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ASE - a wealth of resources!

By Linda Crouch posted 13-01-2025 15:49

  

ASE - a wealth of resources and ideas!

Getting permission to be out of lessons is difficult in most schools, but I strongly recommend attending the ASE annual conference. The event offers a wealth of ideas, resources, and access to experts all in one place. I’d be amazed if you didn’t end up tweaking your schemes of work, adding enrichment clubs, or discovering new resources that you weren’t previously aware of.

Here’s a list of some of the resources and ideas I encountered from the talks, exhibition stands, and leaflets. This list is in no particular order, just as they ended up in my notebook and bag! I’ll share more ideas and resources from ASE in the next week or so.

  • British Science Week: Taking place from 7th to 16th March. Have you booked your school assembly yet? I’m particularly interested in the "Smashing Stereotypes" profiles, which include short videos that could be great for lessons or STEM careers assemblies. Check it out here: Smashing Stereotypes.
  • Environment Leaders Program: Offered by the Leadership Skills Foundation in partnership with WWF and RSPB. Students work towards a Level 3 qualification in Leading a Project for Positive Change. With every school required to have a Climate Action Plan by 2025, this program can help evidence your school's commitment to sustainability and climate action. Online resources for students and tutors are provided. More information can be found here: Environment Leadership Program.
  • Science in School: The European Journal for Science Teachers. I’ve already explored one resource on using visual methods to represent data. Check out this article on tangible statistics: Tangible Statistics. It contains useful ideas to share with maths colleagues and perhaps the SEND or pastoral team (see Activity 2: Statistics: Enhancing Student Wellbeing with a Participatory Approach)
  • Philip Harris GCSE Required Practicals: Check out their guides for GCSE required practicals on their website: Philip Harris Practical Guides. I also found their small everyday balance (weighs up to 500g in 0.01g) of interest for use in lessons. They are offering a 20% discount with the code PHEVENTS2520 until the end of April
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Linda Crouch
16-01-2025 15:11

Here’s a few more free resources that I discovered at last week’s excellent ASE conference - worth a look through!

I have handed over my free sample of UV beads and UV pen-lights from Discover Materials to my technician, hopefully they can be of use when teaching about the electromagnetic spectrum. The Discover Materials is a working group of 10 universities, and their website is excellent https://discovermaterials.co.uk/ - or find them on social media. For example you might want to use this video in your Science lessons to promote Chemistry (or Physics) as a great option for future careers in Materials Science  https://youtu.be/q_agKY6JJYg Consider sharing with your Design and Technology colleagues too! Note that Discover Materials are looking to do some free online teacher CPD in the near future, so sign up to their newsletter to see when that drops.

With the push for every school to have a climate action plan, there are a lot of climate resources being released (see the Environmental Leadership program in the original blog). The Natural Environment Research Council have supported the preparation of resources for KS3 Science – there’s only a couple on there at the moment, but they are adding more. The video about extreme weather is about 5mins long and will make a great resource for encouraging pupils to think about careers in environmental sciences.  There’s also a presentation with historical climate change data to enrich climate change lessons. Go here: https://www.nercgw4plus.ac.uk/science-resources-for-ks3

An exhibit that caught my eye was the Superworm Breeding Box https://www.thewormhouse.co.uk/ suitable for KS1 to KS3, and was billed as the ‘world’s most amazing metamorphosis show’. The superworms (the larval stage of the darkling beetle) is of interest as it is able to eat plastics such as polystyrene, probably due to bacteria in their intestine.

https://www.plantsciencefutures.org.uk/ is a great website – with a short video called Plant Science from the cell to the planet https://youtu.be/uogEnZndTrg There’s a section for post 16, and https://www.plantsciencefutures.org.uk/online-lectures has a number of online lectures that may be great to set for homework for A level students, and there’s articles of interest eg advice on choosing a Biology degree course, and how to find work experience. Have a look if you teach Biology.

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