March 2020volume 101 number 376SSR

School Science Review

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March 2020: 101(376)

SSR

The ASE’s journal for science education 11–19376

The Associationfor Science Education

Science, engineering and big questions

Special coronavirus discussion inside

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SSR March 2020, 101(376) 1

School Science ReviewThe ASE’s journal for science education 11–19

Editor Geoff Auty

Special Issue Editor Berry Billingsley

Joint Executive Editors Andrew Welsh and Martin Payne

Assistant Executive Editor Helen Johnson Book Reviews Miriam Chaplin App Reviews Susan Judge Websearch David S. Moore

Editorial contact ASE Jane Hanrott Design/typesetting Andrew Welsh

School Science Review is published in March, June, September and December and sent to all Ordinary Members of the ASE free of charge. It is also available on subscription from the ASE.

Authorisation is granted by the Association for Science Education for items from SSR to be photocopied for personal use or for the use of specific students. Permission is needed to copy or reproduce for any other purpose and requests should be addressed to the ASE.

The contents of this journal do not necessarily represent the views or policies of the ASE, except where explicitly identified as such.

© Association for Science Education, 2020

ISSN 0036–6811

The Association for Science Education

Address College Lane, Hatfield, Herts AL10 9AA Telephone 01707 283000 Fax 01707 266532 Email info@ase.org.uk Website www.ase.org.uk

Advertising Rebecca Dixon-Watmough 01254 247764, rebecca@ase.org.uk

Printing Holbrooks Printers Ltd, Portsmouth, England

2 SSR March 2020, 101(376)

ContentsSchool Science Review March 2020, 101(376)

5 Editorial

6 Coronavirus (COVID-19): trying to understand the information being supplied to the publicGeoff Auty and Neil WalkerA physics teacher asks a biology teacher to explain the reasons behind some of the coronavirus advice and information being given on television and in the newspapers

11 Science notes11 Drying of gases: calcium chloride and ammonia Christopher Talbot12 A simple demonstration of the danger of an overloaded electric circuit Ping-Wai Kwok13 A STEM activity to make a ‘teaching and learning pencil case’ Steven Weir

16 Theme editorial: Science, engineering and big questionsBerry Billingsley

19 Thinking like a scientist in a multidisciplinary arena: the case of Renoir’s paintingBerry Billingsley and Mark WindsorWhat does it mean to think like a scientist? How is thinking like a scientist similar to, and different from, thinking like a scholar in other disciplines?

25 Why did the Titanic sink?’ – bridging two disciplines to teach epistemic insight with lower secondary school studentsBerry Billingsley, Sherralyn Simpson and Manzoorul AbedinA workshop supporting teachers to explore how epistemic insight taught either individually or collaboratively can help their students to investigate a question that bridges science and another discipline

30 Marine engineering and multidisciplinary approaches to address challenges on the high seasAnna HamptonIntroducing a marine engineering workshop designed to teach density and multidisciplinary ways of working by a collaboration of engineers and researchers

33 Bristlebots – are they alive? Epistemic insight workshops using small things to ask big questionsKarl BentleyAn introduction to a series of workshops designed within the Epistemic Insight Initiative that explore ways in which a purpose-made artefact, the Bristlebot, can encourage and equip students of all ages to investigate big questions

36 A biology educator’s perspective on ‘life’Paul DaviesA summary of how biologists and philosophers of science have defined life is followed by the implications for the biology classroom and beyond

40 Approaching the ‘big questions’ of middle-years school biology through the thinking of C. H.  WaddingtonNeil R. IngramCan we use the thinking of Conrad Waddington to enable middle-years school biology students (ages 11–16) to think about the nature of life?

47 Can a robot think for itself? Helping young people to ask big questions about human and electronic personhoodBerry Billingsley and Mehdi NassajiA workshop designed to develop students’ appreciation of the power and limitations of science and to encourage them to think critically about the impacts of using anthropomorphic language to describe the capabilities and nature of human-like machines

51 The Engineering Ed project: dealing with failure and the robotic future – engaging students in multidisciplinary STEM learningMichael Oh and Finley LawsonA robotics workshops can provide a multidisciplinary context for examining the power and limitations of science for secondary school students within a ‘big questions’ framework

SSR March 2020, 101(376) 3

ContentsSchool Science Review March 2020, 101(376)

60 Has the time come to use near-infrared spectroscopy in your science classroom?Jan HöperUsing mobile near-infrared spectrometers in case-based health and safety education

67 Citizen scientists: school students conducting, contributing to and communicating ecological research – experiences of a school–university partnershipPen-Yuan Hsing and the MammalWeb citizen science projectThrough a citizen science project monitoring local wild mammals, the authors describe what they learned from a mutually beneficial partnership between a secondary school and a research university

