November updates in STEM education

Broadening curriculums, primary science and the Science Capital Teaching Approach [The Royal Society]( Education newsletter [Students from The Urusline Academy Ilford with Dr Lonnie Johnson at our Sustainability Projects Showcase event]( National awards and teaching approaches Hello This month as well as our usual offerings we focus on primary science. Find out about Wellcome Trust’s State of the nation report and the latest changes to the Primary Science Quality Mark (PSQM). We recently hosted US engineer and Super Soaker inventor, Dr Lonnie Johnson, at our Sustainability Projects Showcase event. Dr Johnson met several school groups and learnt about their exciting projects, from eco-friendly bricks to designs for future ocean cities. One of the parents who attended the event wrote about her [experiences](. Dr Johnson also took part in a successful event for the Society’s Destination STEMM (science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine) mentoring [programme](. Kind regards Jo Cox Education Outreach Manager [[Resources and activities](](#) Our pick of the latest resources and events related to UK science, maths and computing teaching: helping you to deliver outstanding lessons and activities. [From Partnership Grants to policy]( In 2015, teacher Tim Harrison successfully applied for a Partnership Grant alongside ecologist Dr Kathryn Ross. Students investigated local population numbers of different animals and displayed their findings at our Partnership Grants Conference. However, this was not the end of Tim’s journey with the Royal Society. He recently attended one of our policy meetings, which explored how science and technology could impact the illegal wildlife trade. Discover how a Partnership Grants project led to Tim sitting alongside major contributors to this important debate. [Find out more]( [Resources with links to national awards]( Practical Action have a new area on their website highlighting which of its materials (in particular its popular STEM challenges) are accredited for different levels of the CREST Award scheme, plus some general guidance for teachers new to CREST. Suitable for both primary and secondary pupils CREST Awards are a great way to engage children in a variety of STEM projects. [Find out more]( [The Science Capital Teaching Approach]( The Science Capital Teaching Approach: engaging students with science, promoting social justice resource was launched on Friday 13 October 2017. The science capital teaching approach was developed as part of the Enterprising Science project, a 5-year research and development partnership between King’s College London, University College London, Science Museum Group and funded by BP. [Find out more]( [Objectivity: space discoveries]( Learn the fascinating story of how the planet Uranus was discovered. Why not use this resource as a starter activity for lessons on space or to start discussions on new technologies. Get your students to compare how easy it would have been to make this discovery with today's technology. [Watch]( [[Policy and research](](#) Updates on the latest education news and policy that have an impact on your day-to-day teaching. [Broad and diverse: the future of England’s post-16 curriculum?]( The Royal Society recently held a symposium on the value of a broader post-16 curriculum, launching [new research]( commissioned by the Society on the increasing narrowness of the A-level system. The research included six international case studies of how other countries have attempted to reform their post-16 curriculum. The symposium featured a [keynote]( by the President of the Royal Society, and a summary of the discussions has been made available. [Find out more]( [Outstanding educators needed]( Don’t forget, from 30 November you will be able to nominate outstanding educators for the Kavli Education Medal. The Medal is awarded every two years to people who have made significant contributions to maths, science, and computing education. We know there are amazing people making huge contributions to these areas of education – who do you know who should be recognised for their work? [Find out more]( [Primary science State of the nation report]( Wellcome have recently published their 'State of the nation’ report of UK primary science education. Their research found that science at primary level is on average taught for 1 hour and 24 minutes a week, which is less than Wellcome’s recommended 2 hours per week. The report also found that of those surveyed only 30% think science is considered ‘very important’ by their Senior Leadership Teams. [Find out more]( [Recognition for primary STEM]( The Primary Science Quality Mark award programme gives primary schools the chance to highlight and improve their science provision. The programme has recently changed and three new awards have been introduced: PSQM award, PSQM Gilt award and PSQM Outreach award. Each of these new awards focuses on the importance of leadership in science. Could your school be one of the future award winners? [Find out more]( [[Events](](#) Our event pick from across the Royal Society and partner organisations. [How can a computer understand what is happening in a video?]( PRIZE LECTURE Date: 22 November 2017, 6.30pm – 7.30pm Location: [The Royal Society, London]( Professor Andrew Zisserman FRS will introduce the two main forms of learning currently used by computers to help make sense of the actions and words of people in video streams. He will explore how these forms of supervision can be used to train neural networks, and where this might take us in the future. This public talk may be especially interesting for psychology or computing teachers and A-level students. [Find out more]( [The Royal Society logo]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( You are receiving this email from the Royal Society. [View this email online]( | [Amend your details]( [Add us to your address book]( [Unsubscribe]( [Privacy policy]( Copyright © The Royal Society, 6-9 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5AG, Registered Charity No 207043