SCIENCE YEAR NEWSLETTER - ISSUE 50 Week ending Friday, 18th January 2002 Dear Thousands of Recipients of the Science Year Newsletter, we should have a party or something, hey, let’s meet up for cocktails later, because this is the 50th issue of the newsletter! How fabulous it that? To celebrate our half century we have another super guest writer, who will introduce himself in a minute. But first… Contents of this Issue: FROM THE GUEST EDITOR • A week in sixty seconds • Our Disco Needs You • BA Festival of Science, Leicester • Science Discovery Clubs Network • Tin cans, marshmallows and Alka Seltzer – INSET workshop • More from Laugh Lab NEWS AND EVENTS • School Science Reality Check • Everest Adventure • Science Year in Scotland • The BP Award for Science Year • Government strategy to tackle gender gap in science and engineering • Teacher training colleges receive hi-tech equipment • Bringing science to life • Get up to date on gene technology • Citizenship education and science at Key Stage 3 • Cheltenham Festival of Science • Making sense of science • Schools face shortage of lab technicians • Chemistry camps • TES Primary Sci-posters • Biodiversity Day AND THERE'S MORE... • Science Question of the Week • Joke of the week • Web site of the week • Mnemonic time • Microscopic correction FROM THE GUEST EDITOR… Welcome to the special BA Edition of the Science Newsletter! This issue is guest-edited by myself, Craig Brierley, Young People’s Programme Officer at the BA. Those of you who know all about Science Year will be aware that the British Association for the Advancement of Science – or the BA as we are (fortunately) more commonly known – is, along with the ASE, one of the key partners. If you’ve been wondering exactly who we are, then let me fill you in… INVESTIGATING SCIENCE WITH THE BA The BA is an organisation dedicated to promoting science. We do a lot of work with young people – everything from project-based awards schemes (BA CREST, BAYS, etc.) through to science fairs and live events such as our Science Discovery Day (see below). For more information on our activities, take a look at our web site, www.the-ba.net, or contact Steven Chapman on 020 7973 3057 or at steven.chapman@the-ba.net. A WEEK IN SIXTY SECONDS National Science Week runs from March 8th to 17th (we know that it's ten days but all the best weeks have two weekends!). This year being Science Year, we are aiming to make it the biggest and best yet – no mean feat given that last year saw over 1.4 million people attend more than 2,500 events. National Science Week is co-ordinated by the BA and we will encourage you, give you ideas for funding your event, offer free resources and activity ideas, and give you advice about organising and publicising your event. Register online at www.the-ba.net or ring the hotline on 020 7973 3062 and you will be sent the Sixty Second Science challenge pack, which is full of short curriculum based activities for all ages, and packed with inspiration for running your event. OUR DISCO NEEDS YOU Following on from the incredibly successful Baysdays (hands-on activities and workshops for 6-13 year olds), this year the BA is organising ‘Science Discovery Day’. It is a day packed with amazing science activities for students aged between 10 and 19, including hands-on workshops and ‘Science in a box’ activities. Highlights for the older students include an audience with Nobel prize winner Professor Harry Kroto, a look at predicting the weather with the Met Office, and Dolly the Sheep creator Professor Ian Wilmut talking about cloning. (Dolly herself will sadly not be appearing, as she is having trouble getting about these days.) For more information on Science Discovery Day call our booking hotline 020 7973 3059 now! BA FESTIVAL OF SCIENCE, LEICESTER Looking further ahead - right to the end of Science Year - the BA Festival of Science is at the University of Leicester between September 8th and the 13th. This is a fabulous opportunity to bring your Year 11 to 13 pupils to the University to interact with leading scientists. Among many others, Sir David Attenborough will be with us, talking about his life in science. There will be a discussion forum especially for Years 11 to 13, and a separate conference for teachers and education professionals - and for younger children our Festival Baysdays. E-mail festival@the-ba.net for more details or call 020 7973 3076. SCIENCE DISCOVERY CLUBS NETWORK Do you run a science-related club? If so, then the Science Discovery Clubs Network (SDCN) would like to hear from you! The SDCN is a new project, funded by Science Year, which aims to link science clubs across the country with each other and to their local science discovery centres. Initially, we are starting small, in 4 areas across the country (Sheffield, Bristol, Newcastle, and Herstmonceux). Each region is hosting an event, and science clubs can take part (live or via the internet) in the events and the megalabs we are launching at the same time. Our next event is at @Bristol (www.at-bristol.org.uk) on February 7th. If your club is in the Bristol area, then email ros@scienceyear.com to find out how you can get involved. To find out a bit more about the project, and to be added to our mailing list, visit our pages on the BA website, www.the-ba.net TIN CANS, MARSHMALLOWS AND ALKA SELTZER – INSET WORKSHOP Through activity- and project-based awards schemes, the BA aims to make science fun, accessible and relevant to all young people from primary through to secondary school. Find out how