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Editorial Events Feature article: Susan Greenfield Cutting-edge science Teaching activities Projects in science education Science topics Spotlight on education Scientist profile Teacher profile Science in film Reviews Resources on the web Back in the staffroom

Editorial

• Welcome to the second issue of Science in School
  Since the publication of the first issue, we have received a lot of enthusiastic feedback from our readers. Science teachers from across Europe particularly liked our innovative teaching ideas, accessible science coverage, interdisciplinary topics and European approach. And these are features that we intend to continue to offer.
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Events

• Forthcoming events
  Read (frequently updated) | PDF [132 KB]

Feature article: Susan Greenfield and Martin Westwell

• The scientist of the future
  Susan Greenfield and Martin Westwell from the Institute for the Future of the Mind consider the needs of the future scientist.
  Read (English, Portuguese, Spanish) | PDF [148 KB]

Cutting-edge science

• Are there Earth-like planets around other stars?
  Uffe Gråe Jørgensen from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, describes the search for Earth-like planets elsewhere in our galaxy.
  Read (English, Croatian, Dutch, French, Greek, Italian, Spanish, Turkish) | PDF [356 KB]
• A new tree of life
  At the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany, Peer Bork’s research group has meticulously reconstructed a new tree of life – tracing the course of evolution. Russ Hodge explains.
  Read (English, Czech/Slovak) | PDF [260 KB]

Teaching activities

• Scientists at play: contraptions for developing science process skills
  In the second of two articles on developing the processes of enquiry, hypothesis and testing, Alfredo Tifi, Natale Natale and Antonietta Lombardi describe how to build and apply some of the low-cost equipment they have developed.
  Read (English, Croatian, Greek, Italian) | PDF [244 KB]
• Modelling the DNA double helix using recycled materials
  Dionisios Karounias, Evanthia Papanikolaou and Athanasios Psarreas, from Greece, describe their innovative model of the DNA double helix – using empty bottles and cans!
  Read (English, Dutch) | PDF [280 KB]
• The chocolate challenge
  John Schollar from the National Centre for Biotechnology Education at the University of Reading, UK, finds an excuse for eating one of his favourite foods - chocolate.
  Read (English, Dutch) | PDF [184 KB]
• Environmental chemistry: water testing as part of collaborative project work
  Wetlands are key habitats for a vast range of wildlife. Richard Harwood and Chris Starr, from Aiglon College, Switzerland, describe a school project to measure water quality in a local wetlands region.
  Read (English, Spanish) | PDF [216 KB]

Projects in science education

• Promoting science and motivating students in the 21st century
  Marilyn Brodie from the Centre for Science Education, UK, describes two projects to involve the scientific research community in schools and raise enthusiasm for science among students.
  Read (English, Spanish) | PDF [196 KB]
• The exhibition ship MS Einstein: a floating source of scientific knowledge
  Imagine a barge carrying not coal or other heavy cargo, but something much more precious – inspiration! Beate Langholf from Wissenschaft im Dialog, Germany, describes a science exhibition that travels the rivers of Germany with a different theme each year.
  Read (English, Croatian, Macedonian) | PDF [356 KB]
• Linking university and school: addressing the challenges of science teaching in Italy
  Mariolina Tenchini, Director of Cus-Mi-Bio in Milan, Italy, introduces a university initiative to motivate science teachers and provide both them and their students with hands-on experience of cutting-edge science.
  Read | PDF [164 KB]

Science topics

• Forensic entomology
  Are you a biologist with a mission? Do you want to fight crime with science? Martin Hall and Amoret Brandt from The Natural History Museum in London, UK, introduce the fascinating (and smelly) field of forensic entomology.
  Read (English, Portuguese) | PDF [212 KB]
• Symmetry rules
  Everyone knows what symmetry is. In this article, though, Mario Livio from the Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, USA, explains how not only shapes, but also laws of nature, can be symmetrical.
  Read (English, Greek, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish) | PDF [216 KB]
• Chocolate’s chemical charm
  Dhara Thakerar, a second-year student of natural sciences at Cambridge University, UK, elucidates the science of chocolate.
  Read (English, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese) | PDF [200 KB]
• Epigenetics
  We tend to think of our genetic information as being encoded in DNA – in our genes. Brona McVittie from Epigenome NoE, UK, describes why this is only part of the story.
  Read (English, Italian, Polish, Portuguese) | PDF [184 KB]

Spotlight on education

• GRID: a European network of good practice in science teaching
  Sibylle Moebius introduces a project, GRID, to identify and promote innovative science education in Europe
  Read (English, Catalan) | PDF [204 KB]

Scientist profile

• A search for the origins of the brain
  Detlev Arendt, a molecular biologist at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heidelberg, Germany, describes to Russ Hodge how his cutting-edge research is following in the footsteps of a 19th-century scientist.
  Read | PDF [264 KB]

Teacher profile

• A zoologist at school: my pupils and other animals
  Silvia Boi, a science teacher from Italy, explains how her fascination with science led her to study ant behaviour, worm reproduction and the human genome – and how she now tries to awaken that fascination in her pupils, using somewhat unusual techniques.
  Read (English, Bulgarian) | PDF [128 KB]

Science in film

• Video-clip collection of the European Space Agency
  Films about science or even pseudo-science can be powerful tools in the classroom. Heinz Oberhummer from the Cinema and Science project provides a toolkit for using the video-clip collection of the European Space Agency.
  Read (English, Estonian, German, Italian, Slovene) | PDF [200 KB]

Reviews

• Power, Sex, Suicide: Mitochondria and the Meaning of Life
  Read | PDF [128 KB]
• The Science Behind Medicines
  Read | PDF [128 KB]
• Success Strategies for Women in Science: A Portable Mentor
  Read | PDF [132 KB]
• The Physics of Superheroes
  Read (English, Croatian, Macedonian) | PDF [128 KB]
• Real Mosquitoes Don’t Eat Meat: This and Other Inquiries into the Oddities of Nature
  Read | PDF [128 KB]
• Learning from Patients: The Science of Medicine
  Read | PDF [128 KB]

Resources on the web

• Free science journals
  Are you looking for a good article to use in a lesson? Or do you just want to browse a science journal or two for inspiration? Here is a selection of free online science journals and some useful tools for tracking down the books, articles and journals you need.
  Read (updated) | PDF [156 KB]

Back in the staffroom

• Putting the fizz into physics!
  Lucy Attwood from Oxford Danfysik, UK, explains the mysterious appeal of champagne.
  Read (English, Greek) | PDF [124 KB]