‘The Travel Challenge’ is launched on 6^th September as the fourth of the series of ten STEM Challenges brought to you by STEMNET. The challenge is: ‘Can you help to reduce the carbon footprint of spectators travelling to London 2012?‘ BP - the official oil and gas partner of the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games – is challenging Key Stage 3 (or equivalent) students to make proposals for sustainable travel options at Games time.  The deadline for team registration is Monday 1^st November 2010 and then teams prepare entries for the judging which takes place in schools between 1^st and 8^th December 2010. The challenge final will be held at ASE Conference, Reading, Thursday 6^th January 2011. Further information, resources and teacher guides can be found by visiting www.stemchallenges.net.

The East Midlands STEM Partnership is pleased to announce that preparations for the 7th Forum Event, ‘STEM Careers – Shaping the Future’ are currently underway. The event will be taking place on 12 October 2010 (9.00am - 12.00pm) at East Midlands Development Agency, Nottingham.

The National Science and Engineering Week STEM Student Journalist Competition deadline is only 10 days away... Friday 16 April!

Student Journalists can submit reports relating to events and activities which took place during National Science and Engineering Week (12 -21 March 2010). With the opportunity to win an iPod Nano for winning reports!

Further details about the competition and terms and conditions can be found at http://www.emstempartnership.org.uk/nsew . Please submit all reports to Hannah Benson at hannah.benson@themarketingdivision.co.uk or 0115 984 7021, or contact Hannah with any questions you have.

.... There's still time to submit your reports, so get writing!!

Competition winners will be annouced week commencing 26 April.

The Derbyshire Education Business Partnership’s STEM – science, technology, engineering and mathematics – team, together with staff from Kniveton CE Primary School, have been on a trip of a lifetime to offer some much needed educational support to the Janet International School in Gambia. 

Mangrove swamps, dusty dirt tracks, oyster farms, blistering heat and the sound of baboons, awaited the team who spent a week over the February half term sharing a programme of work with students and teachers in the underprivileged area of Bakoteh. The programme focused on local environments and incorporated work on climate change, the carbon footprint and sustainable energy. The team settled in straight away after a warm welcome and were able to deliver a series of fun and engaging activities - including K’Nex solar panels, LEGO NXT robotic cars, wind turbines and solar ovens – to the beaming students, who had never in their life seen such technology. 

STEM manager, Lawrie Peck said, “It was an incredible privilege to be part of this project – to see the students growing in confidence as they embraced the new ideas, particularly in a region so in need of cost-cutting sustainable energy technology like these. It just demonstrates what an important role science, technology, engineering and maths can play in our world, and how important it is to build this into education from a young age.” 

Guest Blogger: Lawrie Peck, Derbyshire Education Business Partnership

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills' (BIS) Science and Learning Expert Group has recently released a report Science and Mathematics Secondary Education for the 21st Century. 

The report outlines five priority areas for improving STEM learning in schools and colleges;

1. Recruit more STEM graduates into teaching, then train and retain them
2. Improve the content and assessment of science and maths at GCSE and A-Level (including having expert groups advise on the design and development of qualifications and assessment)
3. Clearly differentiate the learning pathways available to young people
4. Integrate IAG into science lessons and enrichment, and develop HE and workplace links
5. Foster a commitment to excellence in science and mathematics in schools and colleges through accountability mechanisms and incentives. 

There’s a good article about the report on the BBC website.  You can see the responses from Schools Minister Iain Wright and Science and Innovation Minister Lord Drayson on the BIS website.

I have now settled in as scientist in residence at Lab 13 at Crown Hills Community College and look forward to our official launch on the 25th of February. There is a buzz going around the school fuelled by those who have discovered Lab_13 and have enjoyed the experience.

The lab has so far seen a number of Lunchtime clubs (exploring the science used in hollywood films) and an inventors club where students have had the freedom to design their own innovative project. A Come Alive With Science project (looking at the science behind fashion) has also taken place in the lab.

The experience of working with the students in Lab_13 at Crown Hills has also helped me to grow as an individual as I have had to manage the expectations of a school, a group of confident students as well as the aims and objectives of the project as a whole. Apart from all the amazing experiments I have been able to demonstrate so far, I have also learnt not to show students how to make slime and to leave decorating the lab to the art department! 
 
Tom Carter, Scientist in Residence, Lab_13, Crown Hills Community College

The fifth regional East Midlands STEM Student Journalist Workshop took place last Thursday 11 February.  Hosted at the Roundhouse, part of Derby College, the half day interactive workshop was led by BBC Business Correspondent Rob Pittam and BBC News Camerawoman Sara Shepherd.  The event was a great success with Rob and Sara giving students an insight into their jobs and the world of journalism.