you can use these activities to enhance the National Curriculum, promote your students’ investigative skills and have a ready resource for use in your science clubs and science lessons. Please note: this workshop can be offered at primary and secondary school level For further information, or to book an INSET workshop, please call 020 7973 3173 / 3057 or email craig.brierley@the-ba.net MORE FROM LAUGH LAB Try as you might, you can’t have escaped the news about Laugh Lab, the UK’s first online experiment to find the nation’s funniest joke. It appeared everywhere, from The Times to Richard & Judy, Have I Got News For You (with Paul Merton complaining that none of his jokes were there!) and even David Letterman across the Atlantic. You’ll already have read the current leader in the race to find the funniest joke (the one about Holmes and Watson camping in a field), but here are a couple of even funnier runner-up jokes… The UK’s funniest joke: A man goes to the doctor and says ‘Doctor, there's a piece of lettuce sticking out of my bottom.’ The doctor asks him to drop his trousers and examines him. The man asks, ‘Is it serious, doctor?’ and the doctor replies, ‘I'm sorry to tell you, but this is just the tip of the iceberg.’ The US’s funniest joke: A couple of New Jersey hunters are out in the woods when one of them falls to the ground. He doesn't seem to be breathing and his eyes are rolled back in his head. The other guy whips out his cell phone and calls 911. He gasps to the operator, ‘My friend is dead! What can I do?’ The operator, in a calm soothing voice says, ‘Just take it easy. I can help. First, let's make sure he's dead.’ There is a silence, then a shot is heard. The guy's voice comes back on the line. He says, ‘OK, now what?’ Don’t forget to keep your eyes, ears and funny bones tuned to find out more about Laugh Lab in the coming months, and keep those jokes coming in. Is the funniest joke lurking somewhere in your mind? Then share it! In the meantime, whiz over to www.laughlab.co.uk and see for yourself what it’s all about. NEWS AND EVENTS... SCHOOL SCIENCE REALITY CHECK If you haven't been online yet to check out our student-written survey of the science curriculum, make sure you do. Not only is it a real opportunity for young people to get involved with shaping the future of school science (results will be formally handed to the government) but we are also awarding random prizes to those individuals and schools taking part. We need loads more participation to make it really count- so please get involved, and pass this information on to your friends and colleagues... www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/review EVEREST ADVENTURE Another great opportunity to get involved in Science Year, with New Media's Everest competition for schools. In April and May thrill-seeking Staffordshire teacher Chris Mothersdale will climb Mount Everest- and send back a stack of info relating to his physical health. The data will be available on-line and great ICT prizes will be awarded to the best projects which make use of this data. Base line information is already available on the web, so to register your school and get started visit www.new-media.co.uk/scienceyear/everest SCIENCE YEAR IN SCOTLAND GRANTS The Science Year in Scotland team is delighted to announce its Small Grants Scheme. Funded by SEED (The Scottish Executive Education Department), this will provide grants of up to £500 to individuals and organisations in Scotland to support Science Year activities and events. The closing date for applications is February 8th and they will aim to notify everyone of the decisions during week beginning February 25th. Full details of the scheme and application forms are available via the Scottish Science Year website : www.setpointscotland.org.uk WEB SITE The Scottish team has its website live and functioning! With a link from the 'About' page of the main Science Year site, the Scottish site is accessible directly on www.setpointscotland.org.uk. It incorporates basic information about the organisation of Science Year in Scotland, the Scottish team, some news of what's happening and resources available in Scotland, with lots of links back to the terrific stuff already available on the main Science Year site. There are also links to other useful organisations and, most important of all, it has a searchable (and growing) database of events and activities happening in Scotland during Science Year. THE BP AWARD FOR SCIENCE YEAR Don’t forget to cast your vote for the BP Award for Science Year in this year’s Teaching Awards! This year, the Teaching Awards Trust, in partnership with BT, has introduced a new category to support Science Year. The BP Award for Science Year seeks to recognise teachers who have inspired pupils with the innovative and creative teaching of science. It is open to all schools in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Anyone – colleagues, pupils, ex-pupils, parents, governors – can nominate a teacher for an award in this category or any one of six other categories at the Teaching Awards web site - www.teachingawards.com Nigel Paine, Director of Science Year, said: "Being able to announce the BP Award for Science Year is a huge boost to science teachers everywhere. It is a great pleasure to be able to recognise and reward teaching excellence in science at both regional and national level. I hope that many teachers the length and breadth of the country are nominated." Nominations close on February 28th, so start nominating