Students are naturally more interested in learning about something if they understand how it relates to them personally. A recent study revealed that when biology students were given access to their own microbiome data - instead of using standard demo kits - they were significantly more engaged in the course material.
The easiest way to help students feel connected to what they’re being taught is to make the content they’re learning relevant to their own lives. One way to do this is by taking science out of textbooks and transporting the subject into the real world. Here are a few ideas taken from EDF Energy’s award-winning schools programme, The Pod, to help you do just that.
Set the real-life scene on global energy resources
Learning about renewable and non-renewable energy sources becomes more relevant to modern life when you take students on a journey to discover just how varied the global energy mix is around the world. For instance, did you know that China is the world leader in solar power? Or that hydropower accounts for a large proportion of Brazil’s electricity generation?
You can find real-world case studies on power around the world to highlight how physical and human factors influence where countries as diverse as China, Germany and Brazil source their energy from, linking to the geography curriculum.
To extend the activity further, students could be set a homework task to contrast which five countries consume the most energy versus which produce the most energy? Or ask them to research how many countries currently get more energy from renewable than non-renewable resources.
Make it current
With renewable power on the rise - renewables met more than half of the UK’s electricity demand last summer - the focus is now firmly on energy storage technologies, such as batteries, to provide a way of storing renewable energy to use at times when renewable power isn’t available (at night, for instance, in the case of solar).
In The Pod’s Keeping the Lights on activity, students investigate the pros and cons of different ways of storing electricity - tapping into the science and technology curricula - then debate the most effective options. As an extension activity, ask students to investigate the growing market for solar battery storage. They could find out how solar batteries work, the different types of batteries available, and the benefits of using energy battery storage in the home.
Contribute to real-life research on climate change effects
An excellent way to bring science to life is to invite students to contribute to a real-life scientific research project. What’s Under Your Feet? is a citizen science project that The Pod runs in collaboration with the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO). It gets students out of the classroom to dig up a square of ground and analyse the range and number of soil invertebrates they find beneath. It has clear links to science curriculum topics, such as scientific enquiry and the impact of environment on people, plants and animals.
Students could develop the activity further by getting into groups and coming up with their own hypotheses linked to soil invertebrate diversity to test before the experiment. They could look at how different vegetation or how soil factors - such as chemistry, water status, etc - affect soil invertebrate diversity, by digging from two different sites.
Find out what statistics have to do with plastic packaging
With TV programmes like the BBC’s Blue Planet exposing the damaging impact of plastic on our oceans, the plastic packaging backlash is gaining momentum. The Pod’s What a Waste! maths activity explores this topical issue from a data perspective.
Students calculate averages for different datasets, as well as consider how data and graphs can be misleading. There are clear links to aspects of the GCSE maths curriculum, such as: the ability to interpret and construct tables, charts and diagrams; and interpret, analyse and compare the distributions of data sets.
As an extension activity, students could work together to investigate the use of statistics on packaging waste in news stories online, and try to find examples of where data has been misleading or misinterpreted.
Raise awareness about energy poverty
In the developed world, we take power for granted, but 1.2 billion people on the planet have no - or little - access to electricity. The Pod’s Powerless activity supports student learning about the differences between the developing and developed world through the topic of energy poverty.
As energy efficiency in homes is one of the key factors affecting fuel poverty in the UK, you could set students a homework task of exploring what measures are being taken to make fuel-poor homes in the UK more energy efficient.
If you’re thinking of running a Stem or enrichment week this term, The Pod’s cross-curricular resources and campaigns - like What’s Under Your Feet? in June - could help. They provide popular enrichment activities, as they bring together a range of subjects - including science, maths and geography - around a common topic such as biodiversity or waste, and they have relevance to students of all ages. Young people can take the lead, either as part of an Eco Club or an entire class/year group; and any work you can do can be used towards Eco-Schools awards.
To download any of the activities mentioned in this article, visit The Pod, EDF Energy’s award-winning schools programme. You’ll find lots more lesson plans, films, games and campaigns to bring science to life and make the subject relevant to students’ everyday lives.
