woodchurch science

see mr smith in action tonight on bbc2 9pm as he tries to motivate a year 8 class with the science of fireworks.

this link takes you to the bbc’s archive of videos for use in schools. includes science, geography, re and citizenship. you need a username and password to access, which i have. come and see me or email me and i’ll give them to you.

sky learning has worked with their channels, supporters and leaders in the education field to provide you with some content to help with your revision studies in a variety of subjects. access the resources on sky learning’s useful links page.

all the program notes and revision guides that i’ve written for sky tv/discovery channel as well as all the video clips from the programs can be found on this page.

sky learning has teamed up with mr warren to create a gcse science study aid to accompany the discovery channels, “the big experiment” a six part series which is about the explosive, mind blowing power of science and how it can change lives. “the big experiment” series will be aired on discovery channel, sky channel 520 on thursday 6th march at 9pm. (each episode will also be repeated on sundays at 6pm).

the series consists of six one hour shows with three top scientists working with a year 9 class to help them pass their gcse science exams. each week, a study guide for each episode highlighting key points from the show will be available which provides hints and tips, as well as practice exam questions all of which will help you in your studies.

this week’s guide accompanies the first programme in the series, “shocking science” which will take you through the absolute basics of atomic structure and the elements right through the big bang theory. visit sky learning here and download mr warren’s program notes here.

there’s a new tv series on cbbc called ‘pedro and frankensheep’ which has science themes at the heart of each episode. one of the episodes can be seen on youtube (all about sleep deprivation). its blocked at school so watch at home.

pedro and frankensheep is a series of 10 x 5 minute episodes following the scientific misadventures of a super intelligent guinea pig pedro and his naïve simpleton cyborg sheep frank. also featuring two high iq ticks hector and hugo that live on frank’s head and who burst into song every episode.

some promo pics here. nine episodes are available to view at the cbbc website. and particularly nice are the make-your-own foldeez characters that the bbc has put together from the characters in the series: frank/pedro

you’d probably be surprised to hear that there are loads of science references in numerous episodes of the simpsons, from homer’s time travelling toaster to principal skinner’s riposte on a visit to a private school, ‘hmmpf! due to school board cutbacks OUR periodic chart only has 15 elements….and they’re all lanthanides!” there are plenty more here including my favourite…see if you can spot it.

richard hammond the popular presenter of top gear and the science program brainiac on sky one has been seriously injured in a land speed record attempt. read more here.

channel 4 have released a bank of clips for use in science lessons. you can buy a licence to access them all but there are free ones for use when taching about particle theory, energy changes in chemical reactions and crude oil etc.

the following video clip from pbs tv looks at why it took such a long time for the theory of evolution to be accepted. the aqa science scheme for 2006 requires pupils to ’suggest why Darwin’s theory of natural selection was only gradually accepted’. the video will help pupils to address such questions.