Diary Entry - October

Who do you think you are?

The last two days of the October half term saw a two day workshop at Prenton High school for girls. Gifted and talented students from Prenton were joined by gifted and talented students from Rock Ferry High, Park High and Upton High. Over the two days they were introduced to Evolution by Natural selection, using a variety of stimulating teaching methods.

Central to the two days was the facial reconstruction workshop run by the artist Philip Garrett. Normally Philip will introduce students to the anatomy of the head and neck, using clay with a very hands on approach that students really enjoy. He changed his workshop for us so that we could also look at several primate fossil skulls, together with information on their feeding and way of life. Adapting what we know of present day human anatomy to these fossils enabled us to try and build models of what these early primates looked like. This really brought to life the human evolution story in a very CSI type of practical.

Alongside Phil's workshop, students were introduced to Darwin's theory of Natural Selection. Acknowledgments must go to teachers TV and teacher Ceri Evans who has put together a really fun but ultimately excellent modeling lesson on Natural Selection. We reproduced it props and all, it provided a very entertaining learning experience. Students also worked on an activity called "Market Place", in groups they had a chance to get to know the characters in the Great Debate that took place when Darwin's book was published. This was preparation work for a trip in December to the Natural History Museum.

Throughout the two days students worked extremely hard and enthusiastically. The feedback we received from the students about the teaching methods was exceptionally positive. Ultimately this project is about exposing students to different ways of learning and getting them involved in planning lessons in which they feel they enjoy as well as learn. Below are photographs of students from all the schools taking part in Phil Garrett's workshop.

Finally interest in the project is growing across the school. We decided another team member was needed to ensure the successful expansion of the project. Patsy Lofthouse Head of Science joins the team and already has plans for a whole school Darwin day on the 12th February, and sees it as a great opportunity to work with our primary neighbors bringing out the "How Science Works" element of Darwin's observations and recording of natural history.

Back to main school page