Secondly, we can't count your jumpers unless you do! If you have other questions, please contact sophie.duncan@scienceyear.com



UNDER THE MICROSCOPE

As Estelle Morris announced on 7th September, Science Year is committed to giving teachers access to advanced laboratory equipment through a fund called the Kit Pot.

The first item out of the Pot is the Intel Play QX3 Computer Microscope, and over the coming few weeks every state secondary school in England will be sent a School Edition of this for their own use.

These digital microscopes connect directly into a computer and the magnified images are displayed on the screen. This means pupils can capture the images they see, but can also record live video and even make time-lapse movies of the objects under the lens as they grow, move or decay... The microscope comes with accessories, teachers' resources and lesson plans. So - alert your postman, large package ahoy!



SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING AMBASSADORS

Science and Engineering 'Ambassadors' are volunteers from science and industry who will be going into schools to inform and hopefully enthuse students about studying science and technology related subjects. Their role will include acting as mentors to young people, providing role models and giving practical help to teachers in the classroom.

On the 9th of July a meeting was held to bring interested parties up to date on progress so far and to collect information and tips from people already involved in running similar projects.

A second forum has now been scheduled for Friday 19th October in Birmingham, specifically targeting teachers. The SEAs team would therefore like to hear from you if you're a teacher and are interested in the scheme or have previous experience with 'ambassadorial' programmes.

Participation means having the opportunity to shape an important initiative that will live on beyond the end of Science Year. However, space is limited, so if you're interested, get in quick!

Contact: Michael McDermott for further information on michael.mcdermott@dti.gov.uk (NB. Travel expenses for teachers attending the event will be paid by SEAs.)



THE NORTH WEST REGIONAL EDUCATION CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION

It's claimed to be the largest educational event ever seen in the North West, comprising two conferences plus an exhibition - and it's happening on the 18th and 19th October at the Reebok Stadium in Bolton.

Almost 100 presentations, demonstrations and displays of the latest resources and equipment will be staged, and 40 seminars are being held, led by prominent speakers on a wide variety of topics. These include Ted Wragg, Gervase Phinn and our very own Director of Science Year, Nigel Paine, who will be discussing the key role ICT has to play in achieving the aims of the year.

Entry to the two-day event is free (apart from a modest fee for advance bookings) but places are limited. If you or colleagues are interested in attending, please contact Educational Exhibitions PO Box 25203, London N12 8WS, call them on 020 8445 1757, or email edex@educational-exhibitions.com

There is also a one day Management Conference on 18th October (delegate fee applies).



PUTTING SCIENCE ON THE CULTURAL MAP

All cities are proud of their contributions to the Arts - but what about their contributions to Science?

London City of Science www.londoncityofscience.com is a newly launched website featuring a variety of scientific people, places and information in and around London. And it's definitely not just to do with history either - profiles of contemporary scientists and science-related locations feature prominently on the site.

Andrew Hunt is the brains - and energy! - behind the project, and you may already be familiar with his name from his involvement with the ASE, the BA and the Nuffield Curriculum Project. He, along with Science Year, is keen to see a network of such websites for all UK cities that are keen to show off their scientific wares.

If you'd be interested in creating a 'City of Science' website along similar lines for your city, get in touch with us. If there's sufficient interest, templates and other guidance materials can be made available.

And if you live in London already - make sure you submit any new ideas you have to www.LondonCityofScience.com - huge growth in content is part of their plan!



SPACE, THE NOT SO FINAL FRONTIER

The commercialisation of space is the central topic of the 13th Annual UKSEDS Student Space Conference, which will be held on 10th and 11th November at the University of Newcastle.

'The Moon on a Stick: Get a Handle on Space' was so named to reflect the fact that space is now far from being an imponderable other domain, rather, it's now very much the next plot of 'real estate' as far as tourism, medicine, science, and technology are concerned. Expert speakers will present a range of lectures and participate in discussions on these topics, and local schools are invited to attend and participate.

The conference is aimed at 14-16 year olds, and if you'd like more information, visit the UKSEDS website at: www.uk.seds.org/ To apply email: conference@uk.seds.org or phone them on: 07050 660 191



FILM EDUCATION

Last week we mentioned the amazing schools' offer being made by Film Education regarding National Schools Film Week, whereby thousands of free cinema tickets are being made available for schools to see both 2-D and 3-D science-related films in several major UK cities.

Further information about NSFW can now be found at:

www.filmeducation.org/NSFW/resources/index.html



PUT YOUR TEACHER ON THE SPOT!!

From the silver screen to the small screen ... and for the benefit of any new newsletter subscribers who have witnessed the human lightning-ball Misha Badr-Safdari zooming round the screen in between Channel 4's schools' programmes, performing perplexing kitchen experiments then leaving it up to someone else to explain why they work ...
You can read all about the experiments and the explanations too by visiting Sci-Teach

The entire series of short films is now posted there too - and details of the competition to script the sixth and final edition will be released shortly.



RECOMMENDED WEBSITE OF THE WEEK

This week's recommended website is the children's site Energy Quest at www.energy.ca.gov/education/

It's full of games, information and projects about energy and its conservation, and exploring it could probably take up most of a rainy Saturday afternoon, should one occur in the near future (heaven forbid!)



FLAT OR FIZZY? SCIENCE LINE REVEALS ALL ...

We're back with another question... and the question of the week this week, taken from Science Line's public hotline was:

"Is there any evidence that dangling a silver spoon into an open bottle of champagne can really stop it going flat?"

You could try it for yourself. Or you could go straight to the Science Line website to find out the answer:

www.sciencenet.org.uk/database/Technology/0104/t00354d.html

... and if you have any science questions yourself - why not contact them anyway? Science Line is a free phoneline that's open 1pm-7pm Monday to Saturday OR you can visit its website at: www.sciencenet.org.uk. Pose your question, and they'll get back to you as soon as is scientifically possible...



JOKE OF THE WEEK

Katie Walsh is the kind supplier of the following zoology (?) joke.

Thank you Katie!

Two guys were walking through the jungle. All of a sudden, a tiger appeared from a distance, running toward them. One of the guys took a pair of state-of-the-art trainers out of his bag and started to put them on.

The other guy, with a surprised look on his face, exclaimed,

"Do you really think you'll run faster than the tiger with those?"

His friend replied,

"I don't have to outrun it, I just have to run faster than you."

Excellent!



ANY OTHER BUSINESS

As ever, we welcome your contributions to the newsletter, or any questions or comments you have about it, the website or Science Year in general.

Please send any enquiries about the Giant Jump or forthcoming events to sophie.duncan@scienceyear.com and everything else to anne.mcnaught@scienceyear.com

Bye for now!

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