TSNewsNewsletter of the Teacher Scientist Network No. 11 Spring 1999

Pollution survey: 7 year-oldsshow their results

…in Primary Schools

Delivering science in primary schoolshas always been problematic. For

example; the relatively high cost ofequipment, the paucity of readilyavailable good schemes of work andexemplar material, and, apart from aperiod of extra funding from CentralGovernment some years ago, InSETopportunities for primary teachers hasbeen sparse.

There has been some belated relief;last year the DfEE and QCA(Qualifications and CurriculumAuthority) jointly produced an excellentguide for primary schools whichillustrates how the National Curriculumcan be translated into practicaldelivery1. Many primary schools arenow using this document.

However, alongside this we have theGovernment’s well resourced and highprofile programmes for increasingstandards of literacy and numeracy inprimary schools. These come completewith guides, books etc., and trainingprogrammes for the teachers. As ‘core’curriculum subjects, it is right thatMaths and English should be given thisemphasis. However, science is also acore curriculum subject2 , andcompared with the huge resource nowallocated to Maths and English, theQCA document, welcome though it is,

does seem rather meagre. Many peopleare concerned that the profile ofprimary science is being lowered, withthe danger that primary science, onceagain, becomes marginalised.

After approaching the Norfolk LEAabout these concerns, the TSN hasproposed that we and the LEA worktogether in an effort to redress thispresent imbalance of support forprimary school teachers, and this iswhat we have agreed for the comingyear:• The TSN and IATS3 work together

to produce a pilot package ofsupport for teachers of science atKS 1 and 2. The TSN will providemeeting venues, science expertiseand some funding. IATS willprovide education advice and thenecessary advisory personnel.

• A development group composed ofaround 10 primary school teachers,the TSN Coordinator, and theLEA science Adviser will shape andhelp develop the package.

• The package will be designed tosupport the QCA document, and,as well as written materialis likely to include accessto kits and equipment,and to training sessions.

• The input of scientists aswell as science educatorsis likely to be animportant feature.

1 Science, A scheme of Work for KeyStages 1 and 2 1998, QCAPublications, ISBN 1 85838 3331, £122 English, Maths and Science arethe three core subjects.3. The LEA’s Inspection, Adviceand Training Services

Support for Teachers of Science…in High SchoolsFor teams of teachers in high schools wecontinue to hold our Master Classes inscience topics–topics that teachersthemselves have asked for.In November we held the Biotechnologyand Food Master Class at the Institute ofFood Research with practical sessions inthe John Innes Centre’s laboratories.The topics covered were: the EPICstudy into the relationships betweendiet and disease; the geneticmodification to food; a comparison oftraditional genetic modificationmethods with modern biotechnologicaltechniques, and food safety andregulation in genetic technology.Support funding from BBSRC enabledus to accept more teachers than usual.

Our next Master Class–FutureEnergy–took place at the EcoTechCentre in Swaffham in March.Generous support funding fromEPSRC allowed us to double thenumber of teachers attending to 40(more than 50 applied). Topics coveredincluded: the finite resource base forenergy; new energy-efficient buildingdesign, and the technology andeconomics of renewable energy sources.

C O N T E N T S

Nature’s Niffs 2

Our re-vamped Website 3

New members 3

Chemist’s help wanted 4

Planet 4

TSN Certificates 4

Annual Meeting 4Master Class lab. session

(biotechnology)

2

To celebrate SET week, a joint eventinvolving Anglia Survival (the award-winning TV series), the John InnesCentre and the TSN took place 10 -19March 1997. There were live animalsand plants, computer graphics, specialequipment, many displays and aninteractive talk by Mike Linley–Survival’s scientific adviser–with a livevideo link to Banham Zoo. Over 3,000children attended Nature’s Niffs over thefive days it ran. Just a few of Nature'sNiffs activities are illustrated.

An accompanying competition forKS2 and KS3 school children has beenlaunched, with prizes of digital andemulsion cameras, wildlife videos, CDROMS and books. It is similar to thevery successful ‘Wildlife on yourDoorstep’ competition of 1997. (Seewww.tsn.org.uk under ‘news’ for moreinformation )

The Secrets and Science of SurvivalNature’s Niffs, Nice or Nasty? (The role of smell in nature)

Large, smelly ‘pill bugs’

Large, very smelly fruit (durian)

Large, smelly flower (Titan Lily)

The ‘Jelly Stall’ by IFR: can you taste whilst holding your nose?

