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. 

Thirty English Teachers from across Scotland brought their skills and knowledge of Glow to Stirling Management Centre to help build a Glow community over the course of two days.

The purpose of the event was to build various subject specific Glow Groups that can be used by English practitioners throughout Scotland providing them with an opportunity to work with others, make lasting connections and share knowledge and ideas which are transferable across schools and authorities throw Glow.

The practitioners, all at different stages with Glow, were just as enthusiastic as each other when they worked in teams to create Glow Groups. The groups included; Scots language, war poetry, personal study, Macbeth, The boy in the striped pyjamas and higher critical essays. Practitioners were given a blank canvas to work from in Glow with ready-made basic Glow Groups to be developed.

True to form, each group communicated well, taking a strategic approach to the planning process with much discussion of what each page should look like and contain. Groups were constantly thinking of the end user when building the groups, taking careful consideration of how the pupils would view the site and how easy they follow the activities in the Group.

The groups created are available for all to see in the Building Glow Communities tab of the Literacy and English Glow Group. If you find any of these groups useful and would like to contribute, you can simply request access through the e-mail address provided in each Group and we would encourage you to do so.

Judith Weston from Earlston High in the Scottish Borders said: “It’s been a fantastic opportunity to take two days out to build these groups.

“I’ll be going back to the classroom with a Glow Group packed with resources for English teachers and creative work for children.”

Michael Stephenson from Inveralmond Community High, West Lothian said: “we have built our group through the eyes of the children so they can follow the instructions, navigate easily and upload work tasks for teachers to edit.”

If you are interested in taking part in future events. Simply CLICK HERE to find out more.  

I was privileged to attend the Scottish Science Education Conference at Dunblane on 6/7 March as a delegate and also as a Glow Team representative. So many of the people who stopped to chat were really keen to get into Glow but did not have their login details yet. It seems such as shame that the admirable plans of some local authorities to bring schools into Glow in stages that seem manageable in terms of training, seem to be stopping some keen teachers from accessing Glow.

Although training is helpful for making use of the wealth of opportunity that Glow offers, there are so many resources and chances to link up with others, that do not need any special training. The science teachers at the conference were impressed that via the Glow National Site they could access Sunflower for Science (An interactive resource covering biology, chemistry and physics – each program is either a simulation or a collection of interactive animations on a particular topic), Crocodilia for Crocodile Chemistry (This suite of learning resources allows you to model experiments and reactions safely and easily), Science Resource Center (An in-depth, curriculum-orientated science database that provides a one-stop resource for all science-related research needs) as well as more general but equally useful resources such as LearnNewsdesk@LTS (This online news service provides a real-life context for curriculum topics) and Spark Island (Offers primary teachers a range of interactive toolkits which make teaching and learning English, maths and science easier and more fun).

Allyson Dobson, Curriculum for Excellence Development Officer, delivered her session “Science Curriculum – Where Next?” to a full house. About 200 teachers and technicians heard the latest information about the Science Outcomes and Experiences, due to be published 2nd April. The participants felt more part of the process when they were then given, in pairs, an outcome to rate in terms of CPD needs, and whether and how it tied in with existing practice. These responses will help inform the Curriculum for Excellence team about areas which most need explanation or CPD input.

Many of the sessions involved exciting new practicals, and advice on engaging pedagogy – all supporting a move to strengthen Curriculum for Excellence. Science was the first framework to begin development and now science teachers can at last look forward to the final publication of the Experiences and Outcomes – but the conference showed that many science teachers are already engaged in promoting the aspirations of Curriculum for Excellence in their daily teaching.

At the end of September, the Glow communications bank was launched on the GlowScotland website to provide you with the tools to share with others how Glow is being used in your classroom, school, or local authority. You can access a range of resources from poster and presentation templates, to images and logos, and all the latest information on Glow for you to include in your materials. We have also provided a bank of ready-made resources you can start using straight away. These are all downloadable, free to use, and updated regularly. To find out more visit the communications resource bank (link to comms resource bank; http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/glowscotland/preparing/communications/index.asp