now! GOVERNMENT STRATEGY TO TACKLE GENDER GAP IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING On January 16th, Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt revealed details of a new Government inititative to increase the number of women employed in science, engineering and technology. The strategy includes encouraging schools to set up Computer Clubs for Girls with the offer of free software, Science and Engineering Ambassadors to go into classrooms to encourage more young people, especially girls, to choose science and engineering careers, and the launch of IT Compass, online advice and work experience opportunities for young women making their first career choices. Currently, only 65,000 women with science, engineering and technology (SET) degrees are employed in SET careers, out of a total of 1.3 million SET graduates. The number of women in IT jobs is also falling. TEACHER TRAINING COLLEGES RECEIVE HI-TECH EQUIPMENT As part of Science Year, Pfizer and Bio-Rad have joined forces to install £300,000 worth of research-quality biotechnology equipment in thirty teacher-training institutions in the UK. This new equipment will enable hands-on practical teacher training for student science teachers. Students will be encouraged to use the equipment during their school placements, and colleges will be able to loan equipment to their partner schools. Hundreds of schools and their science students will benefit from the project. Science education is key to sustaining innovation within research and development. To this end, Pfizer and Bio-Rad fund extensive education liaison programmes in the UK that encourage pupils of all ages to appreciate and value the importance of science. Dr. Dominic Delaney, BioEducation Project Manager at Bio-Rad Laboratories, hopes that this opportunity will encourage students to seek careers in science: "This is a bold and innovative project which will make a significant and long lasting impact on the way biology is taught in the UK." Professor Nigel Paine, Director of Science Year, said: ''A core part of Science Year is to bring science in the real world into schools so that young people can get a sense of what working in science is really like, and taste the discovery and excitement of exploration. This Bio-Rad / Pfizer initiative is an important contribution to that process.'' Links: http://www.explorer.bio-rad.com http://www.pfizer.com BRINGING SCIENCE TO LIFE February 8th sees the major one-day conference ‘Bringing science to life’ organised by CRAC and hosted by The Boots Company plc, Nottingham. The conference aims to: • inspire everyone to participate fully in Science Year; • illustrate, through sharing and comparing a variety of projects, methods and models, how motivating and exciting Science can be; • develop knowledge and understanding to improve transition between Key Stages 2 and 3 in Science; • demonstrate the considerable potential of Science to provide a basis for wider learning and the foundation for worthwhile careers beyond the scientific field. For further details and a booking form, see the web site http://www.crac.org.uk. GET UP TO DATE ON GENE TECHNOLOGY Teachers who want to update their knowledge on gene technology and receive support for their training can take advantage of a course offered by the Institute of Biology, Bio-Rad and science centres and museums across the country. Amongst other topics, the one-day course will look at bacterial transformation and the ethics of gene technology. For details of venues and dates, contact the Education Officer at the Institute of Biology, 20 Queensbury Place, London SW7 2DZ or call 020 7581 8333. CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION AND SCIENCE AT KEY STAGE 3 The ASE and Wellcome Trust are organizing a national conference on ‘Citizenship education and science at key stage 3’ on 28 February at Central Hall Westminster. The conference is aimed at teachers, teacher trainers, education staff from science centres and other professionals interested in improving understanding and participation in public issues related to science. It will be chaired by Lord Jenkin, 2002 President of the ASE. The keynote speakers will be Helena Kennedy, Tim Radford and Joseph Rotblat. Further information and application forms for this free conference are available from Claire Griffiths, at The Wellcome Trust Tel: 020 7611 8777 email: c.griffiths@wellcome.ac.uk CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL OF SCIENCE May 22th – 26th 2002 will see the very first Cheltenham Festival of Science, which will explore ‘the pleasure that lies in the world of science and the science behind the world's pleasure’. The Festival's challenging Education Programme, which includes their Science Year Theatre Project, is launched to schools on Tuesday January 29th in Cheltenham and is open to any school interested in taking part in the Festival. For an information pack or an invitation to the launch please contact Ruth Yockney, Education Officer, on 01242 775891 or by email on RuthY@cheltenham.gov.uk. MAKING SENSE OF SCIENCE Can you turn science into English? Then you could have your article published in The Daily Telegraph, win an all expenses paid trip to the USA and share in prizes worth over £5,000. Now in its fifteenth year, The Daily Telegraph BASF Science Writer Awards 2002 give students the opportunity to write an article on any scientific or science-related subject. The competition is open to two age categories: 16-19 and 20-28 years. For more details, check out