World Education Games March 2012
This March, hundreds of thousands of school children from around Britain will pit themselves against students from around the world to find the best young Mathematicians, spellers and Science brains during the World Education Games ( 6th- 8th of March).
The three-day global competition will test students during a variety of online games set against the clock and the best young brains will be battling for honours during World Spelling Day, World Science Day and the opener - World Maths Day.
You can find out more at www.worldeducationgames.com
Read More
The Faculties : University Lectures for the A-level Curriculum
The Faculties is a free educational resource for secondary schools and aimed particularly at A-level students and teachers. The website provides short films of university lecturers speaking on topics drawn from the A-level curriculum in Maths, English, Biology, Psychology, Chemistry and History. There are currently over 300 podcasts on the site, with more to follow.
In bringing the expertise of research scholars into the classroom, the aim of the site is to encourage deeper learning, stretch and inspire students and help them make a successful transition to university. In addition to the podcasts, there is information that helps students compare University departments across the country and choose the best one for them.
The site aims to differ from sites such as YouTubeEdu and iTunes U in that these sites contain recordings of lectures delivered to undergraduate students. Whereas on The Faculties, the recordings are specially designed for the A-level classroom. All the topics have been provided by the major exam boards and by teachers and so consequently, they are more directly relevant to the A-level curriculum.
It’s an interesting idea, and would definitely be worth exploring for potential revision resources.
Videos are hosted directly on the site, and not pulled in from YouTube which should avoid filtering issues in some schools. Videos can be downloaded, but only on request. Videos can still be embedded into VLE’s etc, and linked to directly.
It would be useful to be able to download a transcript of each video, and also have subtitles for hearing impaired students.
Take a look for yourself at http://www.thefaculties.org
Read MoreValentine’s Day Heart Resources for Science Lessons
It’s Valentine’s day, and as our thoughts turn to matters of the heart, here’s a stack of useful links to resources all about the heart to use in science lessons.
This resource from The Wellcome Trust provides some interactive activities, and lesson resources for teaching about the heart and the effect of exercise. Lots of other body resources there too.
An excellent animation, and still one of my favourites, which shows what happens as the heart beats. HyperHeart shows bloodflow, aortic/ventricular volumes and pressures present in a normal cardiac cycle. Also included are an electrocardiogram and heart sounds graph. Tutorials are provided for each phase of the cycle.
Habits of the Heart was developed as a resource for students and teachers interested in learning about the cardiovascular and circulatory systems. The site includes lesson plans, on-line interactive activities and videos about the heart along with other links and ideas for the classroom. Some great images of heart surgery!
This interactive resource lets you explore the human body, including the heart, in great detail. You do need a modern browser for this to work, older versions of Internet Explorer won’t work.
The British Heart Foundation produces resources for schools covering the heart and heart disease. Visit their site to find out how to get hold of copies. Also check out their YHeart site for teenagers with resources for teaching about keeping fit and healthy.
The Freezeray website has a nice little activity for labelling the parts of the heart that would work well on an IWB
Hybrid HeartThe Hybrid Interactive Heart is an exploration into the various and novel ways a beating heart may be visually represented using the latest technology. In this case you have the the ability to blend and even replace the “normal” opaque tissue with refractory “glass,” allowing for a view of the valves and chambers. There is a link to a nice animation of a beating heart too.
This site has some good information about the heart, with diagrams and images. Also lots about the other body systems and organs too.
This animation focuses on the gross anatomy of the human heart. The model of the heart is semitransparent, allowing you to see through the thick cardiac muscle into the four heart chambers.
Other Valentine’s Day resources.
For less scientifict, and more romantic resources you can also find a Valentine’s Day resource pack on Promethean Planet which includes 36 resources to develop flipcharts with a Valentine’s Day theme. You will find images, backgrounds and page templates including two voting templates. Note: Cupids are anatomically correct! No fig leaf provided.
Also don’t forget that word cloud generators such as Tagxedo can make heart shaped word clouds, which could make for a fun visual piece. The one below was made from the words on the wikipedia page about the heart.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Read MorePromethean Science and Technology User Group
Thanks to Promethean for making me a “SuperUser” of their Promethean Planet website. What this means is that I’ll hopefully be putting up a few blog posts on their website once or twice a month, making and sharing some whiteboard resources and generally hanging about a bit more on the Promethean Planet forums.
What this also means is that I’ve set up a special User Group on the Promethean Planet website which will discuss the use of technology in science education. I’m hoping that some of you will join!
