Glow Scotland

Pupils across Scotland will have the chance to take part in activities and Glow Meets about five hot science topics in the Too Hot to Handle? series in the next few months, starting next week with Space for P6-S1 on 25^th March.

Cathy Southworth from Edinburgh University is heading up this development and is keen to involve as many youngsters as possible. She says, “Too Hot To Handle? is here to support the Topical Science organiser of a Curriculum for Excellence from P6-S3. It provides access to current scientists in Scotland that work on a range of hot topics, through a vidcast, teaching materials and a discussion board for questions about the topics that are answered by the scientists, and a GLOW meet where you can grill the scientists with questions.”

As well as learning about the science, pupils will get a flavour of the excitement of being a scientist.

Visit the Too Hot to Handle Glow Group. Have a look at the wealth of materials for the Space topic, show your class the videos, post some questions for the scientists on the discussion board and come into the Glow Meet on 25^th to grill the space scientists – Noe Kains from The University of St Andrews and Duncan Forgan and Chris Evans from The Royal Observatory, Edinburgh.

There will be a competition challenge on the day and members of your class could win a prize.  

Other topics in the series:
Flu Fighters for 2nd level (P6-P7) ready for after the Easter break; Glow Meet 20th May
Biodiversity Buzz for 2^nd & 3^rd  levels (P7-S2) ready for after the Easter break; Glow Meet 25th May
Doable Renewables for 2^nd & 3^rd  levels (P7-S2) ready for May; Glow Meet 15th June
Me and my Brain for third and fourth levels (S1-S3) ready for May; Glow Meet 17th June

This week too, we have another two science based Glow Meets:
Dr Bunhead’s Spoofbusters on 16^th (1.30 – 2.30) for upper primary and secondary pupils,
Industrial Chemistry on 18^th (1.45-2.45) for Higher and AH Chemistry pupils.

All these Glow Meets use the same Science Glow Meet webpart in the National Sciences Glow Group. 

18th March, 1.30pm – 2.15pm

How is your memory? Could it be improved?

Join Drew McAdam, Scotland’s foremost mindreader to find out how to improve your memory and learning techniques.

Join this Glow Meet in collaboration with the BBC and find out how to use systems to make the most of your memory. You can put these to good use for revision or in fact anything else!

Drew will be working with an S4 class at Kirkintilloch High School and allowing everyone else to join using Glow Meet. These techniques can be applied across the curriculum and used by pupils at a range of stages.

Ever wished you could get your brain to work better? Brainsmart can help you discover how to:

* maximise your memory
* get motivated
* achieve your goals

Find out more about the BBC Brainsmart website:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/brainsmart/

Sign up and take part in the Brainsmart Glow group:

https://portal.glowscotland.org.uk/establishments/nationalsite/MINDPLAY%20with%20Drew%20McAdam/default.aspx

This Month’s Puzzle has now been added to the Glow Group, just in the nick of time!

You can access the Group with your username and password by using the link http://tinyurl.com/ycv5xmn

Be warned though, the last one’s a right wee stinker!

On 18th February David Terron from Elgin Academy delivered a masterclass session to teachers across the country that was packed full of ideas for allowing a class to ‘publish’ their work.

During his session David showcased the range of work that he and his classes are doing with WIKIs and blogs, from simple ideas like homework reminders, through model essays and intense drama analysis to a poetry WIKI which has been so successful it now gets requests from other schools for poems they would like to see included!

David then went on to link this work to Curriculum for Excellence, assessment and Skills4Life before explaining how WIKIs can also be used for planning all kinds of activities -in his case TeachMeet Highlands. The session was so packed with great ideas that one of the participants posted “That was fantastic but I need time to take it all in!”

To read David’s own account of delivering the session click HERE to access his blog.

All of the resources discussed in this masterclass can now be accessed through the English Teachers National Glow group and a recording of the session will also be available soon.

Every month a masterclass like this one is delivered FREE through the English Teachers’ National Glow group. The sessions cover a variety of areas but all have an English/Literacy focus. Click HERE to request membership.

Another fantastic masterclass will be available to join in March. Keep checking Glowscotland for further details.

David Terron is an English Teacher at Elgin Academy Moray. As a former Army IT expert, David has been using wikis, blogs, ePortfolios and websites in teaching throughout his career. Rather than a theoretical session David’s masterclass will highlight the many ways WIKIs are being used on a daily basis in Elgin Academy, including the work he has been doing with his own English classes.
The session will show the clear links between WIKIs and assessment, Curriculum for Excellence and Skills for Life. David will showcase the work he has been doing on Bold Girls , Intermediate 1 poetry, S1 reading records and will also explain the usefulness of WIKIs as a way of keeping Eportfolios.

This session will run on THURSDAY 18 FEBRUARY at 4pm and is free to all members of the English Teachers’ national Glow group. You do not have to be an English teacher but you do have to be a member to join in! To request membership click on this LINK or alternatively go to National Site – National Groups – Staffroom – English Teachers and request membership from there.

Please note: If you would like confirmation of membership please remember to include a valid e-mail address with your application. All applications will be approved within 12 hours.

The Positive about Science campaign is Scottish Government led and aims to increase interest in studying science, showing children that you can do interesting and exciting things with science e.g. diverse careers/fun activities. The campaign aims to take science ‘out of the classroom’ and show children how science is all around them. The website has a range of great resources for exploring careers in science.

