SCIENCE YEAR NEWSLETTER - ISSUE 68 Week ending Friday, 24th May 2002 Good evening ladies and gentlemen; bonsoir mesdames et messieurs… There may be serious global issues taking place all around us – but that’s never yet stopped the annual cultural pinnacle they call… Eurovision! Tomorrow! So, coming up, a bit of euro-science. Also, a bit of espionage, a bit of high altitude world record-breaking, and a bit of Extra-Sensory Perception… But you probably knew that already. OK, here are the votes from the United Kingdom jury: • WORLD’S HIGHEST LESSON • Fancy taking part in a TELEPATHY EXPERIMENT? • Tinker Tailor Soldier SPY QUIZ • LAB DAYS – venues and students sign up now! • TOMORROW’S WORLD on tour • BACKYARD BIODIVERSITY DAY • FREE SOFTWARE – Crocodile Clips • DISCOUNTED DATALOGGERS for schools • Recommended WEBSITES of the WEEK • JOKES of the WEEK • A.O.B. WORLD-BEATING SCIENCE LESSONS Forget David Blaine standing on his pole overnight – Science Year would prefer to salute the truly fortitudious and altitudinous Chris Mothersdale. Chris, you may remember, is the physics teacher who’s climbing Everest in the name of science. As he climbs he’s sending all his personal and meterological data back to a website which can be analysed by school classes back in the UK. Climbing Everest just wasn’t really keeping him busy enough though, so he’s also been keeping his hand in with his teaching. And he’s just bagged a world record for his efforts: The Highest Altitude Prepared Lesson. The officials confirm: ‘The lesson took place at 7010m on the North Col of Mt Everest on the 27th April 2002 at about 2.00pm(GMT) Chris carried out his 30 minutes science lesson.’ The lesson was entitled "The Insulating Properties of Mountaineering Clothing" and if you’re a teacher and you’d like to sneak a peek at the full lesson plan, go to NewMedia’s Everest page. While you’re there, you can also have a look at pictures that Chris has sent back from Everest, and hear him answering questions from pupils all around the UK… To view the record-setting video and data collected from Chris` experiment, revisit the website after June 27th. PS! It’s not too late to register for the project. AND! Schools/pupils taking part can win ICT prizes… > top VOLUNTEERS WANTED FOR TELEPATHY EXPERIMENTS Interested in extrasensory perception and related matters otherwise beyond our ken? Researchers in the Parapsychology Unit at Edinburgh University are looking for volunteers to take part in experiments concerning what’s popularly referred to as the ‘sixth sense’. This may be a favourite – and controversial - topic of the tabloids and of Hollywood, but these experiments are conducted in highly stringent laboratory conditions a million miles from the fortune teller’s tent type scenario. Here’s what they say: "Volunteers are wanted to help with research into extrasensory perception (ESP). You and a partner - a friend, relative, spouse, etc - will take the roles of sender and receiver to see if you can communicate with each other on some level. You do not need to have had any paranormal experiences in the past, or hold any particular beliefs one way or another. The study takes place in the parapsychology unit and lasts about 1 1/4 hours. Evening or weekend slots are available. If you are unable to come to the Edinburgh labs, we are also looking for volunteers to take part in postal and/or online studies." If you are interested, please contact Dr. Paul Stevens by email Paul.Stevens@ed.ac.uk or phone 0131 650 3063, or by post: Koestler Parapsychology Unit, University of Edinburgh, 7 George Square, Edinburgh EH8 9JZ. And you can find Paul in our online careers database Next Steps, by going into ‘Meet Your Match’ (Paul’s job is ‘parapsychology researcher’ if you want to search by job title). > top SPIES MEAN PRIZES Necessity may be the mother of invention, but international espionage has taken techno-ingenuity into a whole new realm – and that’s only the stuff we KNOW about. If you think you know your spy gadgets and crypto-history and you’d like to win a copy of Robert Churchhouse's great book ‘Codes & Ciphers’ – oh and a false moustache – have a look at Spy Gadgets That Rocked The World and have a go at our 10-question quiz. Good luck 007. > top LAB DAYS ‘Lab Days’ is a project that is seeking to generate opportunities for teenagers and adults to visit interesting and usually inaccessible laboratories to see science in action. The idea behind Lab Days is to offer high quality, informed and engaging interaction through tours and lectures, in factories, research facilities, or anywhere where science is practiced. The initiative is being run as part of Science Year and is being organized through the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Network (SETNET). This is a call to any teachers who’d like to organise a trip or lecture for your class, and to any scientific organisations that have facilities they’d like to open to the public for a day. In either case, please send an email to Chloe Sheppard at Science Year on chloe.sheppard@scienceyear.com. > top TOMORROW’S WORLD ON TOUR What are you doing this July? Why not join us for the Tomorrow’s World Roadshow, sponsored by British Gas for Science Year. This is a feast of interactive and futuristic exhibits that will be travelling across the UK, and is aimed at teenagers and families. Science Year have their own zone at TWR, where you can meet the team (scary, obviously but we generally don’t bite) and you can take part in a festival of science demonstrations and shows, brought to you in collaboration with our friendly science centres. Tickets to the roadshow are free, courtesy of the DfES, and schools wishing to book up should do so by phoning 0800 378 985, or emailing claire.cooper@necgroup.co.uk. NB Schools that will have to travel further than 100 miles can apply for a grant to help cover costs. The TV Show Tomorrow’s World will be broadcasting live from each venue, and some lucky readers will be able to come and see the