Well we’ve been beavering away here in I’m a Scientist Towers. We’ve taken on a freelancer to develop the teacher packs. Becky Davies usually works at Techniquest as a science communicator and has a wealth of experience running workshops and activities with young people of varying ages.

Becky’s been doing a great job, coming up with lots of ideas and covering lots of ground. And there’s been a lot of back and forth as we try to hammer out what will work best, how things will fit together and best support the event. So I can now proudly unveil our draft plan for the teaching materials for I’m a Scientist.

In summary:-

Proposed lessons
1. Criteria for judging science – selection/sorting task
2. Stem Cell Debate
3. i. Speed-dating the scientists OR
ii. Simple intro
4. Live Chat
5. Interactive quizzes
6. Project analysis

Proposed info sheets
1. Generating electricity
2. Data handling
3. Drug development

We’d really appreciate any thoughts on the plan – suggestions, criticisms, praise. Especially praise;-). The more input we have, the more useful the resources will be for teachers. Once developed, all the resources will be freely available on the website for anyone to download and use – not just teachers who take part in I’m a Scientist.

Lots of great ideas haven’t made the cut, many because we don’t want to take the focus off the fact that the important thing about the event is the students getting to talk to scientists online – and vote! The activities all need to support that and help students and teachers make the most of the opportunity. However, we’ll have all our ‘also ran’ activities online in the teaching resources section, for teachers who are looking for more How Science Works type materials.

And apologies to people who’ve received two emails about this.