TECHNOLOGY TAPED Co-ordinated by Geoff Oliver In-service Development Unit Lancaster University Pounds 19.70 inc adhesive tapes and pp.
PROFESSOR PHARMACEUTICAL INVESTIGATES By Gary Burgham, Ros Murphy, Robin Nodding and June Vipond Durham Business and Education Executive Pounds 10 + Pounds 3.50 pp.
These two science and technology packs are the result of partner-ships between educational agencies and international companies. Technology Taped has been written by a group of Berkshire teachers and advisory staff with money and advice from 3M United Kingdom plc, while Professor Pharmaceutical Investigates has been written by County Durham teachers with support from GlaxoWellcome.
Technology Taped offers activities and ideas on the use of high-performance adhesive tapes, which come with the pack. These include adhesive transfer tape, double-sided foam pads, rubber tape, and aluminium and copper tapes.
The 15 design-and-make activities cover DT and science. Helpful notes relate to case studies of the activities.
Background information is useful and ideas for teaching DT may be particularly helpful to co-ordinators. The pack covers the teacher’s role, assessment, differentiation and has technique sheets. I particularly liked the idea about giving children a “driving licence” on to which they could collect teachers’ signatures after mastering skills such as the correct use of specific tools.
Professor Pharmaceutical Investigates provides a wide range of activities based on the exploits of characters with names such as Dr Anna Lyst and Tess Tube. A series of teacher’s and children’s information sheets is related to specific processes in the manufacturing of pharmaceutical products and their associated health and safety requirements.
The pack is presented in a folder, with sections on materials and their properties, life processes and living things, design and technology, and economic and industrial understanding. Another section on health education offers realistic ideas for dealing with substance use and misuse.
Teachers will welcome the photocopiable activity sheets. These are supported by well-illustrated teacher’s notes. This pack is good value for money.
Both packs have been written by authors with a clear understanding of national curriculum requirements. The commercial involvement results in a detailed level of background information often lacking in similar publications. Although each pack relates to different aspects of science and DT, both should prove useful resources for primary teachers.
