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TEACHING EARTH SCIENCES ● Volume 26 ● Number 3, 2001 News and Resources Glaciers Colin Baxter Photography Ltd. have recently published a new book in their World Life Library series called Glaciers. This 72-page book comprises over 40 highquality colour photographs, most full-page, with accompanying text. The earlier 39 books in this series focus on the living world (Whales, Porpoises, Eagles, etc) but three of the more recent ones deal with “The Physical World”: Volcanoes, Tornadoes and, the very latest, Glaciers (ISBN 1-84107-074-2 price £9.00). Full details can be obtained from Colin Baxter Photography Ltd, Grantown-on- Spey, Moray, PH26 3NA. Website: www.colinbaxter.co.uk. RDT Best Practice Research Scholarships Nearly two years ago the UK government announced a budget of £6 million over 2 years for serving teachers to carry out smallscale classroom-focused research which would be immediately relevant to their own situations. Bids in certain fields were invited, although these are sufficiently wide to encompass almost any school-based research. Teachers were invited to link up with Higher Education Mentors and submit bids for sums of about £2,500. Teachers across the country are now carrying out their research, some working alone (well, you know what I mean!) but most are in small teams or larger Press Release: “Material World” – Hanson’s education project for schools is launched on 1 October 2001 “Material World is designed to introduce Key Stage 2 children (primary school children) to the processes of quarrying and brickmaking. The Material World project is made up of two essential resources for schools. Firstly, a visit to a Hanson quarry or brickworks, and secondly, the accompanying teachers’ resource pack. The site visit and the teachers’ pack are designed to provide an enjoyable educational experience that relates closely to the National Curriculum. During a school visit to a Hanson site, teachers and pupils will learn about the history of quarrying and brickmaking in their area. They will see how stone or clay is collected and then processed. The site visits and resource pack show how these processes relate to the National Curriculum, with particular emphasis on materials and their properties, environmental issues and environmental change. Over 130 Hanson quarries and brickworks all over the UK are taking part in the project from September 2001, with school visits planned throughout the autumn months. The teachers’ resource pack has been written by Mike Hirst PGCE, an experienced teacher, author and editor. It has been checked by Hanson’s educational advisors. The Material World project took two years to develop, and - as well as a range of pupil activity sheets - includes 4 posters, a rock and a brick box, and fun elements including stickers, tree tags and quiz cards. Hanson are making no charge for site visits or the accompanying Material World resources. Hanson takes issues of safety at its sites extremely seriously. All site tours are thoroughly assessed for potential risks in accordance with company and Government regulations. Teachers can find out more information about Material World and how to contact their nearest Hanson brickworks or quarry by visiting: www.hansonplc.com/education consortia. The scheme is managed by Nord Anglia on behalf of DFES. It is anticipated that teachers will be invited to make bids for the next round of allocations (ie starting in September 2002) in January and February 2002. If any TES reader has an interest in drawing up a bid, or in being part of a larger research group, they should get further details from the Best Practice website at www.dfee.gov.uk/bprs. They could also contact an Earth science educationalist in the education department of a higher education institution. The TES Editor (Roger Trend) coordinates all Best Practice scholarships at the University of Exeter (ie not just the Earth science ones) and he would welcome enquiries. (R.D.Trend@exeter.ac.uk) RDT Review of Hanson’s “Material World” On October 1st Hanson launched a new pack on quarrying and brick-making, intended mainly for use at Key Stage 2 but with some potential for use at Key Stage 3. At the core of the project is a large ring-bound Teacher Resource Pack which is to be used in conjunction with a site visit (quarry or brickworks). This file contains detailed teacher notes, pupil resource sheets and pupil task sheets. Four folded A2 coloured posters are also included and at each of Hanson’s UK sites there is a Rock Box or a Brick Box which can be loaned to schools who are arranging a site visit. The materials are very attractive, very comprehensive and well-presented as robust sheets. All photocopiable sheets are laminated. The teacher file is divided into 8 sections, each with teacher information and pupil learning activities. The Introduction sets www.esta-uk.org 120