Later in the day, students enthusiastically took part in a news room simulation activity where they adopted the roles of editors, sub editors and reporters, looking at STEM related press releases on topics such as climate change, developments in sports science, the ‘toyota’ issue in the world of engineering and technological advancements at the Vancouver Winter Olympics, giving students a taste of what it is like to come up with a news agenda and cope with a running story. The day concluded with the opportunity for students to ask Rob and Sara questions.

The workshop was attended by over 60 students, primarily from Derbyshire, but also from Nottinghamshire and Northamptonshire. Analysis of the workshop evaluation saw 85% of students rate the day as useful, with 89% finding the sessions run by Rob and Sara interesting and helpful. Rob and Sara said they “enjoyed meeting STEM reporters, being able to pass on tips and share our experiences with the next generation of journalists...."

Students commented on the event saying that it gave them “a valuable insight into the world of journalism”, and teachers attending on the day said they were “impressed by the quality of their students work during the news room simulation activity”.

The forthcoming National Science and Engineering Week (NSEW), 12-21 March, will be an ideal platform for the students who attended the workshop to put their new STEM reporting skills into action and enter the NSEW STEM Student Journalist Competition to win an iPod Nano. For more details click here.   

National Science and Engineering Week (NSEW) is just over 1 month away!

NSEW is a programme of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) events and activities taking place between 12 – 21 March 2010.  

The East Midlands STEM Partnership is helping promote NSEW by encouraging organisers to register their events on the national database, training more students to report on news happening in their county and inviting VIPs to come and see for themselves STEM in action in the East Midlands. As part of this promotion, the partnership has developed a bespoke microsite for the week to increase event registrations on the NSEW site, and to encourage students to enter the NSEW STEM Student Journalist Competition, with the opportunity to win an iPod Nano for reporting on NSEW events and activities.

To find out more about NSEW in the East Midlands and how you can get involved visit the microsite now! http://www.emstempartnership.org.uk/nsew

The School of Science and Technology at the University of Northampton has been working with local schools to create robots made from junk. This is an initiative by the University to introduce environmental sustainability, engineering and computing to students in a fun and educational project that uses STEM subjects.

Junkbots is being delivered by university staff and students, working as STEM Ambassadors, going into schools to provide guidance and support in the production of the robots.  The workshops will introduce students to the idea of waste management and allow them to design and build their own robots, using junk material, to being with and later creating a robot that will clear rubbish.  Students will then present their work to the wider group.

Here are some comments from Thomas Becket Catholic School who have been working with the University of Northampton’s School of Science and Technology on the Junkbots project; Kerrie Henton, Vice Principal at Thomas Becket School said “We are committed to environmental sustainability at Thomas Becket and any opportunity we can give our students to engage in an exiting learning opportunity that is good for the community is something we couldn’t turn down. The students and staff supporting the project have had an excellent time and the robots they produced are just superb.” 

David Barclay (14) said 'It's been very good and great fun and it has made me realise aspects about the environment that I never realised before. We have even found ways to save the school money which I am sure the Head will be pleased about'. 

The Junkbots project is funded by Northamptonshire Enterprise Ltd through the Single Programme and managed by the University of Northampton.   

Guest Blogger: Heathery Payne, Northamptonshire Enterprise

The Rolls-Royce Science Prize is an annual awards programme, run in conjunction with the national network of Science Learning Centres, which helps teachers implement science teaching ideas in their schools and colleges.

Two of the nine finalists in 2009, chosen from a field of 1,500 schools and colleges, come from the East Midlands! As finalists, the schools have already been awarded £6,000 to implement a science teaching project and could win a further £15,000 in this national competition.

Teachers from Kibworth Primary School in Leicestershire have developed an innovative science project, to develop a network to share information with neighbouring schools to improve science teaching and learning. Over the year the school will work to give science a higher profile by ensuring teaching assistants are engaged in science teaching. 

Staff from Moulton School and Science College in Northamptonshire have developed an exciting project, in which students will learn how forensic science techniques are used in real life police investigations. The students will develop their scientific skills across a range of disciplines including the use of DNA fingerprinting and the way in which science is applied in crime fighting.

Sue Bull, Director of the Science Learning Centre East Midlands said ““Both schools have come up with innovative and creative ideas to help develop students and staff in order to enhance science teaching and learning. I hope their projects progress well over the year and that they are successful in the final which takes place in October. ” 

Guest Blogger - Sue Bull, Science Learning Centre East Midlands