Schools Affiliate Scheme

The Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining Schools Affiliate Scheme (SAS) has been running since 1999 and has around 300 members schools from across the UK. Membership is split between state and independent schools and science and technology departments. The school becomes the member through a named contact so any department can make use of the resources. The aim of the scheme is two fold:

To support the teaching of the materials, minerals and mining related topics in science and design technology from Key Stage 3 to post-16 level

To raise awareness and promote materials science, technology and engineering as a challenging, exciting and rewarding career option.

 These aims are fulfilled by providing members with a wide range of resources each year, including a termly newsletter, monthly journal, access to presentations in schools, an open invitation to attend the meetings of your nearest local society and teaching resources all for an annual membership fee of £30. You can find out more at www.iom3.org.education/sas.htm.

School Visits

I am already taking bookings from member schools for visits in the Autumn and Spring terms of the next academic year. If you would like me to visit before Christmas I would strongly recommend that you get in touch as soon as you know your timetable. The dates I have remaining up to Christmas are as follows:

Sept: 5, 6, 7, 8, 21
Oct: 3, 4, 5, 18, 19, 20, 24, 25, 26, 27
Nov: 1, 2, 3, 7, 10, 14, 15, 16, 17, 22, 24
Dec: 1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 12, 13, 14, 15, 18, 19

In addition, I only have one day of Science Week 2007 remaining. It’s the Friday and if you would like to book it please get in touch as soon as possible.

There are a number of activities available to schools and each can be tailored to pupils in year 7 to 13 (or even groups of teachers) and to science or technology courses. In general the activities work best with a maximum group size of about 50 or two classes, with the exception of Crash Helmets for Eggs which has a maximum of around 30 participants, and I am willing to do up to three presentations/activities in a day. Each activity has been designed so that it will fit into a lesson, and typically lasts between 50 minutes and one and a half hours. A brief summary of the activities available is given below:

Materials in Action: This interactive presentation is the most popular activity by far and is whistle stop tour through the world of materials. The talk covers metals, polymers, ceramics and composites through their applications in aerospace, sports equipment, communication, and medicine. Smart materials are also described with samples and examples of their applications. This talk is very popular with teachers of the Advancing Physics course as it provides ideas for the individual research project and puts many of the concepts taught in to context.

Materials - its elementary: New for Autumn 2006 this presentation looks at how six elements have shaped the world that we live in. For each element a basic introduction to its occurrence, uses and properties is followed by a more in-depth look at two key uses. At the moment I have looked at iron, nickel, titanium, carbon, silicon and hydrogen, but hope to keep adding elements when I get chance so that you can choose a selection to suit. As with all the other presentations a large number of artefacts are passed around the group.

Smart Materials: This presentation focuses on smart materials and is particularly popular with Design and Technology teachers. The talk looks at colour changing materials, shape memory alloys, piezo electric ceramics and other more unusual smart materials. A description of how the materials work is followed by a look at where these materials are being used.

Communication Materials: This talk looks specifically at the materials that have shaped modern communication and covers those used for storing data, transmitting data and processing data. Crash Helmets for Eggs: This design and build activity is popular with all age groups and subjects. The students, working in pairs, must design and build and all-round crash protection suit to stop an egg from breaking when dropped from a height of about two metres. The pupils are encouraged to work like real engineers, within tight time deadlines and with limited resources and concepts such as fair testing and recording results and ideas are covered.

If you would like to book a presentation please contact me by e-mailing diane.talbot@iom3.org.

UCAS Conventions 2006

 The annual UCAS Higher Education Conventions are scheduled throughout the spring and summer terms at venues across the UK (for full details see www.ucas.ac.uk). They are a useful way for students and young people to find out about applying to university and the associated issues, and about courses. Exhibitors include:

  • Universities who will provide full details of the courses they have on offer and advice to prospective students about all aspects of life at and after university.
  • Professional bodies, such as ourselves, covering a wide range of careers, industries and organisations, who can provide advice on the qualifications needed to enter a particular profession.
  • Major businesses that can speak very specifically about a career in their particular sector.
Over the past few years we have attended an increasing number of these events and this year we will be attending seven fairs as detailed below.

22 &23 March - Exeter a great success!
03 April - Cardiff met lots of really interested and interesting students
09 May - Newcastle
20 & 21 June - Liverpool
30 June - London
04 July - Sheffield
11 & 12 September - Aberdeen

If you have students that are already interested in engineering or those that are not quite sure what they want to do, send them along to talk to us. We can offer advice about courses and careers in materials, minerals and mining that are not biased towards a particular university and can show them where these vital disciplines have played a key role in the everyday things around them.

