INSPIRE

Inspire

‘Ask a scientist’ websites

September 18, 2007 | Issue 6

Halina Stanley from the American School in Grenoble, France, reviews some of her favourite ‘ask a scientist’ websites in English and French. Thanks to the help of many readers throughout Europe, we can also draw your attention to sites in Croat, Danish, Finnish, Hungarian, Norwegian,…

Ages: <11, 11-14, 14-16, 16-19
Keywords: Careers in science, 3D shapes

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Inspire

The Talking Ape: How Language Evolved, By Robbins Burling

September 18, 2007 | Issue 6

Everyone does it everywhere all the time. I am not talking about Germans smoking, Americans eating burgers, or adults having sex – although the latter gets us thinking in the right direction.

Ages: 16-19
Keywords: Animal behaviour, Languages

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Inspire

The March of Unreason: Science, Democracy, and the New Fundamentalism, By Dick Taverne

September 18, 2007 | Issue 6

The foundations of democratic western civilisation are under threat, argues Dick Taverne. Since the Enlightenment, material and social progress in our society has relied to a large extent on the achievements of science and on the freedom of scientists to question and experiment, free from dogma and…

Ages: 16-19
Keywords: Ethics, Science and society

 

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Inspire

Experimental Design for the Life Sciences (2nd Edition), By Graeme D. Ruxton and Nick Colegrave

September 18, 2007 | Issue 6

Rather than being a book in which one dips to search for the answer to a particular question or for a desired fact, Experimental Design for the Life Sciences is a book to read through in its entirety: the student begins at the beginning and works through, learning how to design a good experiment in…

Ages: 16-19
Keywords: Scientific method, Teaching resources

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Inspire

Exploring the Living Cell DVD, By Véronique Kleiner and Christian Sardet

September 18, 2007 | Issue 6

The Exploring the Living Cell DVD includes a wide range of films about the cell, covering many topics and providing background information for lessons: the history of the discovery of the cell, ethical debates about stem cells and evolution/creationism, and current research in cell biology. For the…

Ages: 14-16, 16-19
Keywords: Cell biology, Cells, Ethics, Stem cells, Cell specialisation

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Inspire

Nicky Mulder, bioinformatician

September 18, 2007 | Issue 6

Have you ever wondered what bioinformatics is? Or what a bioinformatician does? Sai Pathmanathan and Eleanor Hayes talk to Nicky Mulder, a bioinformatician at the European Bioinformatics Institute in Cambridge, UK.

Ages: 14-16, 16-19
Keywords: Bioinformatics

 

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Inspire

Results of the cover competition

September 18, 2007 | Issue 6

In Issue 4, we challenged you and your students to design the cover for Science in School and were very impressed by the quality of the entries. Despite gloomy studies about decreasing interest in the sciences, there are clearly a lot of very enthusiastic and artistically gifted young scientists in…

Ages: 11-14, 14-16, 16-19

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Inspire

Teaching on ice: an educational expedition to Antarctica

September 18, 2007 | Issue 6

Are there days when you long to get right away from the classroom? How far would you be willing to go? Eleanor Hayes talks to Phil Avery, one of four teachers who are taking a break from school to journey to the Antarctic.

Ages: not applicable
Keywords: Antarctica

 

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UNDERSTAND

Understand

Eyes on the horizon, feet on the ground: interview with Tim Hunt

September 18, 2007 | Issue 6

Professor Tim Hunt, winner of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, talks to Philipp Gebhardt about his passion for science, the importance of pure research, the influence of enthusiastic colleagues – and the role of serendipity in scientific discovery.

Ages: 14-16, 16-19
Keywords: Cell biology, Cells, Cell shape and function, Careers in science

       

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Understand

Small molecules make scents

September 18, 2007 | Issue 6

Angelika Börsch-Haubold demonstrates the olfactory delights of organic chemistry.

Ages: 16-19
Keywords: Molecular biology, Organic chemistry

         

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Understand

Recovering Pompeii

September 18, 2007 | Issue 6

Do your students find it hard to see the application of science to other subjects? Montserrat Capellas from the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in Grenoble, France, explains how modern chemical analyses are shedding light on ancient Pompeii.

Ages: 16-19
Keywords: Art, Archaeology, Volcano

     

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Understand

Oxyntomodulin: a new therapy for obesity?

September 18, 2007 | Issue 6

Katie Wynne and Steve Bloom from Imperial College London, UK, describe their work on a hormone that could tackle the causes of obesity.

Ages: 16-19
Keywords: Health, Health and diet, Science and society

         

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Understand

Fusion in the Universe: when a giant star dies…

September 18, 2007 | Issue 6

Péter Székely from the University of Szeged, Hungary, and Örs Benedekfi from the European Fusion Development Agreement in Garching, Germany, investigate how a star dies and what a nearby supernova explosion would mean for us on Earth.

Ages: 14-16, 16-19
Keywords: Stars, Fusion, Nuclear physics, Astrophysics

               

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Understand

Why biodiversity research keeps its feet dry

September 18, 2007 | Issue 6

Marine ecologists Iris Hendriks, Carlos Duarte, and Carlo Heip ask why – despite its importance – research into marine biodiversity is so neglected.

Ages: 14-16, 16-19
Keywords: Biodiversity, Ecology, Marine biology, Marine environments, Oceans

 

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TEACH

Teach

Imagine… sharing ideas in the life sciences

September 18, 2007 | Issue 6

With the help of enthusiastic school students and scientists, the Dutch school competition ‘Imagine’ supports the sustainable production of biodiesel in Mozambique, avocado oil in Kenya and the colorant byxine in Surinam. Daan Schuurbiers and Marije Blomjous, from the Foundation Imagine Life…

Ages: 16-19
Keywords: Science communication, Sustainability

   

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Teach

Counting Buttons: demonstrating the Hardy-Weinberg principle

September 18, 2007 | Issue 6

Pongprapan Pongsophon, Vantipa Roadrangka and Alison Campbell from Kasetsart University in Bangkok, Thailand, demonstrate how a difficult concept in evolution can be explained with equipment as simple as a box of buttons!

Ages: 14-16, 16-19
Keywords: Maths, Mathematics, Evolution, Evolutionary biology

 

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Teach

Monastic ink: linking chemistry and history

September 18, 2007 | Issue 6

One of the many purposes of science is to support the humanities. With this in mind, Gianluca Farusi and his students set out to investigate and prepare iron-gall ink, a historically significant material for the transmission of knowledge.

Ages: 14-16, 16-19
Keywords: History of chemistry, Chemistry

     

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Teach

DNA labs on the road

September 18, 2007 | Issue 6

Ever wished you could borrow a PCR machine for your lessons? And perhaps an expert to show your students how to use it? Marc van Mil introduces DNA labs that bring genomics directly to the classroom.

Ages: 16-19
Keywords: DNA

   

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EDITORIAL

Editorial

Welcome to the sixth issue of Science in School

September 18, 2007 | Issue 6

In our feature article, we share with you the thoughts of Nobel Prize winner Tim Hunt as he talks to Philipp Gebhardt about his passion for science, the importance of pure research, the influence of enthusiastic colleagues – and the role of serendipity in scientific discovery.

Ages: not applicable

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