Survival’s Mike Linley explains...Parliamentary Under Secretary Charles Clarke hears about TSN

What it’s likeinside a nose

‘Pick your Nose’competition

‘Sniffer’ dogs afterfinding hidden

plastic explosives

New Members

WelcomeMr. Stuart Went Head of Science, BenjaminBritten High SchoolMs. Julie Harris Fakenham High SchoolMs. Sandra Maddison Lynn Grove GM HighSchoolMs Caroline Still Head of Biology, NorwichHigh School for GirlsMiss Cherri Mosely Class Teacher, BignoldFirst SchoolMrs. Anne Brown Science Coordinator,Barford County Primary SchoolMs. Micheline Pickett Teacher, Acle HighSchoolMr. Paul Spencer Head of Science, Thorpe StAndrew High SchoolMrs. Judith Tree Science Coordinator, ColbyCounty Primary SchoolMr. Stuart Odell Science Coordinator, CattonGrove High SchoolMiss Gillian Weston Visiting Research WorkerJohn Innes CentreDr. Phil Smith Research Assistant, John InnesCentreDr. Caroline Dean Group Leader, John InnesCentreDr. Gregory Watson Post Doctoral FellowIstitute of Food ResearchDr. Mark Crowe Post Doctoral Fellow, JohnInnes CentreDr. Chris Pickett Research Scientist, JohnInnes CentreMiss Clare Jones PhD Student, UEA

New look WebsiteOur website has changed. Pages that no-oneseemed to use have been removed (e.g. the ‘anyquestions’ pages), and others that seem moreuseful have been added to (e.g. examples ofpartnership work in schools)

It should be easier to access now, too; it isleaner and faster.

The sections are:• About TSN (for newcomers to the site)• News (of past and upcoming TSN events)• Support (e.g. information about loan kits)• Documents (Downloadable documents

such as the newsletter, annual reports,etc.)

• Links (to sites concerned with scienceeducation)

• Contacts (How to contact Steering GroupMembers etc.)

(www.tsn.org.uk)3

4

Teacher Scientist NetworkCoordinator: Frank Chennell, John Innes Centre, Norwich Research Park, Colney, Norwich, NR4 7UHTelephone +44(0)1603 456900 x 2690, Fax +44(0)1603 452924, Email: ts.network@bbsrc.ac.uk (http://www.tsn.org.uk)

TSN Certificates for children

Available nowThese certificates are for teachers and scientist to give childrenwho have done good work in TSN related science—i.e. in ascience activity planned by a teacher-scientist partnership.They might be given for particularly good results, orparticularly good effort, or for particularly imaginative ideas

for investigations. Anything, in fact, that the partnershipagrees is worthy, and that will not trivialise the award. Theyare probably most suitable for children at Key Stges 2 and 3.

The A5 sized certificates are in full colour and printed ongood quality card.

If you would like a supply of these, please contact Frank Chennell.

Can anyone help?

Ross MorleyHead of Chemistry, Thorpe St.Andrew SchoolOur sixth-form chemistry research group has beenfinding out about the production and properties ofpolypyrrole. They were inspired by a recent article inNew Scientist about the possible use of polypyrrole/gelcomposites in electromechanical devices or 'syntheticmuscle'. The theory is that when an electrical potentialis applied to a sandwich of polypyrrole and suitablyconductive electrolyte gel differential absorption ofcations and anions results in the device bending (akin tothe bimetallic strip)

So far they have produced reasonable amounts ofgood conductive polypyrrole and have assembledvarious arrangements of sandwiches. Some of them haveshown a slight tendency to bend but nowhere near thatquoted in the literature.

We are looking for anyone that might have expertisein this type of area and might be able to advise us onwhere to go from here.We can be contacted at:Chemistry Dept.,Tel.: 01603 497731 or email: chem7731@aol.com

Mars ChallengeThe PlanetarySociety islooking for astudent-createdexperiment tosend on theJ P L / N A S AMars Surveyor2001 Landermission.

This is areally exciting opportunity for young people 18 or younger tocreate an experiment that may be incorporated in the mission'sMars Environmental Compatibility Assessment (MECA)experiment package.

All the information about this project, called theNanoExperiment Challenge, is available through the Society’sWeb site at http://planetary.org/learn/nanoexp.html.Application forms can be printed from the website and need tobe returned by July 31, 1999.

For more information about the NanoExperimentChallenge contact Jeffrey Oslick at (626) 739-5100 or by emailat tps.nanoexp@mars.planetary.org.

The Planetary Society, founded by Carl Sagan, BruceMurray and Louis Friedman in 1979, is the largest non-profit,non-governmental space organization in the world, with over100,000 members worldwide.

Annual Meetingwith a difference!13 July 1999PensthorpeThis year we will hold our annual meeting at Pensthorpe

Waterfowl Park and Nature Reserve near Fakenham.This meeting will start at 5.00 PM with some light

refreshments during which we will hold a short business

meeting. Then, for those who would like to see what

Pensthorpe has to offer, we have the run of the area (over

200 acres of lakes, meadowland and woodland, plus

indoor exhibitions etc.) entirely to ourselves.TSN has ensured fine weather, good scenery, good food

and good company for this meeting, so why not make that

diary entry now?Please send or fax the form accompanying this

newletter if you intend coming.