Welcome to the latest STEM newsletter  for Primary Schools  from your local STEM Ambassador Hub. 
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Please don't hesitate to contact us if we can support the teaching of STEM subjects in your school or college. 
With best wishes 
The See Science Team

The newsletter that's an essential source of information and inspiration for teachers and anyone with an interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) engagement in Wales.

CONTENTS

STEM news
 

Local events and competitions
 
 

Funding opportunities
 

Biochemical Society scientific outreach grants (UK)
Microbiology Society Grants for Education

Feedback and Awards
 

The Draft Curriculum for Wales 
Primary Science Teacher Award
 


Ask a STEM Ambassador to visit your school

A STEM Ambassador's involvement can engage and enthuse both students and teachers. If you are interested in asking a STEM Ambassador to visit your school you can make your request here. We’ve created brief guides to encourage both STEM Ambassadors and educators to use the self-service. 

The  video guide outlines how to use the web platform  and  helps teachers and group leaders find the right STEM Ambassador for their activity.

Give us your Ambassador feedback

If an Ambassador has visited your school, or if you have met an Ambassador at an enrichment activity, we would be very grateful if you could fill in our teacher feedback form. Please encourage colleagues to respond.
 

LATEST STEM NEWS
 

Me an Engineer

Over the past few weeks we have been busy delivering half day workshops at primary schools in 3 different clusters as part of an IET (Institution of Engineering and Technology) funded project entitled ‘Me – an Engineer?’. The workshops introduce Engineering of all kinds as a realistic career option for all pupils by portraying Engineers as creative problem solvers working in a diverse range of industries.
The school clusters involved in the project are the feeder schools for Idris Davies School in Tredegar, Coedcae School in Llanelli and Ysgol Dyffryn Nantlle in Pen y Groes. Each of the primaries have received a half day workshop on bridges, delivered by See Science, during which pupils were challenged to build a bridge using nothing but biscuits and icing then moved on to building a bridge from K’nex that could support a weight placed at its centre. At the end of the workshop each class was set a challenge to design and build a model of a brand new bridge for their area. These bridges will be displayed at a Celebration event at each of the secondary schools in the next few weeks.
As well as showcasing their bridges, the Celebration Events will be an opportunity for the primary pupils to present their ideas and share their learning during the project. Hopefully we will have inspired a few Engineers of the future!
The ‘Me – an Engineer?’ Workshops will be available to download from the See Science website before September.
Read more

STEM Ambassadors Super Science Day Northop Hall Primary School Flint

Teacher Lynne Harrison- Brown was delighted to host 5 STEM Ambassadors on Wednesday 5 th June.
The School had placed a request for a science – filled experience day. Superb support was
on hand from:
Sarah Dale (Traction Engineering); Greg Meredith (Robotics Electronics); David Morris (Environment and Fisheries); Andrew Fogg (Chemical Engineering) and guest Ambassador from Cheshire Alfie Neild (Forces and Friction)
Wonderful feedback was posted by Lynne:
“Our whole school science day was a great success on Wednesday. Pupils took part in a
wide range of activities which included investigations, a chemistry workshop, coding lego
robots and exploring electronic toys. Five STEM (science technology and engineering)
ambassadors came into school to work with the children. One science ambassador reported “What amazed me was the level of knowledge that the children had and also the willingness to discuss their observations and explore the electronic toys.” All of the STEM ambassadors said how much they enjoyed working with the pupils of Northop Hall and have said they would like to come back in the future. A big thank you to the teachers, pupils and STEM Ambassadors for helping to make a fantastic day for the children.”
Alfir Neild gave his warm thanks and looks forward to crossing the border in the future. His
feedback summary is below
"Just to let you know that I had a brilliant time, giving two Friction Workshops; to the Northop Hall primary school. I gave one to Y4, and another to y6; and I hope the students left with another piece of knowledge about the world we live in.
 
Read more

Maes Yr Haul net a haul of Ambassadors!

Maes Yr Haul also ran a Science Week this term. They were very pleased to welcome a
diverse and fully interactive range of STEM Ambassador workshops.These varied from Alun Armstrong’s popular ‘Practical activities to help understand theproperties of the earth’s atmosphere’ to Maria Stack with Molecular Biology and Jon Laver
with Electromagnetics. Alun is very experienced, his session takes the pupils on a journey through the Earth’s atmosphere
Session plan:
A short introductory session (15 mins) to each class followed by “hands on” in the hall pupils
rotating around 5 “work stations”.
Station 1: Chemical properties of Air
Station 2: Viscosity of air
Station 3: The sound we hear is the movement of air
Station 4: The amazing effect of air pressure
Station 5: Aerodynamics – How we can exploit the air to make things fly.