Autumn Open Day Programme

In 2005 the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining co-ordinated the fourth series of November Open Days and once again they were a great success. Around 560 pupils and almost 60 teachers were booked on to 31 events at 13 venues across the UK. The feedback we received from the students and teachers was extremely positive and show the events to be doing a great job of supporting the materials topics in advanced level physics, chemistry and technology courses.

It is hoped that the programme will be running again in November 2006. More details will be available in the summer term, so watch this space for details.

Don’t forget that if you miss out in November, most university departments are happy to run half or whole day events for schools to support the courses you are teaching at any time throughout the academic year. If you would like to get the contact details for your nearest department please contact me at diane.talbot@iom3.org.

Polymer Study Tours 2007

The Polymer Study Tours are three and a half day, residential, industry awareness courses for secondary school teachers involved in science and technology. The courses are designed to provide an update on the latest developments in the world of polymers, as well as providing information for school pupils on career opportunities in the plastics industry. The courses have been running since 1987 and so far over 1500 teachers have benefited from the scheme. In 2007 courses will be held at the following three venues:

Bradford University
London Metropolitan University
Napier University, Edinburgh

The course costs £700 per teacher to run. However, the courses are sponsored and supported by the Horners Educational Trust and a large number of other companies and organisations working in the polymer industry. So that the actual cost to teachers is just £150 to cover administration.

There is still time to book a place on these courses and to do so you should contact Lareen Jolly at the ASE on 01707 283008 or e-mail lareenjolly@ase.org.uk. Alternatively you can find out more information at www.horners.co.uk or www.ase.org.uk.

Click here for information leaflet (pdf file)
Click here for application form (pdf file)

Students Excel in Schools Starpack 2006 Awards

Students from schools across the UK who came up with a series of wonderfully creative and functional pack designs for the Schools Starpack 2006 competition received their awards at the National Space Centre, Leicester, on March 30, 2006. The Awards scheme, an initiative from the IOP: the Packaging Society, is designed to complement students’ studies as part of the national curriculum and to encourage children to consider packaging and packaging design as a career choice. Issues such as graphics, preservation and protection of contents, structure, cost efficiency and the impact on the environment are central to the briefs.

The Schools Starpack Awards received a massive 132 entries to this year's three briefs for a Sun Protection Combination Pack, New Polythene Pack and the Materials Research brief for the use of a current packaging material in a new market. The judging panel awarded 7 Gold, 7 Silver and 7 Bronze Stars to individual students.

Speaking at the awards ceremony Gordon Stewart, head of the IOP: the Packaging Society said, “We are delighted with the response by students and by the excellence of many of the packs but would like students to pay closer attention to the briefs and read these very carefully before entering.”

On top of the Gold, Silver and Bronze Stars, and commended certificates from the IOP: the Packaging Society, sponsor awards were presented by Pro Carton, to the school providing the best carton entries; and British Polythene Industries, to the school that had the greatest success with its students' entries to the New Polythene Pack category.

Walking away with the Gold for the best Sun Protection Combination Pack as well as The Packaging Society Award was Kourosh Atefipour, of The Sixth Form College Farnborough. Presenting the award Heather Kendle, chair of the Packaging Society, said, “The portfolio demonstrated thorough research and preparation, illustrating the development of the ideas behind the pack.”

The Materials Research Category was a happy hunting ground for Derby High School with Sarah Karim and Rebecca Bussey, Derby High School, both receiving Gold Awards. The school also carried off the IOM3 Materials research award for the most in-depth presentation.

Watch this space for details of next years competition which will be launched in the Autumn.

Resources from the Armourers’ and Brasiers’ Company

The Worshipful Company of Armourers and Brasiers’ are one of the early Livery Companies of the City of London, with a history dating back to 1322. Since there is not a great demand for armour anymore, the main charitable aim of the Company now is to support Materials Science at all levels. A large amount of effort goes in to supporting courses and initiative at school level, for both teachers and pupils. Enclosed with this newsletter you will find the latest list of the resources which the Company is associated with, and I would encourage you to try to attend one of the courses they support or get your pupils to apply for a scholarship. The Company is also able to give small grants, for example to buy some equipment. A full list of the activities supported by the Company can be downloaded as a Word file here. If you have never done so before I would strongly recommend that you have a look at the Company’s web-site www.armourersandbrasiers.co.uk to find out more.

