The Wellcome Trust LabNotes have mutated into the Big Picture series; these are A4, full colour 16-page booklets for teachers and sixth-formers. The latest addition is Sex and Gender, which deals with ideas that are absent from science books. The text is lively and accessible and, amazingly, there is a male and female version (though the only difference is in the cover’s colour photo). The content deals with such things as the nature of sex, its evolution and sexual values in society.
There is even a straightforward explanation of the difference between sex and gender. At first glance, there seems to be scant attention to homosexuality and gay issues, but these are covered in the support offering online, Big Picture Online.
The online school activity promotes debate. It is based on the format used by the national Debating Matters Competition, run by the Institute of Ideas.
A useful, thought-provoking booklet.
l One copy free to teachers and additional copies are pound;1 each reducing to 75p if you order more than 20.
www.wellcome.ac.uknode5960.html