Jon Laver introduced pupils to electromagnetism with a practical activity designed and built by Jon who is a former Electrical Engineer with the National Grid.
Pupils were enthralled with demos that included resistance through metal tubes, fruit batteries and voltmeters.

This was Maria’s first activity as a STEM Ambassador, not always easy when you have to
prepare and deliver to a much younger group!
‘I did a strawberry DNA extraction with them which they loved, took 4 microscopes in together
with some slides of fleas, insect parts, plant parts etc. I did it with 3 classes of year 3/4
children with Susan Hill; 90 children with 15 DNA extractions with groups of 6 for 15 minutes each time.
 
Read more

Gwyddonle - Urdd National Eisteddfod

The Urdd National Eisteddfod in Cardiff Bay over the May half term proved to be the ideal testing ground for our new suite of table-top Busking activities for our Community Chemistry programme, Chemistry of the High Street – What’s in your Shopping Basket? As part of the Science Pavilion – Y Gwyddonle – at the Eisteddfod the See Science stand was busy from the Monday morning right through to the Saturday afternoon. Amongst the most popular activities were ‘Pot luck’ where children and adults alike enjoyed stimulating their olfactory bulbs with mystery aromas. Matching pairs of pots with the same scents wasn’t easy and identifying the scents was often even more difficult. Audiences were therefore amazed to learn that the human sense of smell can distinguish between thousands of different scents!
Other Busking activities include ‘Mallow Man’ where participants are asked to predict what happens to marshmallows in a vacuum; ‘Stacking Tower’ where liquids of varying densities are poured into the same container and ‘Does the Bag Leak’ where pencils are poked through polythene bags full of water with amazing results.
Funding for the Community Chemistry project has come from the Royal Society of Chemistry and all the Busking activities, as well as a workshop, will be available to download from the See Science website before September.
 

Local events

Chemistry in the Community - free chemistry workshops

 
See Science  will be offering Community Groups such as Brownies, Guides, Scouts, Urdd, and Youth Clubs the opportunity to take part in a free Chemistry workshop funded by the Royal Society of Chemistry until 20 July.

The workshop will offer a carousel of 4 different activities which will focus on the Chemistry of the High Street and will also provide an opportunity for leaders to encourage young people to participate in a CREST Award if they wish. All materials  will be provided free of charge. For more  information about booking a Chemistry in the Community workshop please contact Llinos at llinos.misra@see-science.co.uk
Read more

Great Science Share - National Botanic Garden of Wales

Tuesday 18th June - Schools event during the day  - evening event 6pm - 8pm 
Join us for the Great Science Share evening with presentations from Dr Helen Mason OBE, Dr John Dudeney OBE , Emma Wride, Astro Cymru will host a space cinema and D2E and Paul Smith, National Botanic Garden of Wales will help you search for micrometeorites


For more details contact  the National Botanic Garden of Wales or go to events in the See Science Website


The evening event will begin at 6pm  and the entry cost is £3 per person

Competitions

First Lego League competition - registration is now open for 2019-2020- new venues in Wales 

FIRST® LEGO® League is a global STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) challenge for teams of young people, to encourage an interest in real world themes and develop key skills that are crucial for their future careers. Young people work together to explore a given topic and to design, build and program an autonomous LEGO® robot to solve a series of missions.

FIRST® LEGO® League is for young people aged 9 to 16 years, working in teams of up to 10 students with a supporting adult coach. Each year FIRST® LEGO® League releases a new challenge for the teams. The challenge involves a robot game and a research project, and students will need to demonstrate the FIRST® LEGO® League Core Values throughout all their work.
Teams usually have 12 to 16 weeks to work on the challenge before they compete in their chosen regional tournament.
New venues have been included in Wales - Rhumney , Wrexham and Pembrokeshire - 
To register your team go to here 
The Challenge
What if you could build a better world? Where would you begin?
More than ever, we must come together to innovate and solve problems. In FIRST®, you are part of a thriving community brimming with inspiration, creativity, and hope for a stronger, more sustainable future - one that's built better together. You have the power to help the cities, towns, and places you call home reach new heights. With the support of the FIRST community, this is your opportunity to lead our future forward - and up. 