www.science-writer.co.uk SCHOOLS FACE SHORTAGE OF LAB TECHNICIANS A shortage of lab technicians is forcing schools to abandon experiments in science lessons, according to a report published by the Royal Society and the Association for Science Education. The report, ‘Supporting success: science technicians in schools and colleges’ claims that nearly half of the 200 heads of science departments considered the level of technical support to be insufficient and calls on the Government to invest £3 million in development and training for science technicians. For further details, or to obtain a copy of the report, contact John Lawrence at johnlawrence@ase.org.uk. CHEMISTRY CAMPS Give 15 year olds the chance to experience chemistry outside the classroom and sample university life at the same time with the Chemical Education Groups’ Chemistry Camps. The camps, taking place nationwide from June to August, are managed by the Salters Institute. For more details, contact Justine Whitfield at Justine@salters.co.uk or on 020 7588 5216. TES PRIMARY SCIENCE POSTERS You won’t want to miss the ‘Secrets of Science’ poster from TES Primary. Each of the five posters in the series uses dramatic images to show your pupils the ‘little secret’ behind and everyday item. Great pictures, information about and history of the item, plus ideas for classroom activities linked to the National Curriculum. The first poster is free in the February issue of TES Primary. For more info go to www.tesprimary.com BIODIVERSITY DAY – 21 JUNE Frost may still be on the ground and a chilly wind blowing, but it is time to turn our attention to the summer months, when the birds are singing and the bees are buzzing – time to join the Science Year team and celebrate Biodiversity Day. On 21 June botanists and bug watchers, ornithologists and nature novices will join forces to explore the biodiversity in their neighbourhood. We are asking people to spend 15 minutes looking at the animals, insects, trees, birds and plants in their school field, local park, grass verge or yard. There are lots of ideas as to what you can do on the biodiversity day website : www.biodiversityday.org - and once you've done your survey you can fill in their online questionnaire and share your results with schools across the country. We will be posting ideas of activities on our website during the summer, but put it in your diaries now and start planning. And if your school doesn't want to take part, why not do a 15 minute survey with your family, looking at your garden or local park? AND THERE’S MORE… SCIENCE QUESTION OF THE WEEK Science can change the world. Or help in the quest for the perfect cuppa! This week’s question to improve your staffroom break-time experience: Does it make any difference to your tea if the water's been boiled twice or more, ie. should you always empty the kettle and start again, or is it ok if you just reheat the remains of the water? Tea-o-philes everywhere click here for your answer: If you have a question, any science question at all, it can be answered completely free by contacting Science Line on 0808 800 4000 (open 1pm - 7pm weekdays) and the website is www.sciencenet.org.uk JOKE OF THE WEEK What, with the jokes from Laugh Lab, you’d think we wouldn’t need an extra joke, but it’s so rare you find a funny maths joke, that we had to include this one. Jesus and his disciples were walking around one day, when Jesus said, ‘The Kingdom of Heaven is like 3x squared plus 8x minus 9.’ The disciples looked very puzzled, and finally asked Peter, ‘What on earth does Jesus mean, the Kingdom of Heaven is like 3x squared plus 8x minus 9?’ Peter replied, ‘Don’t worry. It’s just one of his parabolas.’ Thanks to Lindsey Robertson at the BA for that one! WEB SITE OF THE WEEK: IS IT A MAN? IS IT A BIRD? NO, IT’S A PAPER PLANE! Ever find yourself looking at that pile of paperwork on your desk and wish it would all go away? Then why not log onto Alex’s Paper Airplanes at www.paperairplanes.co.uk and start experimenting? Marvel at the Dragon Paper Airplane, be wowed by the Edmonton Shadow or just make it simple with the Classic Dart… and watch that pile of paper swiftly disappear. MNEMONIC TIME The mnemonics have been flooding in this week – thanks to all those who sent their suggestions for remembering that instantly forgettable electromagnetic spectrum. Since you’ve probably already forgotten it, here it is (the abridged version, at least): Gamma, X-ray, UV, Visible, Infra-red, Microwave (Sub-millimetre), Radio Joint third place for best mnemonic goes to Martin Pressling and Eamonn Murphy ex year 11 pupil for: Great Xylophones Usually Vibrate In Stupendous Resonance or Good Xylophone Under Viscious Impact Makes Racket In second place is Jo Bond from Cradley High School with: Randy Mandy Is Very Ugly Xclaimed Gary But this week’s clear winner goes to Andrew Harmsworth at The Department of Physics, The Leys, Cambridge for this cracker: Real Men Inevitably Visit Ugly X Girlfriends! Keep you mnemonics coming in to Anne McNaught at anne.mcnaught@scienceyear.com MICROSCOPIC CORRECTION! And thanks again to Andrew, for spotting this deliberate mistake. In a previous Science Year Newsletter, it was stated that the free INTEL microscope allowed for magnification up to 200%. We meant 200 TIMES, of course. Ahem. That’s all Folks for this week. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this weeks newsletter, I certainly enjoyed writing it! Please continue to share your thoughts, jokes etc. with anne.mcnaught@scienceyear.com Au Revoir!