Teaching Themes – Space

This month’s Teaching Theme has now been released and all of the ideas and resources are about Space! The theme contains:

• Ideas for lessons and classroom activities,
• Resources to use for your class displays (with some wonderful new space cartoons),
• Educational videos to watch in your lessons,
• Examples of existing space-themed classroom displays for inspiration,
• Online games and apps for your pupils to use,
• Suggestions of places and maps which can be used as part of your space lessons,
• Links to other useful space websites.

I have also added a new section to the theme this month… Jokes! Kevin McLaughlin suggested having a selection of themed jokes on the page which can be used as a starter for lessons or just for fun! Thanks Kevin. I’m aiming to add a jokes section to all previous and future themes too so look out for those.

Find all of the themed resources (including previous themes) at www.teachingthemes.co.uk.

Next month’s theme is ‘Pirates’ and my wife has been busy drawing some wonderful pirate cartoons to use in the resources. I’m really looking forward to sharing them with you!

www.neok12.com

You can also browse for relevant pictures and make your own presentations using the online tools. This is a really useful site that any teachers of Science should definitely bookmark!

Don’t forget that you can also find educational videos (covering a wide range of curriculum areas) at Teaching Videos.

The BBC is running a Thrillseeker campaign throughout 2010, which was established with the aim to encourage children to be active and experience new things outdoors. Kingswood Educational Activity Centres have been working with the BBC on the campaign and have created resources for teachers to use. The worksheets (embedded below) are designed to get children thinking about how being active can affect their lives, educate them on exercise and healthy diets and, crucially, help get them outside and enjoy being active. The worksheets also include helpful suggestions on discussion topics, an educational exercise based quiz and also mini projects to task children with.

You can also find more activities on the BBC’s ThrillSeeker site:

www.bbc.co.uk/thrillseeker

Practical Action (a development charity that focuses on the use of sustainable technology in Africa, Asia and South America) have joined forces with Primary Engineer to offer a Special Leaders Award. The award is available for three ages groups: Primary (5-11), Secondary (11-16) and advanced (17-19).

To obtain the award, students need to provide evidence that they have been actively involved in promoting STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) in their school and to interview someone who works in this area.

For our award pupils need to interview someone working in an area related to the development of technologies, products or services which incorporate sustainability as a key factor. The winners for each group will receive a solar powered media player. The winner of the advanced level will also spend a day working with a sustainable product designer.

This PDF flyer gives more information:

The deadline for interviews and Leaders Award applications (via email only) is 30th June 2010. Find out more on the Practical Action and Primary Engineer sites.

TLC Kids are offering a new ‘Maths & Science After School Kit’ to help schools, youth and community centres and other organisations to start an after school club with the support of a fully developed curriculum solution. It aims to provide reinforcement and extension in an inclusive and fun after school setting for primary school children, aged 5-11 years.

www.mytlckids.co.uk

The resource includes interactive lessons, activity sheets, supporting resources, certificate templates and much more. They are also giving away organiser’s and teacher’s files in a special offer at the moment.

As teachers use the kit and make their own amendments/ adjustments, the curriculum develops and grows with their needs. The company claims that the kit is all you need to start running your own after school club.

Visit www.mytlckids.co.uk for more information.

Channel 4 have been busy working on a number of education projects with free resources for schools to use. The sites feature videos and games and are becoming popular with young people. They span a range of curriculum subjects and key stages (they are aimed at 10 – 19 years) and are all completely free.

Current projects include:

• ROUTES – A set of minigames, a documentary and a murder mystery which explore the fascinating world of genetics.
• Science of Scams – A set of 7 hoax videos which appear to demonstrate paranormal phenomena. However, they’re all based upon real scientific principles which cover physics, chemistry and psychology.
• Bow Street Runner – An interactive game which deals with the crime and history of London’s Covent Garden in the 1750s.

• Trafalgar Origins – Take control of a ship during the days of Nelson and Napoleon. Improve your crew and upgrade your ships using the prizes you plunder from enemy ships.
• 1066 Game – A historical game in which you get to control the English, Viking or Norman armies, with the aim of defeating the enemy by killing or scaring off as many as possible. Here’s a video which introduces the game:

• Battlefront – A look at campaigning, allowing people to get involved with (and set up) campaigns to improve the world.
• Smoke Screen Game - Smokescreen is a cutting-edge game about life online, on a new social network called White Smoke. Explore websites, search for clues, receive phone calls, chat on IM, and tackle puzzles and minigames. Learn how to stay safe online and deal with issues like cyber bullying and data privacy.

• Insider Job – An engaging look at careers, encouraging young people to find out about a range of jobs.
• Pressure Comics – Graphic novels which explore how two 19 year olds have set up a successful business.

The Science Museum are now taking bookings for their outreach programme for Autumn 2010. The team are fully booked for the current summer term, so book early and take advantage of their wonderful resources for the next academic year. They offer a wide range of presentations and workshops for all age groups, including:

• The Bubble Show – Their most popular show… Find out the secret Science Museum bubble recipe, learn how certain materials can change the way others behave, and step inside the famous human bubble.
• The Golden Coconut – Younger children can help Monkey and his jungle friends use forces to get the Golden Coconut down from its tree on their beautiful desert island.
• Water Transporter – Can KS4 students transport water across a 6ft gap without carrying it? The solution involves a funnel, bamboo canes, guttering, string, hosing, plastic sheeting, elastic bands… and a whole heap of ingenuity, in this challenging workshop.

www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/educators/we_visit_you.aspx

The Science Museum site gives more information about these and other activities. It also offers downloadable teaching resources to use in your own classrooms.

The Natural History Museum has just launched new learning resources to support school visits to Cocoon, the interactive visitor experience at the heart of the new Darwin Centre. There are pre and post-visit sections introducing students to an activity which they gather information for as they go round the Cocoon experience. They can be used in the classroom or set as homework.

Back at school, students follow up their visit by presenting what they found out to their class. There are separate activities for Key Stages 3 and 4, and for post-16 students.

• KS3 – ‘How do Scientists study Biodiversity at NHM?’ Pupils take on the role of a News reporter, radio show presenter or scientist to communicate what they learn about research This is supported by free booklets for pupils to use whilst in Cocoon.
• KS4 – Careers activity where pupils take on the role of an interviewer or interviewee for a post working as a Scientist at NHM.
• Post-16 – Expedition plan activity where pupils find out more about Leishmaniasis or Malaria in preparation for writing an expedition plan

To access the resources go to www.nhm.ac.uk/a-day-in-the-life. To find out more about visiting the Natural History Museum with school or college students go to http://www.nhm.ac.uk/education.

The BBC has launched a new website called Exploring the Solar System which is very useful for primary and secondary schools as part of their work in Science.

www.bbc.co.uk/solarsystem

Exploring the Solar System covers all subjects – the moon, Earth, the Sun, astronauts – and contains images, facts, clips, videos and animations. It is a fascinating resource for anyone wanting to find out more about our Solar System. It also includes footage from the BBC’s space series Wonders of the Solar System, which is currently showing on TV and available to watch again with iPlayer.

Practical Action are a development charity who are offering lots of free resources for schools, linked to their work in helping some of the world’s poorest people to transform their lives for the better.

www.practicalaction.org.uk/education

The Education area of their site has a wide range of content for teachers and pupils, including:

• Videos showing how designers make their sustainable products (useful for DT).
• A sustainability handbook for teachers of Design and Technology.
• Free posters, homework activities, wordsearches, classroom activities, videos and songs linked to renewable energy.
• A selection of experiments, demonstrations and activities which can be used to support work linked to climate change.
• Cross-curricular videos and lesson activities.