To register your team go to here 
Read more
Farmvention (when farming meets invention) is a national STEM competition run by NFU Education and aimed at primary school children. The competition runs for the duration of the Autumn term 2019 and we’re giving you a heads up now so you can add it to your STEM planning or even set it as a challenge for the summer holidays?
 
There are three exciting problem based challenges that can be entered by individual children or in teams. Each challenge is designed to make children think about the day to day issues faced by farmers and growers in England and Wales as well as the wider environmental challenges faced by the worlds growing population. This year’s challenges are:
 
·         To design a garment using wool, the wonder fabric
·         To create a street food dish that takes inspiration from across the globe but uses                 local produce as the star ingredient
·         To design a machine that would be found on a farm in the year 2040
 
Each challenge is supported by curriculum linked resources created in partnership with the Association for Science Education (ASE) – sign up here to receive your free pack later this month.
 
There are a host of amazing prizes for the winning schools. Winners will present their ideas at a prestigious event at the Houses of Parliament, as well as winning fully-funded farm visits and much more! All entrants will become certified ‘farmventors’ and receive a reward pack including a certificate and mini prize. More information go to: www.farmvention.com  
 
Read more

The Great Bug Hunt

Encourage pupils to get outside to learn more about living things and their habitats and to use the outdoor classroom.
Whichever year group you teach, to delve into the exciting world of bug hunting and watch the excitement, the enthusiasm building, the inspiration mounting and the subsequent learning flood from your pupils is a truly thrilling experience.
So get involved in the biggest bug hunt you’ve ever done and enter for a chance to win a fabulous Bug Day in your school!
 

Visit the Schoolscience competition page
 

The 2019 Great Bug Hunt Competition for Primary Schools. Simply identify a local habitat, get the pupils to explore and discover the minibeasts (bugs) that live there, draw them and record their findings – it’s that easy!

New CREST SuperStar resources on DNA and genetics


We are delighted to announce the launch of eight new SuperStar CREST activities developed with the support of the Wellcome Campus Genome Public Engagement team!

The activities, which include ancient animal investigations, 'facial reconstruction' and learning about airborne infections, encourage children to look at DNA and the world around them.


With each activity taking an hour to complete, they provide a simple but interesting way for children to think about the impact of DNA on us, our family and our everyday lives.

Funding opportunities

Biochemical Society scientific outreach grants (UK)


The Biochemical Society outreach grants programme is now open for applications. Grants of up to £1,000 are available to increase participation in the molecular biosciences at school level and beyond through engagement activities.
Applications for funding are invited to assist with the direct costs associated with an event and expenses incurred. The type of events funded could include:
 
  • Activities for a science club
  • Workshops for students or teachers
  • Lectures from research scientists
The next round will open on June 13th. - more details can be found here
Microbiology Society Grants for Education

Grants of up to £1,000 are available to support relevant science teaching or promotion initiatives, or to support developments ​ to lead improvement in the teaching of any aspect of microbiology .
The deadline for applications is 1st October 2019.

For more information and to apply online go here 
 

Designed by teachers , built for pupils - it's time for your say on the draft curriculum for Wales
The journey towards the rollout of Wales’ new curriculum in 2022 reaches a major milestone with  the publication of a draft designed by teachers and shaped by experts from Wales and around the world. To find out more or to contribute to the discussion go to https://hwb.gov.wales/draft-curriculum-for-wales-2022

The new curriculum aims to rethink what and how young people should be taught, and introduces six broad areas of learning and experience (AOLE).
It will be introduced in primary and Year 7 classrooms from September 2022 before being rolled out to all year groups. Universities, employers, teachers and parents are now being asked to give their views before the final version is published next year.

Primary Science Teacher Award

Help shape science for the better
Teachers that are doing incredible work, raising standards, excelling in tough conditions and going above and beyond deserve to be celebrated. The Primary Science Teacher Awards do just that – we celebrate, reward and provide a plethora of opportunity for these deserving teachers.
 Nominate a teacher here 
 

Latest CPD from your Science Learning Partnership

To find out more about the latest CPD from your Science Learning  Partnership click here

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