physics teacher, and you fancy just such an alpine adventure this year... read on! The event in question is a conference called the 'Physics Teachers @ CERN 2004' which is being held from 30th April to 2nd May. It's designed to be an opportunity to for teachers to buff up their knowledge of current physics, visit CERN (the European Centre for Particle Physics), and swap ideas, inspiration and anecdotes with colleagues from other countries. PPARC, the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council, and CERN themselves, are the generous benefactors who are making the following offer to allow UK physics teachers to visit CERN: * £100 towards travel costs * Free subsistence and accommodation while in Geneva * No conference fees Full details of the conference, and an application form can be found online at http://www.cern.ch/education. If you have further questions, contact the PPARC Schools Officer, Andrew Morrison on 0115 9164691 or by email: morrison@innotts.co.uk The closing date for applications is 29th February 2004. |
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| 06. ...AND ANOTHER PARTICULARLY GOOD OFFER - FOR GEOSCIENCE TEACHERS I have been asked to act as National Representative for the UK representation at this years GIFT conference. The first GIFT conference for secondary school teachers of the Earth Sciences took place in Nice, France in April 2003. It included sessions for teachers on Seismology and Climate Change. Between 50 and 60 teachers attended the event, although participation from UK teachers was low. This years meeting is in the same venue (Nice Acropolis) on Thursday 29th and Friday 30th April 2004. This two-day workshop is intended to offer secondary school teachers in Physics and Natural Sciences an opportunity to upgrade their knowledge in modern geophysics, through lectures and discussions with leading scientists in the field. It also constitutes an excellent opportunity to meet and Exchange experiences of teaching with colleagues from different European countries. Moreover, some time will be devoted to visit the different exhibits, posters and oral sessions during the General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union (EGU), whose conference runs from 25-30th April. Details of this event are given at http://www.copernicus.org/EGU/ga/egu04/programme/overview.html. The general theme of the 2004 GIFT workshop is " The Ocean ". Many different facets of the ocean will be presented, such as: - The Ocean seen from Space - The major oceanic currents - Sea level changes and isostatic rebound - Life in the deep Ocean around hydrothermal vents - The climatic role of the Ocean - The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) - El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) - The Mediterranean In addition to seminal talks, small experiments particularly suitable for classroom activities will be presented. Educational CDs relating to the Ocean will also be presented. If interested in attending this event send your name, school address and contact details together with a 100 word statement as to why you would like to attend, what you hope to get out of it and whether or not you would require financial assistance from the EGU as soon as possible to Dr. Phil Smith, Coordinator, Teacher Scientist Network, John Innes Centre, Colney Lane, Norwich, NR4 7UH, or email phil.smith@bbsrc.ac.uk. Please mark all correspondence, UK GIFT 2004. |
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| 07. THIS WEEK IN SCIENCE HISTORY : WHO'S THAT GIRL? In this week in 1928 a young woman arrived in the United States. She became known as Anna Anderson, and she claimed to be the daughter of the murdered Russian Czar Nicholas II, and heir to the Romanov fortune... It was thought that the entire Romanov family had been murdered a decade before, but rumours started that one of the five children, Anastasia, had survived. Anna Anderson had many supporters but she never won the recognition she was after, and died in 1984. However, while she was alive no one ever proved she was not Anastasia. This all changed in the 1990s when science was set to finally answer the question of Anna's true identity. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is passed down virtually unchanged from a mother to her children, so that all women and their children in a family will share the same mtDNA. Parts of the DNA strand contain no 'useful' genes and were once termed junk DNA. These regions vary between individuals, unless they are closely related. By looking at repeating patterns in this junk DNA a match can be made, either between a sample and an individual in the case of a criminal investigation, or between family members to confirm a family relationship. Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, shares his mtDNA with Anastasia's mother and all of her children. A comparison of his DNA with hers proved finally that Anna Anderson was not Anastasia. In fact, further tests showed that she was Franziska Schanzkowska, a missing polish factory worker. But the mystery does not end there. The Czar's family remains were found in 1991, and mtDNA tests were made to identify them. One daughter and their son, Alexei, were missing. So perhaps two of them did survive... Find out how DNA testing works: http://science.howstuffworks.com/dna-evidence.htm/printable Make your own edible DNA molecule, you can then break it apart, sequence it, and eat it... http://www.scienceyear.com/outthere/diner/play/09.html Here is one to do in the classroom, how to get DNA out of onions: http://www.scienceyear.com/outthere/dna/activity.html |
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| 08. WINNERS WINNERS WINNERS The winners of last week's Blackfoot Indians offer were: Lyndsay Chell of Kingsbridge in Devon, Nicky Hill of Hereford, Jay Airey of Birmingham and Dr S Dean of Holmfirth. Congratulations to you all, and hope you have a brilliant day out.  That's all for this week. But if you have any news, recommended websites or jokes for newsletters in the New Year, please send them to Anne McNaught on anne@planet-science.com. |
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