Author Archives: Gemma Young

Vitamin D

This activity is designed to engage a wider range of students. Using the principles of ‘science capital’, it makes the issue of Vitamin D deficiency highly accessible and relevant to students’ everyday experience. Rickets and other bone diseases in young people have risen 400%,  Some scientists are recommending teenagers take vitamin D supplements, particularly in autumn and winter. […]

Eco-phone

  As the number of smartphone users worldwide exceeds 2 billion, and as users update their devices with ever-increasing frequency, there are growing concerns about the impacts of smartphone manufacture and disposal on the environment and human health. In this activity, students use knowledge about Earth resources, as well as applying their working scientifically skills, […]

Online Course test

Equip students with the skills and knowledge to use science in their lives ENGAGE uses Dilemma with Group Discussion to push students to higher levels of understanding and Problem-Based Solving through Argumentative Conversation to empower them to develop scientific literacy. Now join our online course to learn strategies that will really get students talking, thinking and […]

Extreme weather

December 2015 was unusually warm and the wettest month on record, and it brought with it devastating floods that affected thousands of people in the UK. Many are blaming climate change for this unusual weather and warn that wet winters will be the norm in the future. Bring this news story into your classroom and teach about climate change using […]

Sugar tax

Ban Cola is news again.  Jamie Oliver, celebrity chef, is on a mission to cut sugar from our diets with his new idea to tax  sugar. But will this make any difference to our health? Start the discussion by using the ENGAGE activity Ban Cola  – a great way to teach unbalanced diets through a […]

Two degrees

December 2015 was the wettest month in the UK since records began and devastating floods affected thousands of people. Scientists believe climate change may have caused this extreme weather. In this sequence students apply their knowledge to create an apocalyptic weather report. Then they learn the skill of examining consequences, and judge solutions for limiting the temperature […]

Man or machine

Sports records are continually being broken – balls hit harder, javelins thrown further and bicycles travelling faster – but are these improvements down to the athlete or the engineering? In this activity students apply their knowledge of frictional forces to design a racing bicycle to help team GB smash more records on the cycling track […]

Ebola #Top 3 activity

Will the next outbreak be a global pandemic? The 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa was the largest in history, and killed more than 11,000 people. Even survivors are suffering long term health problems. Scientists have responded quickly with a number of possible vaccines. In this activity students are asked if they would volunteer to […]

Death to diesel?

Major car manufacturers have fitted software to diesel cars to cheat exhaust emissions tests. In this activity students use their knowledge of chemical reactions to predict the products of combustion in a diesel engine. They then develop their communication skills by drafting a video (using supplied character cut-outs on lolly sticks) to persuade car buyers […]