75 The infrared camera as a pedagogical tool in science educationChoun Pei Wong and R. SubramaniamSeven ideas for high school science teachers for using the infrared camera to demonstrate concepts in physics, chemistry and biology

79 The use of VPython/GlowScript to model chemical phenomenaDavid FairleyDemonstrating chemical phenomena using computer models

83 Reviews

93 Science websearch

96 SSR special issues

96 Advertisers index

Health & SafetyFor all practical procedures described in SSR, we have attempted to ensure that:l all recognised hazards have been identified;l appropriate precautions are suggested;l where possible procedures are in accordance with commonly adopted model risk assessments;l if a special risk assessment is likely to be necessary this is highlighted.

However errors and omissions can be made, and employers may have adopted different standards. Therefore, before any practical activity, teachers should always check their employer’s assessment. Any local rules issued by their employer must be obeyed, whatever is recommended in SSR.

Unless the context dictates otherwise it is assumed that:l practical work is conducted in a properly equipped laboratory;l any mains-operated and other equipment is properly maintained;l any fume cupboard operates at least to the standard of CLEAPSS Guide G9;l care is taken with normal laboratory operations such as heating substances or handling heavy objects;l good laboratory practice is observed when chemicals or living organisms are handled;l eye protection is worn whenever there is any recognised risk to the eyes;l fieldwork takes account of any guidelines issued by the employer;l pupils are taught safe techniques for such activities as heating chemicals or smelling them, and for handling

microorganisms.

Readers requiring further guidance are referred to:Hazcards (CLEAPSS, 2016 and updates)Topics in Safety, 3rd edn (ASE, 2001); updates available at www.ase.org.uk/resources/topics-in-safetySafeguards in the School Laboratory, 12th edn (ASE, 2020)Preparing Risk Assessments for Chemistry Project Work in Schools & Colleges (SSERC, 2020)SSERC hazardous chemicals database (www.sserc.org.uk/health-safety/chemistry-health-safety/hazchem_database-2/)Be Safe! Health and Safety in School Science and Technology for Teachers of 3- to 12-Year-olds, 4th edn (ASE, 2011)

4 SSR March 2020, 101(376)

Editorial Board and AssociatesEditorGeoff Auty

Editorial BoardMiriam Chaplin science education consultantJames de Winter Universities of Cambridge and

UppsalaSusan Judge AQA examiner, MarlowMaria Kettle University of CambridgeVanessa Kind Durham UniversityDavid S. Moore Oxford

Dave Pickersgill SheffieldMichael Hal Sosabowski University of BrightonBernard Tedd King Edward VI High School for Girls,

BirminghamJames Williams University of SussexJanet Williams Mayflower High School, Billericay

Editorial AssociatesThe Editorial Associates support the Editorial Board in advising the Editor on the suitability of submitted articles.

Damian Ainscough independent education adviserJeremy Airey National Science Learning Centre, York Maria Bateson Kiev, UkraineRichard Boohan LondonIan Carter ecology consultant, AlderneyStuart Farmer Robert Gordon’s College, AberdeenAlastair Fleming ObanMary Frost Appleton School, EssexRory Geoghegan Irish Science Teachers’ Association,

DublinKeith Gibbs Schoolphysics, TauntonRandal Henly DublinJon Heywood University of LeicesterStephen Hoskins TorquaySue Howarth WorcesterMichael Inglis University of LeedsRuth Jarman Queen’s University BelfastIan Kinchin University of Surrey Chris King Keele University, Keele

Ian Lancaster CheshireIrfan Latif DLD College, Westminster, LondonDawn Leslie Davenies School, BeaconsfieldRobin Millar University of York Andy Newsam National Schools’ Observatory, Liverpool

John Moores UniversityJonathan Osborne Stanford University, CaliforniaHilary Otter St Swithun’s School, WinchesterAlan C. Pickwick ManchesterMichael J. Reiss UCL Institute of Education, LondonKeith Ross Villembits, FranceSarah Sephton Brampton College, LondonDom Shibli University of Hertfordshire, HatfieldNicky Souter University of StrathclydeKeith Taber University of CambridgeChrIstopher Talbot St. Joseph’s Institution, SingaporeAlaric Thompson Ulverston Victoria High SchoolRobert Toplis Wendover, BuckinghamshireNeil Walker Westfield School, Newcastle upon Tyne

ASE Health and Safety Group Representatives Peter Borrows science education consultant, Amersham,

BuckinghamshirePhil Bunyan Oxhill, WarwickshireJoe Jefferies Everton, Nottinghamshire

Contributing to SSRWe welcome contributions for all sections of School Science Review. For reference, a full page of A4 text in the journal is about 800–850 words; including two small figures on a page would bring that down to about 600 words.

