One of the most important scientific ideas that you can communicate to your students is that science is never a ‘done deal’, more fantastic innovations and incredible technology are endlessly possible. Science is spurred by creativity, and very much based on asking questions- and seeking answers to some of the simplest questions can in fact reveal an entire universe.

Keep asking, little one!

‘most people think of science as a closed black box- and in fact, it is an open field’

One of the ways we work with teachers and students to model this process of creativity, and questioning that drives scientific exploration, is with our mystery boxes activity.

How do you get your students thinking about what science is and how it works?

Along with the working satellites, there are the dead ones, the fragments of broken ones, the rocket parts from past missions, and myriad other chunks of junk orbiting at breakneck speeds, looking for something to collide with. And when they do, working satellites are destroyed, the Space Station could be damaged , the astronauts’ lives put at risk, and a whole new cascade of junk fragments  go careening off in all directions. Sound serious? Quite!

 BUT! The Swiss with their great efficiency and tidy ways, have been pondering this massive problem. They are developing CleanSpace One, a little ‘janitor’ satellite to deal with space junk by capturing it and dragging it back into the atmosphere to burn up.

A Swiss janitor satellite to tackle space junk

This comes not a moment too soon, as space agencies now really have to consider how to de-orbit the satellites they launch, if they don’t want to make the junk problem worse and end up being cut off from space.

So who is responsible for the junk up in space? Is it you and me, as users of the services they provide, or the companies that launch them? Would you pay extra on your mobile phone bill to help clean up space?

Explore space junk and other big issues in Futurecade, our brand new digital game… If you’re a teacher, try it as a starter for a classroom discussion, and use the in-game questions to get your students talking about how science impacts on their lives.

Good luck

Our Punk Science films are now all available online. Bring their special brand of humour into your classroom with Healthy Living, Medical Trials, The Ends of the Universe, Nanotechnology song, Selective Breeding… Have you had enough of Jon and Dan yet? They even share their top tips on How to Punk your Science.

News + Views got a bit of spiffing up! This popular resource gets your students into the role of journalists to explore a a hot science topic. It’s a great way to get your students discussing current science issues and give them ownership of the research as they work to a deadline to create attention-grabbing display posters, in which they also express their own opinions.

And, Futurecade will be released in 2012!! Yes, FUTURECADE IS COMING  (we’re only a little excited!!)

Bacto-Lab is just one of Futurecade's 4 fun games.

Futurecade is a suite of 4 online games based around current and future technology, that you can use to stimulate discussion around topics like space junk, geo-engineering, and synthetic biology. Keep your eyes peeled for them at the start of February.

We hope you will use Futurecade to help communicate How Science Works, that science impacts our lives, and our future will be shaped by technology (and decisions) made now. Use the games to provoke your students’ thinking and help them formulate opinions about the science and what it will mean for them.

The games are incredibly fun, and we think your students will find them really engaging. I am actually finding it a little hard to STOP playing one of them in particular, but I don’t want  to influence your preferences. Can’t wait to hear which one YOU like best!

And we arent the only ones who think games will be big in 2012!

We will be at the ASE conference in January so come find out about what we’ve been up to, and much more, on our stand, B29.

From everyone in the Talk Science team, thank you for your support and see you in 2012!

The site is called Invigorate and the resources are based on the work of scientists connected with The Royal Society (eg Isaac Newton). The big thing is that they make the link between ‘historical’ science and our lives today, or how today’s scientific research might impact on the society in future. In other words, they reinforce to your students that science is a part of society; the context in which discoveries were made affected those discoveries, just as much as those discoveries changed society.

X-ray imaging changed the world. Image Noosaradiology.com

Pop over to the site and have a good look through the available resources -from quizzes to practical experiments- which are also linked to plenty of really useful background material like videos and podcasts. Loads of the experiments are based on the projects on display at the Summer Exhibition 2011, so your students can feel connected to real science going on today, and you can find out more about the scientists behind the research too.

Hopefully you will find these resources useful inside and out of the classroom. We really like that they link science in the classroom to science in the world around us and also to the people doing that science- a really important way for students to appreciate how science shapes our world.

Good luck!

Explore these questions and more in our new show ‘The Great DNA Debate’, all about genetic information, how it can be used, and who should have access to it. 

Socks and chromosomes go together in the Great DNA Debate show

This interactive show is designed to support your teaching of KS3 and KS4  Biology and How Science Works, including applications and implications of science. Your students are also encouraged to participate in the discussion and have their say, so it’s a great PTLS activity too (check out the video here for a taste of the show!)

Planning to take your students to the Who am I? exhibition to explore genetics, brain science, and how they make each of us unique? This show will really enhance your visit.

The Great DNA Debate is free but requires prebooking, upcoming performances are on Tuesday 8th November, at 11am and 1pm. The show is 45 minutes long.

Call our Learning Support Team on 0207 942 4777 to find out more and book your class in!

How do you get your students interested in discussing a topic? Well one simple technique to hook them is to ask a powerful question. The Talk Science team have devised an easy way to come up with great questions that link what your students are interested in outside of the classroom with what you want them to discuss in lessons. Click here to find out how we do it and you too will find yourself asking your students great questions like :

‘Do boys pollute more than girls?’

and many more…….

Is your New year’s resolution to brush up your classroom discussion running skills? If so help is at hand!

The Talk Science team will be running their teacher training course at venues across the UK in 2010. We will be sharing our  top tips on getting your students talking about hot science topics in our one day teachers course packed with ideas and resources to hook your students into a great science discussion (and we guarentee its more fun and less difficult than all those other resolutions to loose weight, give up chocolate, run a marathon etc.) Here’s what one teacher in York thought about the course:

‘The course gave me lots of ideas, and was delivered in a fun and interesting way. It has inspired me to run more discussion lessons in the future.’

The course takes place on the following dates:

21st January – Bristol

28th January – Edinburgh

24th February – Nottingham

18th March – Glasgow

25th March – London

27th May – Birmingham

10th June – Belfast

15th June – London

17th June – Manchester

24th June – Cardiff

1st July – Norwich

6th July – London

13th July – London

The course is free and is supported by BP as part of the Enterprising Science project. Click here to register for a course.

We look forward to meeting  you  throughout 2010.

That’s what a teacher who attended our course in Birmingham earlier this year thought about our one day teacher training course.

Come an join us in Newcastle on 25th November as we share the Science Museum’s tools and techniques for running great discussions in the classroom. We look at new apporaches to teaching How Science Works and loads fo ideas that work across all science topics.

Places are free and there are only a few remaining so book now by calling 020 7401 4040 and don’t forget to mention where you read about it.

Hope to see you all on the 25th in Newcastle.