Glasgow Science Festival is back this month with a programme of shows, music, film, walks, talks and demonstrations to fire the imagination. Running from 5-17 June in various venues across the city - including Scotland’s only dedicated knitting cafe, The Yarn Cake - the festival features a series of workshops tailored to the secondary sector.
Some are suitable for S1-6; others, such as the programme offered by the Whitelee Windfarm visitor centre on Eaglesham Moor, with its focus on renewables, are designed for S1-3 broad general education.
The environmental theme continues in the exhibition L’energie: quels choix pour demain?Energy: what choices for the future?”, hosted by the Alliance Francaise de Glasgow. For anyone looking for cross-curricular elements, this event (suitable for S1-6) is bilingual and focuses on energy and sustainable development. It offers a chance to explore through two languages and beautiful images the crucial difficulty of balancing human energy needs against the environmental protection of the Earth.
For S3 pupils, the University of Glasgow is offering two taster sessions: one on maths and stats, another - in partnership with Glasgow School of Art - on product design engineering. The engineering taster session is relevant for S3-4 pupils.
For the senior stage of S5-6, there is a session on genetics, Blame your Parents. Hosted by Dr Kevin O’Dell, a lecturer in genetics at the University of Glasgow, it poses the question: “Ever wondered why you look and behave the way you do?”
There’s plenty for primary schools too, with Ask an Astronaut, The Beavers are Back, and Using and Losing Bugs, and for primary and secondary teachers there is a CPD course delivered by the Scottish Schools Education Research Centre (SSERC) on “reebops to wizards”, focusing on “inheritance” at levels 2 and 3.
SSERC is looking for pairs of primary and secondary practitioners from the same learning communities that can devote time and guidance to help them develop transition activities.
www.glasgowsciencefestival.org.uk.
