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Examples of how the funding is being
used have been included in this section
of ASE's Science Year CD ROMs. We
hope they will be helpful and inspiring
should you be planning your own event
in school. Information on how to obtain
funding for school projects and events
is provided in the BA Science Week
information pack, which is available
from the BA. A separate leaflet on
fund-raising is also available. To
receive the leaflet and/or pack contact
the BA at:
nationalscienceweek@the-ba.net
In September 2001, at the start of
Science Year, the Science team of
Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin
Advisory Services was notified that
it had been successful in gaining
a £750 grant to stage a Science
Year event.
A Science Year Steering Group comprising
members of the Advisory Service, and
of the Shropshire Education Business
Partnership, the Curator of Science
and Technology at the Ironbridge Gorge
Museum Trust and a locally-based university
lecturer in engineering studies, devised
and worked upon a number of Science
Year events including the Balloon
Launch.
The main aim of the project was to
involve a large number of pupils and
their teachers in activities to study
balloons of various descriptions.
The first step was to send a letter
to all schools setting out the aims
of the project and inviting them to
take part. There would be three main
activities; school-based investigations
and research into balloons, a visit
to Lindstrand Balloons in Oswestry
(manufacturers of commercial hot air
balloons) and finally the balloon
launch itself. Schools were asked
to state how they would use the project
to enhance the science curriculum
during Science Year. From the replies
received three primary schools, one
special school and two secondary schools
were selected. Criteria for selection
included a spread of schools from
different phases of education, a geographical
spread across the county and the most
imaginative use of project ideas.
The project was advertised by means
of a Science Year Newsletter, giving
schools updates on this project and
all local and national Science Year
events, and an item on Radio Shropshire
broadcast in January 2002. Meanwhile
the Steering Group prepared for the
launch by purchasing 1,000 white balloons
bearing the Science Year logo, 1,000
balloon tags, four helium gas cylinders
and two balloon nets. In answer to
concerns from one of our schools about
the possible environmental pollution
hazards of rubber balloons littering
the countryside, we were assured by
the manufacturers that all parts of
the balloon plus tag were biodegradable.
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The first activity to take
place was the half-day visit
to Lindstrand Balloons in Oswestry
in March. Each of the six schools
selected a group of pupils to
visit the factory. Pupils were
treated to a talk and video
by Per Lindstrand describing
the Round the World Hot Air
Balloon attempt made in 1999.
This well publicised event made
with fellow balloonist Richard
Branson was carried out in a
balloon manufactured in this
very factory. Pupils were then
given a tour of the factory.
This proved to be both colourful
and interesting. One forgets
how large hot air balloons are!
Constructing the balloons is
a considerable technological
challenge and pupils were soon
asking questions such as 'How
do you make the fabric fireproof?'
and 'Why do you still use
a cane basket rather than synthetic
materials such as plastic or
metal?' There were some
very good lessons to be learnt
for pupils and teachers alike
in choosing the best materials
for a specified purpose. Photographs
of pupils sitting in balloon
baskets appearing in local newspapers
ensured that the event got good
media coverage.
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The great Science Year Balloon
Launch took place two weeks
later. Two members of the Steering
Group visited each of the six
schools. One hundred pupils
from each school completed balloon
tags detailing the name of the
sender and place of release.
The balloons were inflated and
the tags attached. After a short
speech the countdown was started
to the sound of some stirring
music (Copland's Fanfare for
the Common Man) and one hundred
white balloons floated into
the air. The event generated
great excitement and interest
from pupils. Radio Shropshire
came to one of the schools to
record the event and interview
the pupils.
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The visit to schools was also
a chance to view some of the
research and investigative work
that pupils themselves had been
carrying out. This was varied
and of high quality. Some pupils
had researched the history of
hot air balloons and had produced
posters, models and poems. Other
pupils had made their own balloons
and investigated what loads
they would carry. Some pupils
had explored the Met Office
website and discovered that
they were conducting a similar
launch. One school sent away
for some of the Met Office balloons
so they could be released with
our own.
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Very soon the recoveries started
to come in. In all 53 recoveries
were made out of around 600
balloons released - a recovery
rate of 8.8%. Balloons were
found in Shropshire, Powys,
Cheshire, Staffordshire, Yorkshire,
Wolverhampton, Birmingham, Warwickshire,
Worcestershire, Oxfordshire,
Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and
Surrey. The furthest travelled
balloon was recovered from Reigate
in Surrey, having travelled
at least 150 miles. The results
were quite surprising. Most
of the balloons went in a south-easterly
direction although a few went
north-east and a few north-west.
Clearly the date, time and place
of release made a big difference.