These can be emailed to The Editor, ssreditor@ase.org.uk, or posted to The Editor, School Science Review, ASE, College Lane, Hatfield, Herts AL10 9AA. Detailed advice on the submission of articles and Science notes is available on the ASE website at: www.ase.org.uk/content/submission-guidelines.

SSR March 2020, 101(376) 5

EditorialI remember being taught in junior school about the bubonic plague pandemic known as the Black Death that occurred in the mid 14th century. It had originated in China and reached Europe in under a year, when the fastest transport on land was by horse or by sailing ships on the sea, and very few people travelled great distances. It had arrived in Venice via the Black Sea (which perhaps explains the name ‘Black Death’) and, once the problem was recognised, the Venetians made sailors stay on their ships for 30 days, later extended to 40 days, to prove that they had no illness. The Italian for 40 days gave us the term ‘quarantine’.

Then in 1665, there was the Great Plague, yet another outbreak of bubonic plague. It was brought to London in cargo on sailing ships. A tailor in Eyam, Derbyshire, had ordered a roll of imported cloth from one of those ships. Fleas in the cloth spread the disease and many people became ill. Some of the villagers suggested that they should go to live in the nearby city of Sheffield for safety, but the priest persuaded them not to do this as he feared that they would spread the plague into the city and throughout the north of England, which had so far escaped the worst of it. Eyam was kept supplied with food by people who lived outside the village. They brought supplies and left them at the parish stones that marked the boundary of Eyam. The villagers left money in a water trough filled with vinegar to sterilise the coins. Eyam was not left to starve to death. Those who supplied the food did not make close contact with the villagers. This was the original ‘self-isolation’. By November 1666, the plague was considered to be at an end. 260 out of 350 had died in the village but their sacrifice may well have saved many thousands of lives.

Transport evolved to railways, motor vehicles and aircraft. Compared with former times, we are surrounded by electrically operated items. We have electric cookers rather than coal ovens, while televisions and mobile phones put us in contact with almost the entire world. So much easier than in the past! No doubt we have all felt the limiting effect of the social distancing required owing to coronavirus, but imagine how we would cope without our modern aids.

School Science Review was established to report on things that people had done in schools and the viabil-ity of the content is always checked. It is not a news magazine; and that means content could be out of date before it is printed but we believe that is not usually the case. However, the coronavirus outbreak has had such an impact on education (no school for 2 months or more, and cancelled examinations) and on life in general

that we have broken with tradition and attempted to produce some useful information for teachers. It takes the form of a discussion between me and Neil Walker. It is not expert opinion. The internet is bursting with that, but it has to be sought and studied carefully.

In our traditional content, we open with three Science notes. Chris Talbot explains some of the problems in drying gases after chemical reactions have taken place in water. But what if the gas reacts with the drying agent? The modern aids mentioned above (and many others) all need a supply of energy, and the electric current has to pass through cables; good conductors that can never be perfect! Overheating can be a consequence, leading to damage or a fire. Ping-Wai Kwok describes a demon-stration to illustrate this to students. It is suitable for all age groups. A simple electronic project to use as a regu-lar teaching aid is described by Steven Weir. He notes that practical work often takes longer than anticipated.

The cover picture indicates that this edition contains a theme section. It is the fourth led by Berry Billingsley in under 4 years and it has a more practical approach, taking us towards applications of engineering from science education. Berry explains more fully on p. 16.

During the course of last year, we included some accounts of presentations at the ASE Annual Conference held in January 2019. One from Jan Höper in Norway could not be fitted in earlier and is thus included here. It describes a very new technique that makes use of infrared radiation to identify substances – a physics technique applied to chemistry! It can save hours of chemical analysis.

A collaboration article features a study by a group of students from Belmont Community School, Durham, led by Pen-Yuang Hsing from Durham University that also makes use of infrared imaging, in this case to observe the behaviour of animals at night. The project was supported by teachers and other advisers.

Infrared also features in an article from Choun Pei Wong and R. Subramaniam in Singapore. Here, thermal imaging is used to illustrate features of physics, chemistry and biology.

This arrival of articles from such diverse sources that all feature infrared radiation was a coincidence, which suggests that such techniques are likely to become more popular in the future.

Finally, David Fairley from Singapore describes a computer method of modelling how chemical reac-tions occur.

Geoff AutyEditor, School Science Review