The Big Experiment

Part of the campaign is The Big Experiment which this year is Dr Bunhead’s Spoof Busters.  In a Glow Meet, Dr Bunhead will present and discuss the skills needed for evaluating ’science’ videos posted on the internet, and classes across Scotland will investigate one of these videos for themselves and decide if it is true, partly true or false.  This activity will suit a wide range of ages.

To find out more, go to the National Sciences Glow Group and check out the Glow Meets tab, or click here to go to the Dr Bunhead’s Spoof Busters Glow Group.  Have a look round the Glow Group and sign up for the Meet (1.30pm 16^th March).  You can download teacher notes with instructions, an equipment list and background information from the Glow Group, and there will be discussion opportunities to explore science myths.

Competition

There will be a competition in the Glow Group, where classes can post a link to a hoax science video and the most convincing one will win a great prize.

2010 is the International Year of Biodiversity and at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh they are celebrating this by staging an exciting programme of events and activities. This special year is designed to celebrate the astonishing biodiversity of life on Earth and the myriad connections between plants, animals, fungi and microscopic life forms that make up the complex web of life. We ourselves are part of this jigsaw. Our daily lives depend upon it for food, fuels, medicines, materials and for nature’s services including the provision of fresh air and clean water. We would be lost without biodiversity, and yet the expansion of human activities has nature on the retreat in ways that make the world a poorer place.

To celebrate the launch of the International Year of Biodiversity the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh will be hosting an event with children from Tynewater Primary School in Midlothian taking part. They will be asking questions of Roseanna Cunningham MSP and taking part in activities surrounding the exhibition.

Why not join them from 10am – 11.30am on Wednesday 13th January? You too can ask questions of the minister and join the Tynewater Primary children in some collaborative fun in Glow Meet! If you want to post a question before the event please feel free to do so on the discussion board on the International Year of Biodiversity page.
You will also find the Glow Meet there as well so join us at 10am on Wednesday!

The Glider Challenge Glow Meet took place on 15th December live from the Concorde hangar at the National Museum of Flight, East Fortune. The Glow Meet was run by the central Glow team in collaboration with the sciences and technologies team. Mr Cain’s Primary 6 class from Pencaitland Primary school were live at the Museum carrying out the challenge.

Earlier in the day they had been in the museum’s Fantastic Flight interactive gallery where they had explored a range of hands on exhibits to help them learn more about flight and the training needed to become a pilot.
Through Glow,  30 classes took part, with over 500 pupils and teachers taking part in the challenge. The Glow Meet kicked off with a representative from the museum presenting on the four forces of flight and then the classes were presented with the challenge and began drawing and discussing their ideas. At the Glow Meet and in classrooms around the country gliders were built, tested, adjusted and retested. One class managed to get their glider to fly 15 metres! Adam Love Rodgers, the programme and Learning Officer answered questions on Glow Chat as people carried the challenge.

The event was great fun and many classes had learnt about flight in the run up to the Glow Meet.

Resources and reflective questions are posted in the glider challenge tab on the national Glow science site; why not take a look? A photograph competition is being run where classes can send their photographs to Wendy French, w.french@LTScotland.org.uk The best photograph will win a prize for the class and will be announced in January.

The UN Climate Change Summit is nearly upon us and people across the globe will be watching as world leaders and government officials meet in Copenhagen from the 7th – 18th December to negotiate new international targets to tackle climate change.

Learning and Teaching Scotland will be bringing you photos, videos, blogs and live feeds from Copenhagen to enable your school to be part of the experience and to participate in the climate change debate.

To kick start our programme of events, we’re giving all schools the chance to take part in a live Glow meet with Heather Reid, BBC weather presenter and professional meteorologist. Heather will be answering your questions on weather, climate and the impact of global warming.

This live Glow meet will take place on Wednesday 9th December 2009 from 11:20am to 11:50am. To take part, visit the
Sustainable Development Education Glow group.

Submit your questions to Heather in advance of the Glow meet by visiting the SDE Discussions Page or by emailing Ian Menzies at I.Menzies@LTScotland.org.uk

Plans are also being finalised for a further Glow meet live from the Copenhagen conference on Fri 11th December 2009. Watch the Sustainable Development Education Glow group or LTS online for further details.

Members of the national English teachers’ Glow group have a free CPD session available to them every month – and as these are delivered digitally through Glow Meet they can be watched from the comfort of a classroom or even from a front room – no cover needed!
This month’s session will be delivered on Monday 30th November between 4 and 5pm. In it David Noble – an expert in the field of using audio tools for education – will be giving participants practical advice on how to:
> Set-up a computer to create digital audio recordings
> Record, edit, save, and even publish recordings
> Use existing digital audio resources on the web
> Use mobile devices to capture to capture, distribute, and use voice recordings.
David will also be discussing Project Ideas and connecting digital audio to the Literacy Experiences and Outcomes. A list of useful links and a ‘How to get started’ guide will also be made available.

You do not have to be an English teacher to join the English teachers’ glow group. To participate simply click HERE or go to the English Teacher’s glow group (National site – National groups -Staffroom -Staffroom groups – English Teachers group), and request membership.