Teachers Day at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory 2014

Nuclear Energy – The Facts Behind The Fuss John Roberts School of Physics & Astronomy The University of Manchester Nuclear Energy http://www.edfenergy.com/energy/power-stations/sizewell-b http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sizewell_nuclear_power_stations Sizewell B is a nuclear power station on the Suffolk coast. It is the UK’s only Pressurised Water Reactor. Its construction began in 1988 and it started generating electricity in 1995.It is […]

Teachers Day at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory 2014

Cloud Chambers and Cool Dry Ice A workshop overseen by Gary Williams at the IOP http://iopscience.iop.org/0031-9120/page/Gary%20Williams%20interview In this workshop we had a go at making a large cloud chamber and looked at safe radioactive sources. We were given information on obtaining and using dry ice. About dry ice Dry ice is solid carbon dioxide which […]

Teachers Day at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory July 2014

Cauldrons in the Cosmos David Jenkins Department of Physics University of York With thanks to Brian Fulton, York and Marialuisa Aliotta, Edinburgh In search of the building blocks of the Universe There is a saying that we are all stardust because all the elements that make up the known matter in the Universe, including us, […]

Teachers Day at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory 2014

The course focused on curriculum linked topics in nuclear physics such as nuclear astrophysics, nuclear medicine and nuclear energy, and was presented by researchers active in these fields. The Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) employs over 2,200 staff over seven locations: Swindon, Head Quarters; Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire, which is part of the […]

A level Biology activities June 2014

Volunteering The first lesson after the AS exams was a surprise to the AS biology students as they were to be volunteers in a research project for the University of Hertfordshire, Pharmacology Department. The bottom line was it didn’t hurt! The top line was it was fun and, most importantly, the findings could be useful […]

Year 12 physics students at Thorpe Park 2014

You might think that physics is all about boring things like electricity but it is important for fun things like animations and thrill rides such as those at Thorpe Park. Year 12 were very lucky to spend the day experiencing the rides and took part in a science workshop which looked at the physics behind […]

Year 7 trip to the Zoo

On the 5th of June 42 year 7 students were lucky to spend the day at London Zoo. They were accompanied by Ms Rahman, Mrs Ul-Huq and Mrs Hayward, London Zoo is the world’s oldest scientific zoo. It was opened in London on 27 April 1828, and was originally intended to be used as a […]

Rugby 2014

Discovery of the Higgs Boson at the CERN Large Hadron Collider Peter Watkins, University of Birmingham, UK The size of things http://scaleofuniverse.com/ The chart above shows the scale of the known universe and some of the equipment used to probe it. Our planet is a tiny part of the universe. It orbits one of the […]

Rugby 2014

The Rutherford Schools Physics Project The Rutherford Schools Physics Partnership (RSPP), directors Professor Mark Warner and Dr Lisa Jardine-Wright, works collaboratively with teachers and schools delivering extension materials, on-line (MOOC) learning, workshops for students, and CPD support and materials for physics teachers. The aims of the project are to increase applications for STEM courses, allow […]

Rugby 2014

Accessing and using evidence to optimise the teaching of physics Charles Tracy, Head of pre-19 Education, Institute of Physics PIPER (practical implications of physics education research) is a project from the IOP Education Department devoted to promoting evidence-based practice in physics education. The Supporting Physics Teaching (SPT) materials, provides extensive support for physics teachers, draws […]