broadcast. To apply please email sophie.duncan@scienceyear.com. 160,000 people are expected to attend the roadshow, which will be hosted at the NEC in Birmingham between 3rd and 6th July, London’s Earl’s Court (July 10th-13th), the National Indoor Athletics Centre in Cardiff (July 17th-20th) and the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre in Glasgow (July 24th-27th). > top BACKYARD BIODIVERSITY DAY Stand well back – Backyard Biodiversity Day is on 21st June - only a few weeks away! This is a national, Science Year branded event for 9 - 14 year olds. It only takes 15 minutes but will open your eyes, ears, tastebuds and nostrils to the living things just outside your door… or anywhere you like! And you can find out more about it at http://www.biodiversityday.org. The project is being organized by the charity, Action for Biology in Education , in partnership with the Chelsea Physic Garden. If you’d like to take part and spread the world around, you can send for free A3 publicity posters. Just post an s.a.e to: Dawn Sanders, Chelsea Physic Garden, 66 Royal Hospital Road, London SW3 4HS. LONDON SCHOOLS may also want to go to the Midsummer Biodiversity Jamboree at the Physic Garden on 21st June, and booking details are available from cpged@cpgarden.demon.co.uk COVENTRY SCHOOLS can take part through the website sponsored by Jaguar cars: http://www.gondar-design.com/jaguar. (This website is also open to everyone else.) You can register to take part in the online survey of selected animals and plants. If you need some start-up ideas of what to do on BBDay, they’ve prepared an ‘Action Kit’ which you may find helpful. Check out sample activities on the website, and if you like what you see, you can register for it by credit card online (£6) or send a cheque for £6.50 made out to ABE. Send to: ABE Project Manager, Glebe House, Ashby Road, Ticknall, Derby DE73 1JJ. > top THIS MONTH’S FREE SOFTWARE Crocodile Clips have produced some new resources for Physics GCSE and A-Level and are giving Science Year regulars the chance to download two chapters free of charge. You can have a look at these preview chapters here and find out more about the full products at http://www.crocodile-clips.com > top DISCOUNTED DATALOGGERS And KitPot news for science teachers… Thanks to Logbook, a selection of datalogging products are now available to primary and secondary schools on 25% discount. To find out more, and ensure you get that Science Year discount, have a look here - and make sure you use your secret password ‘newton’! > top RECOMMENDED WEBSITES OF THE WEEK ...Euro-flavoured this week, to coincide with the yearly sharing of talent, telecommunications and top fancy dress tips by the Eurovision Song Contest. But the following sites are seriously good, we think! First of all the wonderful French answer to Science Line, Dis Papa. This can be found at http://perso.wanadoo.fr/dit_papa/. As with Science Line, a range of subjects are listed, with questions and answers in each one. All the explanations are given in child-friendly language, though that language is, not surprisingly, French. The site, however, is so welcoming you will feel compelled to attempt to draw on all your rusty school French to make your way around it... Who could resist, "Dis papa, comment fait le caméléon pour changer sa couleur de peau?" or "Pourquoi les dinosaurs ont disparu?" Language-learning has never been so much fun. (But for some light relief and to gain an excellent appreciation of the drawbacks of online auto-translation, try finding the site via Google or another search engine and hitting 'translate this site'. Questions then include, intriguing, "Why it should not be cherished the dogs that one does not know?" and "From which does water come when one cries?" – ahem - no wonder the French want to protect their language from the ravages of the rest of the world!) Meanwhile, for teachers and head teachers, have a look at European Schoolnet. This, they describe as 'an international partnership of more than 20 European Ministries of Education developing learning for schools, teachers and pupils across Europe. Teachers can find resources, news, examples of best practice and collaboration opportunities.' For specific biology, chemistry and physics resources, link to their Virtual School. And a reminder about Schlumberger's multilingual SEED website at http://www.slb.com/seed/en/index.htm (that's the English version, but other languages can also be accessed from this page). 'Science Watch' contains features on all sorts of subjects including, this week, sports acrobatics and cyber-geology. Meanwhile 'Science Lab' features instructions for both hands-on experiments eg. Thrixotropic properties of ketchup - and how to get it to come out of the bottle more easily (without using a knife, that is) and for global data sharing activities eg. to investigate patterns in day-length around the world. Finally, if it is in fact info about the Eurovision malarky you want, minus any science, we recommend BBC's Liquid News roundup at http://www.bbc.co.uk/choice/liquidnews/liquideurovision/ including printable scorecard with some quite progressive new categories... > top JOKES OF THE WEEK What, you’ve not laughed enough already?! Ok, then, to keep the newsletter tightly themed, we return to the supernatural, and incorporate songs and singing. Katie Walsh has been scouring the web for some supernatural jokes on this topic... and here's what she found: How do ghosts learn songs? They read the sheet music. What song does a ghost sing to warn people that he's around? Beware My Ghoulish Heart. And - not supernatural, but still hilarious (?) Why did the singing teacher have such a high pitched voice? She had falsetto teeth. > top AOB Hope you've enjoyed this week's newsletter. If you think you have any contributions which would fit in nicely, or indeed raise a smile back in the Science Year office, please send it this way. The address is: anne.mcnaught@scienceyear.com And have a great week! > top