The purpose of this group is to enhance the teaching and learning of Science through the use of digital technologies such as whiteboards, but also datalogging, visualisers, Learner Response devices, interactive websites, science videos, science software and more.
You don’t have to own a Promethean product to join Promethean Planet and take part in any of the user groups. To visit the Science user group, and also see some of the other user groups on the website, click here. There are user groups on lots of other topics.
Don’t forget that the Promethean Planet website is home to thousands of lesson resources – not just Promethean flipchart files, there are powerpoints, worksheets, lesson plans and more. It’s well worth a look, and it’s free to join!
New and Updated Scale of the Universe Tool
There’s a great new Scale of the Universe tool from the people who brought you the original Scale of the Universe tool that I wrote about last year.
This one is clickable – and tells you a litle more about the different planets and objects you can see as you drag the slider to view bigger or smaller objects.
I loved the original version, but this one is even better. Will work really well on an IWB in a science lesson.
Take a look at http://www.htwins.net/scale2/
Read MoreSelenia – Science Investigation Comics for KS3
Here’s a great little comic book resource for science that I’d blogged about ages ago and then completely forgotten about. Selenia is a school girl from another planet. Her adventures have been turned into a comic book, and can be used to teach about Science Investigations and Materials.
There are now 10 comics on the site which can be viewed on an IWB, or printed off for individual use.
There are also games such as word searches and quizzes. Throughout the comics are questions posed by the characters which would be useful as discussion starters.
The teachers section provides guidance on how to use the cartoons as a way of introducing practical science investigations such as dissolving and air resistance. PDF worksheets are available which are ready to use with your class.
Maybe students could then use a comic creation tool to explain their results?
Produced by The University of the West of England, these resources are suitable for KS3 Science (11 – 14 year olds)
Visit Selenia here, and see what you think!
Thanks to Ian (@teachingofsci) for reminding me of this resource via Twitter.
Read MoreFuturecade – online games from the Science Museum
The Science Museum has launched a suite of online games designed to raise questions about the future of medicine, robotics and technology. Their ‘Futurecade‘ features four titles exploring topics such as geo-engineering and synthetic biology.
Futurecade‘s four games – Bacto-Lab, Robo-Lobster, Cloud Control and Space Junker – are based on scientific research happening today. Use them as a stimulus to engage your students in a fun, interactive way, and get them thinking about how technology might impact on their future.
For example, in Batco-Lab, players must engineer their own E.coli bacteria to make useful products, while making sure that no harmful mutant bacteria are accidentally unleashed on the world. Cloud Control, allows students to guide Flettner ships which brighten clouds so they reflect sunlight and lower the Earth’s temperature.
Futurecade can support the teaching of How Science Works and help your students consider the applications and implications of science.
Teaching resources are also available, and can be found here, including science background notes and teacher briefing notes.
Take a look at http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/futurecade to play the games. And if you haven’t seen the other great resources on the Science Museum site, visit their teacher resource area and take a look!
Read MoreCircus Physics – videos and teaching resources
Here’s a really fun website for science teachers from PBS. The Circus Physics website uses jugglers, clowns and high-flying acrobats provide an entertaining and engaging way to introduce basic physics concepts to high school students.
Eight videos feature footage from the PBS television series about the circus and interviews with the performers to illustrate the laws of physics at work. For deeper exploration, each video has a corresponding Study Guide for students and an Activity Guide for teachers, as well as raw video clips of performances which can be used for analysis in the classroom.
It’s handy resource – go check it out at http://www.pbs.org/opb/circus/classroom/circus-physics/
Read MoreIn the Zone – Human Biology Resources for Schools
In the Zone is the Wellcome Trust’s major NEW initiative inspired by the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. It provides a fun, free and fascinating way of using science to discover how our bodies work during sport, activity, movement and rest.
The website is aimed at both primary and secondary schools with two different sections. Both sections contain interactive games which can be used on the interactive whiteboard.
Teachers packs are available for download containing lesson plans, worksheets and ideas for science investigations. It’s a great free resource.
If you are a UK school then keep an eye out for the In the Zone pack which is being sent to every school in the UK in Feb/March. Each box contains a teaching guide, curriculum guide, challenge cards and all of the scientific equipment you need to do the investigations on the website. Make sure your office staff know it’s coming, and not to put it in a cupboard.
Find out more here : http://www.getinthezone.org.uk/
Let me know what you think of the resources in the comments below.
Read More
About Me
Danny Nicholson : Educator, Science teacher, ICT Consultant, PGCE lecturer, Author and Web2.0 / SMART Masters/ Interactive Whiteboard Trainer. Contact me for any training requests. 
Buy the book!
