September STEM Roundup
Happy new academic year! Welcome to the September edition of our STEM / Edtech Roundup. In this edition you'll find information about how to get a grant for British Science Week, STEM Ambassador Webinars, Linnean Society Grants and Harvest Festival Webinars.
Science Fix Book: Preorder Now.
Science Fix, my new book about Primary Science is going to be published in the next few weeks. It's the distilled knowledge of my 18 years of initial teacher training in science. It's aimed at primary teachers who want to boost their science knowledge and understanding of how to teach it, whether you've been teaching for years, are just starting your ECT years or have just begun teacher training. You can preorder via Amazon via the link below.
FREE STEM Ambassador Live Webinars
The STEM Ambassadors have organised a range of FREE interactive online live school webinars aimed at sparking your pupils’ interest in STEM and STEM careers.
There are a range of webinars taking place this term, aimed at both KS1 and KS2. They cover a variety of topics, including geology and fossils, Insects, Working for Google, Engineering and Measurements. Theres also a special Christmas Quiz for the end of term. You can see the full list of events, and book a place, by clicking the button below.
British Science Week Kick Start Grants
Is your school keen to run events for British Science Week, but in need of a helping hand?
With the support of UK Research and Innovation, the British Science Association provide Kick Start Grants to help schools in challenging circumstances organise their own activities and events during British Science Week. Usually opened in autumn, the grant scheme aims to engage children who might not otherwise choose to participate in science, and to promote cross-curricular learning. All kinds of events and activities are eligible for support!
Grants are for £400 for schools to run science activities during British Science Week.
Linnean Society Local Nature Grants
The Linnean Society Local Nature Grant scheme is designed to provide young people with an opportunity to take the lead on projects that involve their local nature and natural spaces, to aid young people in realising their influence to affect positive change, to have their voices heard, and see their ideas come to life.
The maximum award is £1,000 per proposal. We welcome and encourage applications for significantly lower amounts - in the last two years we have funded a wide spread of projects ranging from £150 to £1,000. The Society is happy to co-fund any project with other organisations.
Applications close 24th October 2024.
National Coding Week Starts 16th Sep
National Coding Week is dedicated to inspiring individuals of all ages to learn and embrace coding skills. This year’s event will commence on the 16th of September, with the primary theme centred around Artificial Intelligence (AI). This focus on AI aims to highlight its growing significance in various sectors and underscore the need for a broader understanding and proficiency in this cutting-edge technology.
National Coding Week encourages people to engage with coding, whether they’re complete beginners or seasoned professionals looking to enhance their skills. The week-long event promotes the idea that coding is not just for tech professionals but is a valuable skill that can benefit everyone in their personal and professional lives.
NFU Harvest Carnival
After the success of Harvest Thali last year, the NFU are inviting you to join them again for two new, free and engaging curriculum-aligned live lessons
Join them on a quest across the countryside to collect all the ingredients for an interactive Harvest Carnival feast. They'll show how the key ingredients are grown and produced, meet the people responsible for growing and producing them and join super star chef duo, Monica and Lee, in their kitchen to mix them into a range of delicious Caribbean dishes to celebrate the end of Harvest!
These interactive live lessons, will take pupils behind the scenes of real British farms and into a professional development kitchen to use the fascinating world of farming and food production to deliver key STEM curriculum objectives. Sign up today using the button below to book a place.
Science Museum CPD
The Science Museum is offering a fully funded programme of CPD courses for primary and secondary teachers from September. Participants will learn from their Science Museum Group Academy experts in person at the museum (and partner museums) or online. Courses include STEM engagement and Exploring science through play. Click the button for more details.
FREE STEM Club Resources
If you're just starting up a STEM club in your primary school this term, there are some excellent packs from STEM Learning to give you some inspiration The activity sets are linked to the STEM Clubs programme and have been developed in partnership with club leaders and partner organisations.
Freely available to download, these resources give you the opportunity to explore and try new things, increasing young people's enthusiasm and interest in STEM subjects and related careers.
Online Science CPD Course
I have put together an online primary science cpd course - How to Teach Primary School Science. Designed for both student teachers and experienced educators, this course is your gateway to mastering the art of science education in primary classrooms. Work through at your own pace with 15 video lectures covering all aspects of primary science such us working scientifically, planning for science, pupil talk, assessment and more.
Research on parent and pupil attitudes towards the use of AI in education
This new report by the UK Government details findings from a collaboration between DSIT and DfE to deliver a programme of deliberative research exploring parent and pupil attitudes to the use of AI in education.
They found that while awareness of AI among both parents and pupils was high, understanding did not run deep.As a result, views on the use of AI in education were initially sceptical – but there was openness to learning more. The main concerns regarding AI use centred on overreliance – both by teachers and pupils.
This report forms part of a wider programme of collaboration between DSIT and DfE. The two departments are working together on a pilot data store that will make relevant documents ‘machine readable’ so AI tools for teachers can be trained on them.
STEM Dates for the Diary September/October 2024
15th - 24th Sep Great British Beach Clean
18th - 24 Sep Jeans for Genes
22nd Sep Autumn Equinox
16th - 22nd Sep National Coding Week
29th Sep World Heart Day
1st Oct International Astronomy Day
4th - 10th Oct World Space Week
4th Oct World Animal Day
10th Oct Ada Lovelace Day
16th Oct World Food Day
16th - 22nd Oct Recycle Week
September/October's STEM Birthdays
Liz Bonnin (16th September 1976) Irish science, wildlife and natural history presenter. Works on big cat conservation programmes for Zoological Society of London.
Michael Faraday (22nd September 1791) British scientist. Made groundbreaking contributions to the fields of electromagnetism and electrochemistry, including Faraday's laws of electrolysis, laying the foundation for modern electrical technology.
John Boyd Orr (23rd September 1880) Scottish nutritionist. Campaigned for free school milk to be provided to school children in the UK in the 1930s to combat malnutrition.
John Loudon MacAdam (23rd September 1756) Invented the hardwearing road surface made from stone chips, bound together with tar. We call it tarmac, short for tar macadam.
Mae Jemison (17th October 1956) First black female astronaut to go into space. Served on the Space Shuttle Endeavor for 8 days in September 1992.
Joseph Swan (31st October 1828) British physicist and chemist who independently invented an incandescent light bulb and made significant contributions to early photographic processes, paving the way for modern photography and lighting technology.
September/October's STEM Anniversaries
01/09/1979 Pioneer 11 became the first spacecraft to fly by Saturn.
04/09/1956 The first commercial computer with a hard disk, the IBM 305 RAMAC, was introduced.
10/09/2008 The first beam of protons was circulated in the Large Hadron Collider.
18/09/1984 Joe Kittinger became the first person to fly a gas balloon solo across the Atlantic Ocean.
23/09/1846 Neptune, the eighth planet from the sun, was discovered.
01/10/1958 NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, was established.
04/10/1957 Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite, was launched by the Soviet Union.
14/10/1947 Chuck Yeager became the first person to break the sound barrier.
21/10/1879 Thomas Edison successfully tested the first practical electric light bulb.
31/10/2011 The world population reached 7 billion people.
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Thank you for following Think Bank. I look forward to sharing more educational technology and science news with you soon. Details of our Science and Technology CPD options can be found here. |