TEACHING EARTH SCIENCES ● Volume 26 ● Number 3, 2001 RAISING STANDARDS IN EARTH SCIENCE TEACHING (The Joint Earth Science Education Initiative) In the run up to taking the ESTA chair in 2000, perhaps somewhat naively, I suggested that ESTA’s vision and priorities should be re-orientated, to address more fully the needs of the c10 million children in UK schools being taught science. The enormity of the task was awe-inspiring. The odds were clearly against success: not only were the resources meagre in the extreme, by all accounts there was an ‘entrenched folklore’ of antagonism towards Earth sciences on the part of ‘mainstream’ science teachers, having to shoe horn this alien science into an overcrowded science curriculum. At the same time, the initial findings of research (ongoing) by Chris King and Alastair Fleming of the Earth Science Education Unit (ESEU) at Keele University were disturbing. They pointed not only to widespread poor standards in Earth science teaching in schools by non-specialists, but also to howlers in textbooks and, even more worrying, in examination board questions, which would not be out of place in the pages of Just William (King 2001). To our pleasant surprise and great relief, preliminary soundings of the other science subject teaching associations were encouraging. Far from objections and turf wars, talks began in earnest in late 2000, embracing the Royal Society of Chemistry, the Institute of Physics, the Institute of Biology and ESTA under the good offices of the Royal Society. The Geological Society is also represented on the steering group. The parties involved were not merely amicable but enthusiastic in their willingness to confront the issues. Working together, the Joint Earth Science Education Initiative (JESEI) was established. With generous core funding (and most welcome direct involvement) from the United Kingdom Offshore Operators Association (UKOOA) and contributions of finance or expertise, from the subject teaching organisations concerned, material is now being prepared to support and improve standards of Earth science delivery by chemistry, physics and biology teachers respectively. The aim is not necessarily to reinvent wheels, but to point practitioners to existing high quality material. Initial topics under way or being considered include: volcanoes (origins and impacts); copper mineralisation; limestone (the World’s most useful rock); characteristics of sandstones; seismic waves/ Earth structure; and fossils. Again, thanks to UKOOA sponsorship, some of these will receive a first airing at the Association for Science Education annual conference in January 2002 in Liverpool. These and other dedicated Earth science workshops are being widely promoted at this annual event which usually attracts 4-5,000 participants. The current JESEI programme focuses upon secondary (Key Stages 3 and 4) science; the ultimate intention is to extend the work to primary (Key Stages 1 and 2) and to geography. King, C. 2001. Earth Science teaching in England and Wales today: progress and challenges. Teaching Earth Science 26 pt2. Pp59-67 Ian Thomas the scene, not only by giving mildly promotional information about Hanson’s global operations in quarrying and brickmaking but also by pointing teachers to the relevant National Curriculum statements in science, geography, maths and English. Section 1 of the teachers file (“Magnificent Materials”) focuses on rocks and minerals, especially in relation to a site visit. It is significant that “minerals” in the teachers’ notes are described as “ingredients from which rocks are made”, with no reference to the concept of bulk construction minerals. Surely this is an opportunity to clarify the difference in the two uses of the “mineral” label, at least for the teachers. Section 2 (“Researching Rocks”) contains a good selection of teaching ideas, although I always get suspicious when I read something like “geologists also group rocks according to their hardness” (page 2:2) because I know what often follows! I am afraid it is true this time as well. Later in Section 2 we find a pupil resource sheet (“Rock Fact Chart”) which comprises 15 rock types (basalt and granite, through shelly limestone and coal to slate and schist) which are summarised under 5 variables: Is it found in the UK? (all are ticked, of course); type of rock (igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic); can you scratch it with your fingernail? (the concept of hardenss applied to a rock: no comment!); can you scratch it with a steel nail? (ditto: no comment again, although conglomerate is ticked and granite is not ticked.... interesting); what colour is it? It is a pity that such woolly material is allowed to find its way into such a good resource. I wonder how it happened? Section 3 (“Bricks for Building”) offers some excellent teaching ideas about brick-making, heating materials and developing numeracy skills (although goggles are not mentioned where they should be). Sections 4 and 5 look at “Quarries in Action” and “Quarry Control” respectively and are strongly orientated towards a site visit. Section 6 continues with the strong environmental emphasis started in Section 5 and deals with the issues associated with quarry extension. A lively and imaginative role play is given: Miss Busy, Mr Strong, Mr Green etc, each with a brief role and each putting their views on the proposal to extend Rocky Quarry. Unlike other similar role-play situations, however, the “correct” answer is provided with the resources: “The local council decide to allow the extension to Rocky Quarry”! This predetermined outcome is given on the pupil resource sheet (p. 6:8), so perhaps the bright spark in Year 6 who spots it right at the start of the debate might suggest that they call the whole thing off and either go home to watch tele or organise a militant demonstration! Clearly rational debate is merely a charade! The final two sections in the Teacher Resource Pack deal at greater length with environmental management. This is a good resource which, in the hands of a teacher who can not only exploit its strengths but also avoid its potential weaknesses, will enhance children’s understanding of the science and geography of quarrying and brickmaking in the UK. RDT 121 www.esta-uk.org
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