Diary Entry - January

 

“Who Do We Trust?” Science in the Media Project

The project really got into full swing by the last few weeks of the Christmas term.

The focus has shifted from students studying articles to writing and filming their own reports.
In the “You’re the Editor” activities the students have to edit previously researched material and present it in a format suitable for their target audience, e.g. Times readers or Newsround viewers.

The first attempts have been quite interesting. The students have been developing group work skills along with seeing the difficulty involved in choosing relevant scientific information while trying to keep the reader interested.  When I added a short deadline to the task it was easy to see why being an editor is a very stressful job.

Many of our classes are now using our new Flip Cameras not only to make videos of news reports but also to record role play activities, vox pop interviews and class discussions. They have proved so easy to use that the teaching staff keep coming up with new ideas to include them in their lessons. An excellent investment!

To spread the message of science and the media further we launched a competition for the best short article written about a recent scientific issue.  We had some excellent entries including reports on stems cells, the LHC, water on the moon and a gecko.  The winning entry, written by a year 7 student, was called “Shhh! Skin Might Be Listening.” and explained the Canadian research into how our skin helps us interpret sounds.  Katie, the author, was the lucky winner of an iPod Touch.

At last our tickertape message boards have arrived and we are waiting for them to be put up in the corridors. (Slight delay due to snow.)  They will be used to display science headlines to help spark the students’ interest. The team and a few students have had a go at programming them. It is pretty easy, if a bit slow using the remote control, and we have found we can add lots of effects rather then just have words scrolling from right to left.

On the last day of term we were visited by our local MP, David Crausby, who watched one class doing the News Bugs activity and another group using Flip cameras to record news reports. The students seemed very happy to show off what they were doing and once again they got their photo taken for the local paper.

January started very slowly due to snow.

The classes are continuing working on their reporting and editing skills, not to mention their camera work!

The main event has been having contact with our mentor, Sherman Wong who has agreed to come into school and let year 9 interview him. We all look forward to meeting him soon.

 

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