GREENPOWER 2006 - Where are we this year?

Greenpower 2005 concluded very successfully with an action packed final at Goodwood in October. A mix of autumn weather saw racing in warm sunshine and heavy rain, so heavy in fact that the race was suspended for half an hour to let the worst go past!

At the final the new Learning Grid was officially launched by Bob Gilbert of Motorsport Development UK after a welcoming speech by the Earl of March, Greenpower’s patron. Greenpower is one of the four key elements of the Learning Grid that is a joint venture between the DTI and Motorsport Development UK dedicated to furthering the cause of engineering in the context of British motorsport.

After seven years of developing various electric car formulas for all ages of pupils in the UK Greenpower was pleased to have achieved a major objective, that of getting its prime formula, F24, embedded formally into the current Design and Technology curriculum by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA). It now features as an ‘exemplar resource’ to be used by design and technology teachers and their website carries full ‘chapter and verse’ on to how to use a F24 design and build programme to meet the curriculum needs. As this will allow schools to build their cars in school time instead of as an extra-curricular activity we are expecting to see a large increase in entries this year for 2007.

In 2006 we plan a ten regional heat race series for Formula 24 with the final at Goodwood in October. There is also a bigger than ever programme of Goblin events for primary schools and the new ‘Catapult’ and ‘35’ formulas for tertiary students will be starting at several of the F24 events.

The Ford Motor Company has confirmed their support of Greenpower for the fifth year and will be hosting the Essex heat at their facilities at Dunton. Qualifying heats are also being supported this year by Renishaw plc in the South West and The Environment Agency in Sussex. Westland Helicopters have been a regular supporter of the Somerset heat at Haynes Motor Museum and the EEF are contributing to several of our events including the Northeast heat at the Croft Motor Circuit and the Dorset heat at Matcham’s Raceway in the New Forest. Any offers for sponsorship of regional heats would be gratefully received as in 2007 we will see the number of events increase to at least fifteen.

Remember to visit the recently launched new and improved Greenpower website www.greenpower.co.uk to see when and where all the events are in 2006 and then make a point of coming along, entry is free!

Materials Interactive

Materials Interactive is a free resource produced by the UK Centre for Materials Education in conjunction with Corus, the Armourers and Brasiers’ Company and the Matter group.

It is set of resources which have been designed and created to help increase the awareness of Materials Science and Engineering as a subject and degree option.

The three main sections of the resource highlight the importance of materials in everyday use and the exciting careers available to those who study materials at school or university. The sections include several interactive sessions, rolling movies and Powerpoint presentations. Topics such as materials and sport, transport, medicine, the environment, communication, packaging and biology are explored and specific applications such as CDs, surgical implants, Formula 1, rubies, golf and space technology are described.

You can download the resource free of charge from the UKCME web-site, www.materials.ac.uk.

QuarryEd Web-site

QuarryEd is a project driven by the combined need of teachers for new ideas and inspiration for the classroom without creating extra workload, and of the extractive industry to spark an interest in the future generation of extractive industry professionals. It has been developed by the Camborne School of Mines (part of the University of Exeter) with funding from the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund.

The extractive industry is multidisciplinary and offers a wide range of learning opportunities across many subject areas. QuarryEd have used these learning opportunities to develop a range of education resources designed to compliment a range of A level subjects which include: Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics, Geography, Geology, Biology, Environmental science. The site provides teachers and students with resources and information that relate the theoretical approaches of schools to a real life industry, enhancing learning opportunities.

The resources are in a teacher friendly format and are free of charge. The resources are devised specifically for A level curriculum subjects but they can be easily adapted to suit the needs of other year groups. Resources will be continually added to the site over the summer.

You can find QuarryEd at www.QuarryEd.co.uk.

Virtual Quarry Web-site

The Virtual Quarry web-site has been produced by the Quarry Products Association with support from the Minerals Industry Research Organisation. The site is designed to support the Science and Geography curriculum from KS1 to KS4 and amongst other things contains 20 comprehensive units developed against Schemes of Work by teachers for teachers. The lesson plans are supported by teachers briefings which give an introduction to the industry followed by more specific guides on its relevance. There is a free image library which teachers can download. Of more interest to your pupils are a virtual quarry tour which can be projected to the class using an interactive white board, a restoration activity and a number of short movies looking at why quarrying is important. The Rock Spot features information about places to visit and local events and is well worth a visit.

You can find the virtual quarry at www.virtualquarry.co.uk.