Cambridge Science Festival

I'm looking forward to my first Public Engagement activity at CRUK Cambridge Institute.
This weekend, on Sunday CI will have activities about bioinformatics as well as computing-related activities on a Raspberry pi along with a themed 'Escape Room' @CRUKCambridge @CamBioCampus

I'm back!

Rather a long hiatus in posting here. What have I been doing? I've been involved in Bioinformatics Training for over the last 3 years. First at the Institute of Food Research (Now known as the Quadram Institute) and now at Cancer Research UK's Cambridge Institute.

Bioinformatics is a really excellent example of a STEM-based career. Firstly as we are dealing with living organisms, it involves biological understanding. The sequencing technologies involve a lot of state of the art engineering micro-fluidics, flow-cells and discoveries like the Oxford Nanopore.
The sheer amount of data requires considerable IT resources (Programming, Storage, Clusters) to analyse along with a wealth of techniques from Mathematics and Statistics.

Butterfly pea tea indicator solutions

Butterfly pea tea

Another variation on the cabbage-water-indicator we've tried out lately - butterfly pea tea.

You can buy it from Amazon, but not from any specialist tea shops. When I phoned them up and asked them about it, the Oxford ones were curious, and had never heard of it!

It's almost flavourless, so works well in cocktails, and a few leaves make a vivid, bright blue liquid. Squeeze some lemon in, and it turns vibrantly pink (less effective with dry ice - just turns purple. Needs more push).

You can add gin to it safely without changing the colour, although shockingly most people don't want to drink a cocktail that tastes mostly of gin. Elderflower cordial is a good add that doesn't affect colour.

Pictures:

https://goo.gl/photos/wRTGzXgc1DziwgDN9

https://goo.gl/photos/vtgJN61F8jJs71RdA

*Dr Rowena Fletcher-Wood*

Science Communicator

*sciencegecko.co.uk* <http://sciencegecko.co.uk>

@RowenaFW

07708824013

Design for a better world Competition for pupils aged 11-14

New Practical Action Competition for School Students aged 11-14

Details & Teachers notes here

Design For A Better World

Design For A Better World

Design for a better world offers an exciting new global design challenge and competition for students aged 11-14 years.

The deadline for entering the competition is the 16th December 2016.

If offers students the opportunity to:

• Learn about the Global Goals for Sustainable Development
• Access a range of global contexts including Water and Sanitation, Food Security and Climate Action in which to identify a design problem
• Explore a range of  technologies that people are developing around the world to address global challenges.

All the teaching materials and student activity sheets are to download below. To order your FREE poster that supports this challenge, click here.

For display materials and other activites around the Global goals please go to our Global Goals main page

Call for RSS Statistical Ambassadors

If you are in the first ten years of your career working with statistics and data, and based in the UK, please do consider applying for the RSS statistical ambassadors programme:

https://www.statslife.org.uk/members-area/member-news/latest-call-outs-to-members/2710-could-you-be-one-of-our-statistical-ambassadors

The RSS statistical ambassadors programme is developing the public engagement skills of UK-based professional statisticians, to create a cohort of volunteers willing and able to respond to requests from event organisers and the media. Existing ambassadors have given media interviews, participated in public events, helped journalists and press officers understand statistical issues, written popular articles, and much more.

We are now accepting applications for a further ten ambassadors to join the programme.

The programme is specifically aimed at early-career statisticians (up to ten years in the profession), including postgraduate students, and those with limited public communication experience.

It aims to support and assist those who wish to engage with public audiences about statistical matters through the media, in person, or online. The programme is not aimed at those wishing to change careers into the media or into professional communication roles.

Statistical ambassadors will receive two days' training and four telephone group mentoring sessions with experts including David Spiegelhalter, Winton Professor for the Public Understanding of Risk at Cambridge University, to help you reflect on and develop your skills. We ask statistical ambassadors to be responsive to requests from the RSS for volunteer time for public engagement. Participation in the programme is eligible for the RSS CPD requirements.

Applications close on 23 March 2016. For full details of how to apply, visit: https://www.statslife.org.uk/members-area/member-news/latest-call-outs-to-members/2710-could-you-be-one-of-our-statistical-ambassadors

Bringing science to life for primary schoolchildren

May be of interest to Primary School Teachers:

Bringing science to life for primary schoolchildren - Screenhouse for BBC Bitesize Science

We've made a series of short science films presented by Steve Mould aimed at enthusing children in UK primary schools KS2  about science in the world around us.

Please do pass on these links below to any primary science teachers ( or anyone for that matter !) who would like some fun and entertaining ways to introduce these topics in the classroom.

Let us know if we can create any video for you and your project!

Thanks,

Barbara Govan

Screenhouse Productions

Dino 1: http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/clips/zwqqnbk

Dino 2: http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/clips/zwmmycw

Floating: http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/clips/zqcrqty

Fire: http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/clips/zqnprdm

Gears: http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/clips/zpvyk7h

Pulleys: http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/clips/zww86fr

Bath Bombs: 

Royal Institution Grant scheme for enriching STEM teaching

Of interest to STEM teachers and their schools:
I would be really grateful if you could spread the word about the Royal Institution's STEM grant scheme (details below) to organisations and individuals who have contact with schools.

For those of you who don't know, the STEM Directories are an online catalogue of activities that enhance the teaching of science, engineering and maths in UK schools. The Directories are managed by the Royal Institution.

If you are a provider of a STEM activity then we encourage you to register on the Directories<http://www.stemdirectories.org.uk/providers/> so that schools can search for you.

Thanks a lot,
Andrew

---

Grant scheme for enriching STEM teaching - NOW OPEN

The Royal Institution<http://www.rigb.org/?gclid=CLqohbqm78kCFWgUwwodkOIEZQ> (Ri) is offering UK state schools grants of up to £500 to host a STEM enrichment activity for their teachers and students.

Funded by the Causeway Foundation, the scheme is designed to integrate STEM activities (such as shows, talks and workshops) into school practice and to support teachers' professional development.

Successful applicants will receive £500 towards any activity listed on the STEM Directories as long as it is held before the end of July 2016.

Eligible state-funded schools, academies and FE colleges must complete the online application form<http://www.stemdirectories.org.uk/grant_app/> by the closing date: 7th February 2016.

For more information and to apply, visit the STEM Directories website<http://www.stemdirectories.org.uk/grant-scheme/> or email stemdirectories@ri.ac.uk


Andrew Brown
STEM Directories Project Officer

Royal Institution, 21 Albemarle Street, London W1S 4BS
e: abrown@ri.ac.uk
t: 020 7670 2952
www.rigb.org<http://www.rigb.org/>
www.richannel.org<http://www.rigb.org/>

Support the Ri: become a member<http://www.rigb.org/membership> or donate<http://www.justgiving.com/Charity/Donate.aspx?cid=187404> today
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