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The annual West Midlands Show, which
took place in Shrewsbury in June,
gave us the ideal opportunity to publicise
the work that had been done. The Show
always houses an education marquee
exhibiting schools' work. This year,
for the first time, we had a Science
and Technology marquee with displays
of all the events that had taken place
in Science Year. Items on display
included a collection of photographs
from the balloon launch, examples
of pupils' work and a large map of
Britain showing the balloon recoveries.
The Balloon Launch also featured prominently
in our Summer Science Year Newsletter
and all the recoveries were posted
on the Advisory Service Science Web-site.
What did the children learn from
the balloon launch? They learnt
how gases expand and contract with
changes in temperature and pressure.
They learnt how the winds at one height
can blow in a different direction
to the winds at a greater height.
They learnt how the properties of
rubber can change at low temperatures.
They learnt these things and much
more. Just as importantly they thoroughly
enjoyed the experience and came to
realise the relevance of science and
technology in our everyday lives.
It was not just the balloons that
soared to the skies, but also the
imagination of our pupils!
The main aims of the week were to
persuade teachers, pupils and their
families to think about the energy
we use and waste. We wanted to help
create a new generation of energy
conscious youngsters, and to encourage
the pupils to realise the difference
they and their peers can make by reducing
energy use at school and at home.
The focus for the week was to examine
the ways in which energy is used in
our school. For the week, the children
became 'Special Energy Investigators'.
Each year group had a mission: to
detect cases of energy wastage, to
identify those responsible and to
take steps to prevent repetition.
They then reported their findings
to the school governors in a final
assembly.
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For example, Year Six studied
'The Case of the Hungry Appliances'.
Pupils mounted an investigation
to find out if appliances were
being misused in their school
and collected evidence by measuring
the amount of electricity used
by different appliances, producing
graphs on the computer, and
calculating the cost and saving
of switching off. During the
week Year Six also studied alternative
renewable sources of energy,
and decided on simple housekeeping
strategies that would save energy
in school.
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Their final assembly included interviews
with prominent inventors of the past,
and some of the pupils designed posters
to convey their message to switch
off to others.
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Year Two investigated 'The
Case Of The Great Draught Hunt'.
Pupils designed their own draught
detectors, which involved examining
and choosing appropriate materials
to make them and then deciding
how, when and where to measure
to ensure comparative results.
The children learnt not only
how to plan an investigation,
but also how to measure and
record their results. Having
discovered how draughty the
school was, they then invented
their own draught excluders.
But what difference would shutting
the doors and keeping out draughts
actually make to the temperature
of a room? They investigated
temperature change in a box
house when the windows were
open and closed. Their final
statement to the governors was
in the form of a play and their
mission statement was 'Shut
That Door!'
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Other classes entertained the
governors with songs about saving
energy at home, an energy-based
'Who wants to be a Millionaire'
quiz, and our youngest pupils
explained the type of clothes
we need to wear in different
temperatures. Alongside the
main investigations the children
took part in were other activities
including designing a hot water
bottle for the head teacher,
Mrs Laurie, competitions to
design an energy efficient house
and identifying energy objects
photographed at odd angles,
as well as exploring alternative
sources of energy and life before
electricity. Key Stage Two pupils
were set the problem of helping
an elderly lady save money in
her draught-ridden house, making
them aware of the economic necessity
as well as the environmental
need to save energy.
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In the middle of the week Key
Stage One pupils were visited
by aliens. They needed help.
Their eggs (balloons filled
with ice) needed to be kept
cold. The babies were allergic
to electricity, so could not
be kept in the freezer. Each
class was asked to keep the
babies cold, until the alien
parents picked them up again
at the end of the day. What
a day of exploring heat transference,
comparing what happens when
ice is warmed and what materials
make the best insulators. The
pupils came up with a range
of solutions to the problem,
including wet newspaper, bubble
wrap, polystyrene packing material
etc. My Year Two pupils were
very relieved that we were successful
in our mission and were sure
they saw the space ship come
to retrieve them from our own
lady in black!
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Overall, the week raised the
profile of science in the school,
with displays and visits from
Ian Davis of The Southampton
Energy Advice Centre, Anne Saffery
from CREATE and Claire Buckley
from Eastleigh Council. It also
involved all members of staff,
with help from the school governors.
This was the first science week
that I have organised and I
was amazed at the amount of
science knowledge and application
skills that were made possible
by the ingenuity of the staff
and visitors in both key stages.
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To continue to highlight this important
issue we have set up an E-Team consisting
of monitors from each class. The older
children will be helping to write
an Energy Policy for the school and
to write to industries for grants
to install energy saving devices,
such as movement sensors in the hall
and thermostatic controls in each
classroom. We also hope to buy energy
kits for each class, and to take the
E-Team to the local power station
so that they can report back to the
school on where most of our electricity
originates.
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