INSPIRE

Inspire

Biomimicry: a nature-based approach to designing sustainable futures

September 2, 2024 | Issue 69

Learn from nature: biomimicry can be an inspiring interdisciplinary teaching tool that motivates students through engagement with real-world problems.

Ages: <11, 11-14, 14-16, 16-19
Keywords: Biomimicry, Engineering, Form, Function, Inquiry-based learning, Problem solving, Sustainability

Inspire

Save the Date: Back to School 2024-2025 with ESA and ESERO

September 2, 2024 | Issue 69

Discover five exciting projects from ESA and its ESERO network. Use space to motivate and enrich your lessons for out-of-this world STEM lessons!

Ages: <11, 11-14, 14-16, 16-19
Keywords: Climate, Coding, Satellites, Space, Teaching resources



UNDERSTAND

Understand

How does the body avoid multiple sperm fertilizing an egg?

September 2, 2024 | Issue 69

You shall not pass: discover how the protein coating around an egg cell ‘zips up’ after fertilization to stop more sperm from entering.

Ages: 14-16, 16-19
Keywords: Evolution, Fertilization, Molecular biology, Proteins, Protein structures

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TEACH

Teach

Extract value from wool waste: keratin and the circular economy

September 2, 2024 | Issue 69

Spinning a yarn: explore the chemistry of wool and use it as a raw material for biobased products through simple hand-on activities.

Ages: 14-16, 16-19
Keywords: Chemistry, Circular economy, Keratin, Protein structure, Sustainability, Wool

Teach

Simple gravimetric chemical analysis – weighing molecules the microscale way

September 2, 2024 | Issue 69

Learn how to do quantitative chemistry using microscale techniques with bottle tops and inexpensive spirit burners that are relatively easy and quick to set up.

Ages: 11-14, 14-16, 16-19
Keywords: Chemistry, Chemical formula, Chemical reactions, Combustion, Microscale chemistry, Molar mass

Teach

Accelerators are everywhere, perhaps closer than you think…

September 2, 2024 | Issue 69

Did you know that there are more than 30 000 particle accelerators around the world? Where are they, and what are they for?

Ages: 11-14, 14-16
Keywords: Applied science, Geography, Particle accelerators, Particle physics

Teach

Biodiversity and biomass in the school garden

September 2, 2024 | Issue 69

Small but mighty: investigate the role of herbaceous plants in the school garden for their contribution to biodiversity and sequestering carbon dioxide.

Ages: 14-16, 16-19
Keywords: Biodiversity, Biomass, Binomial classification, Carbon dioxide, Greenhouse gasses, Plants