Win £100 of science equipment and resources

During the spring term CIEC Promoting science will have a couple of exciting new resources for you to trial.

Space - Is there anybody out there? is the quest to discover more about our solar system by gathering potential evidence of life on the planet Mars, and exploring the geographical surface of the planet looking for landing sites.  This offers activities for upper key stage 2, plus some transition activities for year 7 pupils. This pilot will take place in the first half of the spring term.

Keep a look out for more information on the second resource which focuses on 'scientists at work' making sun creams, soaps, bath foams and more, via classroom investigations supported by an interactive website.

If you would like to take part in this pilot please contact us on ciec@york.ac.uk stating which resource you are interested in trialling and an email address which can be used for sending out the resource information.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Trainee teacher's involvement with CIEC Promoting science

Trainee teacher Katie let us know how much she had enjoyed being involved in a CIEC school session.

“I am currently a trainee teacher studying for a PGCE at York St John University.

Towards the end of last year, I was working as a Teaching Assistant at St.Margarets C of E

School, Horsforth, Leeds.  I was lucky enough to be involved in the session

when a CIEC trainer came and delivered a lesson on " finding a suitable

sealant to fix a burst water pipe".  The kids absolutely loved it, and it

was inspirational to observe from the point of view of a trainee teacher.  I

am currently writing a science assignment on "The teaching and learning

of science". Naturally, I wanted to exemplar this session, as it was so interesting and relevant to children learning about science.”

First Water for Industry session of the year!

Just got off to a flying start with a very keen and interested Year 6 class in Billingham. After session 1 learning about how water is used on an industrial site and investigating the properties of sealants for joining and fixing leaking pipes, it became clear to me that not all children in their final year of primary school are confident setting up a fair test. Lots more work to do here and I look forward to returning to the school for future 'Children Challenging Industry' sessions.

What do children think about being involved with CIEC Promoting Science projects?

Year 7 children voiced these thoughts after their participation in the Johnson Matthey ‘Future Scientists’ project managed by CIEC Promoting Science.

“This project has shown us what real scientists and industry is about. It has reminded us of our first industrial experience in year 6.”

“We have enjoyed working with JM ambassadors and we noticed that some of them are women.”

“I had not thought about a job in industry before but now I am thinking about it”.

“There are many exciting jobs in industry that I hadn’t thought of before.”

“I feel as if we have been doing real science”.

Two pupils from St Michael's RC Secondary School demonstrating their experiment on catalysts

Fingers in the Pies

The new school year is well under way and CIEC are stuck into lots of exciting projects.

• Children Challenging Industry continues to inspire youngsters to take science seriously;
• Courses are being delivered at Science Learning Centres in York and elsewhere;
• New learning resources are now available, others are in development;
• The whole range of support materials and teaching resources, previously on the Primary Science Enhancement Programme (PSEP) web site are now freely available to everyone.

Currently looking for more pies...

New Sites Live

The new term is here, and the new CIEC sites are live. http://www.cciproject.org/ contains lots of info about the CCI Project, and support for primary science teaching. club.cciproject.org includes activities for children that complement the CCI science topics.
http://www.roughguidetogas.org.uk/ is a brand new resource with information and online activities based around the theme of gas.

Almost the end of July

The idea is that at the end of July, the existing CCI and PSEP sites are replaced by 'Children Challenging Industry, incorporating the Primary Science Enhancement Project'. Snappy title!
Keep watching this space.

A Message from Kenya

Discover a text message on my phone, from younger daughter in Kenya: 'Lions, hippos and monkeys playing outside the tent. Kenya is AMAZING!" Relieved the lions and hippos are not playing inside the tent.
Have a feeling this may not be her last visit to Africa, and maybe her parents should be researching retirement homes near Masai Mara...
And now back to editing the new CCI site.

CCI Team Barbeque

We had a really important team meeting, which concluded in a fantastic barbie. Jonathan cooked the food to perfection, and Nicki ate most of it. Excellent puddings.

New Look for CIEC Web Sites

Over the last year or so we've undertaken a review and update of the support web sites for Children Challenging Industry (CCI), which now incorporates the Primary Science Enhancement Project (PSEP) and what is now the Challenge Club, formerly the PSEP Club.
The new sites will be up and running shortly, with some new web addresses.